Advertisement Analysis

 

    In the advertisement illustrated above, a woman is lying on the floor next to a males dress shoe, without clothes, covering her breasts. The text above her reads "Keep her where she belongs..."

    The purpose of this advertisement is to depict how men should control women during the 1950's and to sell the shoe illustrated. Coinciding its purpose, the advertisement is targeting men, particularly those married.  The stereotype at the time was that women should be kept in place, inside their home being a housewife. Lying next to the shoe, it can be implied that men were supposed to use force to keep women at their feet, fitting the gender superiority of the mid 1900's. 

    To further understand how the purpose of this advertisement can be taken, the eyes of the woman draw the viewer to the shoe, leading to the depiction of how a woman at the time should be at the toes of a man. The sepia, monochrome tone used across the advertisement also gives the image a masculine identity contrasting the woman and the shoe.