Gender issues, discrimination and stereotypes in 1960s American car ads

Advertisements are the mirror of a society; ideals, points of view, prejudices, customs, values and status quo are expressed directly and indirectly in ads. In this study, 1960s car ads are investigated in order to detect, and eventually discuss, the presence of gender issues. Gender research focuses on advertising, especially to single out the woman’s role in the context to which the advertisement refers. The car market is predominantly recognized to be a “masculine” one. Thus, gender has been a distinctive issue present in car advertising from the very beginning to the present time. Although some gender reference is positive, as in the case of the launch of the Dodge la Femme in 1956, a car designed and marketed to women only, other gender reference in the advertising message is usually connected to sex discrimination and stereotypes. This work is part of a wider diachronic research project of over 50 years of car advertising, starting from the 1950s.