This commercial shows a group of seven
women, mostly mothers, who are in a test group for Crest toothpaste. The people
who are running the trial are asking these women for their opinions relating
mostly to their children’s experiences with the toothpaste.
The fact that there are parties
interested in these women’s personal opinions displays that women were
beginning to be “taken seriously” if you will, during the 1960s. Their input
into the performance of the Crest product is valued highly by the people
running the trial. However, it is important to notice the main focus of the
women’s opinions is centered on their children’s success of failure with the
product. In this way, women are still being put into the category of wife and
mother over their own selves.
Another interesting aspect of this
commercial is the involvement of African American women in the panel. This
shows a little more tolerance than would have been present in the 1950s.
However, when one of the African American women begins to give her opinion, the
narrator cuts her off and displays a picture of the Crest product and lists its
positive qualities. This begs the question: though women seem to have gained a
little more stamina in the way of being heard in society, are women of color
included in this positive trajectory?
________________
. “In fact you could say that Bewitched portrayed a world of
competing fantasies: as an advertising executive, Darrin too was in the
business of casting spells. And although it was always abundantly clear who was
the real creative genius here, it was imperative that Sam be persuaded to hang
up her broomstick in favour of a vacuum cleaner (latest model, of course), and
trade in her wizardry for a kitchen whiz.
For while it
was never explained whether the materialised goodies were transported from
elsewhere or created with a kind of witch-nanotechnology, as long as Sam
continued to twitch her nose and conjure up whatever she needed by herself she
was a threat to the entire capitalist-consumerist world that Darrin represented
and from which he made the living which earned him the role of household head.”
(Spencer 2011)
This
quotation is an excerpt from a blog post written by Beth Spencer in 2011. In
it, she discusses the TV show Bewitched, which aired from 1964-1972 on
ABC and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha the witch. The main premise of
the show is that Samantha gives up her role as witch to become Darrin’s wife. However,
she is still able to take control of her life using her powers and special abilities,
and to solve life’s problems using magic. This depicts her as a strong woman
who can take of herself, contradicting the stereotypical wife from the 1950s. As
Spencer states, her lack of obedience to her husband and general stubbornness “threat[ens]”
Darrin’s role as the man of the house, or the “household head” (Spencer 2011).
Because of her independence and
ability to assert herself in her everyday life, Samantha could fall under the
category of Second Wave Feminism. She represents a woman who is not afraid to
speak out, and is not satisfied with just being a housewife: she wants to feel independent
and powerful! Also, because she is able to provide for herself without any help
from a man, she is considered a danger to the “capitalist-consumerist world”
that her husband is an intricate part of (Spencer 2011). This shows that though
women’s role in television has only evolved so much since the 1950s, but they
are on the right track
_________________________
In
the movie Wait Until Dark released in
1967, Audrey Hepburn plays a woman who has recently been blinded, and has mistakenly
come into the possession of illegal drugs. She has to defend herself from drug
dealers trying to find the stash, while in the complete darkness of her apartment
with no way out. At first, it seems hopeless for Susy (Hepburn), but she is
able to fight against the thugs against all odds and survives the ordeal.
Susy’s
character relates to the concept of intersectionality in that she is not only a
woman, but a blind woman. This means she is seen as at a disadvantage compared
to, say, a man who has his sight. Her ability to overcome these challenges and prevail
against the drug dealers communicates the message of a woman who is strong,
independent, and capable of defending herself even in the face of serious
danger. This is an accurate portrayal of women in the 1960s who were becoming
more and more independent and opinionated in the realms of family, the
workplace, and politics.
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