Of interest in this paper also is the degree to which women were recognized in advertising as part of the newspaper audience and as decision-makers about purchases. Nearly six thousand advertisements (5,889) were examined in seven newspapers on two specific dates in two years of the war, and the data show that relatively few concerned women. But women were clearly recognized as part of the newspaper audience and were targeted as consumers. Further, despite the relatively few advertisements concerning women, women were more visible than expected, and more (white) women advertised than expected.
Women of color were visible only in Southern newspapers examined and only as slaves. (Of course, there was no way to determine race if no reference to race appeared in the advertising copy--as occurred in the Southern newspapers.) Except for references to women "field hands," these ads cast women in domestic roles. Among the newspapers examined, the New York Times had most advertisements--and the most concerning women--followed by the New York Tribune. Of the total 5,889 ads for all newspapers and dates examined, 567 (five hundred and sixty-seven) concerned women (twenty of the 567 were about black women), and of those, 389 (three hundred and eighty-nine) reflected women as belonging in the proper (private, domestic) sphere. Many of the 567 advertisements, however, were placed by women--some of whom advertised their own businesses. Thus, the predominant image tied women to the private sphere, but a few ads showed them in other roles that may be interpreted as perhaps moving toward--if not in--the public sphere.
Last updated: November 24, 1997
comments to: commdept@cecasun.utc.edu
