Saturday, July 21, 2012

Wisk ad- How much have women's roles really changed?

The other day I was watching television and I came across an ad for a popular laudry detergent, Wisk. The commercial portrays four different time periods; the 50s (when Wisk started out), the 60s/70s, the 80s, and the current.

A woman with a laundry basket in a house walks into one room and then into the next, and she transforms into another mother in a different time period (each room is a different time period). In the transfer between the last two time periods, the woman hands the laundry basket to her daughter who 'takes' it into the present. The ad claims that "The detergent your mother trusted to fight tough stains introduces its next breakthrough in cleaning".

This ad illustrates the clear roles that women have had throughout history and in recent times. If anything it stresses the fact that these roles have barely changed. The woman is portrayed in a home throughout each scene, continuing the role of homemaker throughout the time periods. There are absolutely no men in the ad, refering exclusively to 'mothers'. Showing these ads, along with many other ads of the same kind, ingrain in our society these roles. When children see these ads throughout their childhood they may end up thinking that these are the way things are supposed to be and always will be; another reason to question it and challenge these roles. But the fact that this ad even exists begs the question: how much have women's roles really changed in the minds of society?

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