An Electrolux Cleaner? For Christmas?! It’s just what I wanted!!

I know this is hard to see, but this is an ad from Ladies’ Home Journal, December 1958 (a little before the 60’s, I know, but it was too good to pass up). It is an ad for, obviously, the Electrolux Cleaner. The portrayal of the homemaker is so obvious in this, because whoever made this ad (I’m just taking a wild guess due to the year and saying it was a man) wrote in the copy that this would be the perfect Christmas gift. "Wonderful to give, wonderful to get." Speaking as a woman, I can honestly tell all men out there that unless your significant other specifically asks for a vacuum, you should not buy one as a gift. Especially for Christmas. The woman in this ad looks overjoyed at her gift, which comes with the burden of doing chores, because now it’s expected that the floors will be sparkling. This advertisement would not go over well in today’s market, and that is common sense, not research based. This is an obvious show of the changes in the portrayal of women. Women want to be equal to men, and it’s something that women have been fighting for decades over. Having this ad out in public in 2008 would be seen as completely sexist and belittling to women, because we are equal to men.