The image of a perfect woman in the 1950s is familiar to all of us – a diligent wife, slaving around the house all day, preparing delicious meals for her hardworking husband, taking care of the children, and all that with a smile, of course. This image was reflected a lot in the ads of that era too. Inspired by them, photographer and video editor from Beirut, Lebanon, Eli Rezkallah created a series called “In A Parallel Universe” where he switched up the gender roles portrayed in those ads to reveal the absurdity of such stereotypes with humor.
“Last Thanksgiving, I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen, and fulfilling “their womanly duties,” Rezkallah writes on his website. “Although I know that not all men are like my uncles and think that way, I was surprised to learn that some still do, so I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison.”
Scroll down to see these funny recreations of old-school ads for yourself!
More info: elirezkallah.com
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Eh, this one is pretty demeaning both ways. Not cool in either case.
Damn, these are really sexist ads. I had never seen them. Glad to see things changed for good.
If these offend you... you really won't want to see the ethnic and black ads from back then. Yes, by today's standards, they are offensive. It's called progress. As a society we've matured. We don't marry off our kids for dowry at 12 anymore, do we? No. Now go call your grandmothers and thank them for fighting for change.
I don't have to thank my grandmother, she didn't do anything to make a change. It's quite the opposite, she never understood the movement, which is a whole different type of sad, really.
Mine still excuses men who use women "because her skirt was too short" or "they have needs" :(
Well cause she is old. Old people have trouble making healthy movements which is why we have stool hardeners and softeners.
my mother's generation had to hide the fact that they were married, or hide a pregnancy, so they wouldn't get fired from their jobs.
Actually a lot of children are married off underage - 1 in 9 children are still married off below the age of 15. http://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage
Menus dew, perhaps everybody should think about everyone all over the world, rather than just those in their own country..?
not in America
while so many are offended and whine and complain about morays of decades past, future generations will condemn what we do.
Who's complaining about old-fashioned eels?
lol Yeah, the congers are where it's at now. Those old fashioned morays are no longer the flavor of the month!
my grandma is dead thank you very much, and i find both extremes offensive, both posters are wrong, so...
Good. They are both bad. That's what this post is about.
thanks! perspective is important! I'm glad we find these offensive...and I'm grateful to my foremothers.
Thank you!
"We don't marry off our kids for dowry at 12 anymore, do we?" Only royals did that. They have found the average ages at marriage for women during the Elizabethan, Stuart, and Hanoverian ages, and they are much higher than you think 1566-1619 27.0 years 1647-1719 29.6 years 1719-1779 26.8 years 1770-1837 25.1 years
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I'm offended by these, because they are stupid. I mean yeah it's a nice Idea and its very well executed but fighting fire with fire and wanting to switch sides rather than have equality - what feminism really stands for, not for this - is just really worrying to me.
Nobody wants to switch sides at all. It's simply making a point
r/whooooooosh
These originals are shocking! Such a good idea to do these parallels, and beautifully executed.
both are wrong
that's kinda the point
The point of this isn't to imply that the second versions are right. It's exactly to show both are wrong.
Yes but only the first ones actually existed, as adverts, to sell products. If you didn't know that, you should. If you did know that, you shouldn't have posted.
@Sascha Nop, none exist. Those ads belong in a ''dark page'' of human history, but hold no power nowadays. They were terrible, of course. And that's exactly why we should keep them in the past and not try to repeat them. Human history is full of things like that. Nazis, monarchies, massive killings and yes, sexism. We should be moving away from those twisted ideas, not encouraging them!
Double standards
Shocking. Can´t believe those were for real.
True but we still have all those TV ads overwhelmingly stereotyping women as housewives: whether it is detergent or dish soap advertising, etc. as if it were women's responsibility alone.
No different from the cold medicine commercials where men are helpless and whiny and have to call their wife so she can tell him to take NyQuil or something silly
there's one in Poland where a guy visits women at home and asks them whether they're proud of their white laundry. It's not only saying a woman should be proud or ashamed of how she handles her white laundry but it's also implying that it is a man who comes to her with science and solution needed for her life goal which is indeed, snow white laundry...
And anything that has to do with caring for children or shopping for children is directed towards moms.
Yup. Ever been down the kid's toys aisle at a retailer? All you see is toys encouraging girls to raise children, cook, and clean. Boys toys are still all about cars, guns, swords, building things, and battling "bad guys".
Woooooman, let me tell you about the advertisements telling women to clean their vaginas (you're reading right here, not vulva, vagina!!!) with Lysol!!!! And all ads were pretty much blaming the woman for destroying a relationship because she didn't keep her nether parts tidy clean (from a chance of babies as well, since Lysol was seen as a kind of contraceptive as well) ... Google about it, it's horrific!
Omg
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I know right? And have you seen the sexism in the posters for the WWI and WWII? Not ONE inciting women to go and die on a battlefield, all poster assumed only men had to sacrifice their life. So glad things have changed. I'm happy, I'd have been happy as a man to stay at home cook and watch the kids if they send a woman in my place to die in a war.
Seriously? Who sends people to war? Women...? Nope! Men have been responsible for every war since the beginning of humans. Men have ruled the world and made the decisions. As if women had a fucking choice back then.
They may not have been on the posters but women very much supported the war efforts in factory's and on the field as nurses.
If these offend you... you really won't want to see the ethnic and black ads from back then. Yes, by today's standards, they are offensive. It's called progress. As a society we've matured. We don't marry off our kids for dowry at 12 anymore, do we? No. Now go call your grandmothers and thank them for fighting for change.
I don't have to thank my grandmother, she didn't do anything to make a change. It's quite the opposite, she never understood the movement, which is a whole different type of sad, really.
Mine still excuses men who use women "because her skirt was too short" or "they have needs" :(
Well cause she is old. Old people have trouble making healthy movements which is why we have stool hardeners and softeners.
my mother's generation had to hide the fact that they were married, or hide a pregnancy, so they wouldn't get fired from their jobs.
Actually a lot of children are married off underage - 1 in 9 children are still married off below the age of 15. http://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage
Menus dew, perhaps everybody should think about everyone all over the world, rather than just those in their own country..?
not in America
while so many are offended and whine and complain about morays of decades past, future generations will condemn what we do.
Who's complaining about old-fashioned eels?
lol Yeah, the congers are where it's at now. Those old fashioned morays are no longer the flavor of the month!
my grandma is dead thank you very much, and i find both extremes offensive, both posters are wrong, so...
Good. They are both bad. That's what this post is about.
thanks! perspective is important! I'm glad we find these offensive...and I'm grateful to my foremothers.
Thank you!
"We don't marry off our kids for dowry at 12 anymore, do we?" Only royals did that. They have found the average ages at marriage for women during the Elizabethan, Stuart, and Hanoverian ages, and they are much higher than you think 1566-1619 27.0 years 1647-1719 29.6 years 1719-1779 26.8 years 1770-1837 25.1 years
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I'm offended by these, because they are stupid. I mean yeah it's a nice Idea and its very well executed but fighting fire with fire and wanting to switch sides rather than have equality - what feminism really stands for, not for this - is just really worrying to me.
Nobody wants to switch sides at all. It's simply making a point
r/whooooooosh
These originals are shocking! Such a good idea to do these parallels, and beautifully executed.
both are wrong
that's kinda the point
The point of this isn't to imply that the second versions are right. It's exactly to show both are wrong.
Yes but only the first ones actually existed, as adverts, to sell products. If you didn't know that, you should. If you did know that, you shouldn't have posted.
@Sascha Nop, none exist. Those ads belong in a ''dark page'' of human history, but hold no power nowadays. They were terrible, of course. And that's exactly why we should keep them in the past and not try to repeat them. Human history is full of things like that. Nazis, monarchies, massive killings and yes, sexism. We should be moving away from those twisted ideas, not encouraging them!
Double standards
Shocking. Can´t believe those were for real.
True but we still have all those TV ads overwhelmingly stereotyping women as housewives: whether it is detergent or dish soap advertising, etc. as if it were women's responsibility alone.
No different from the cold medicine commercials where men are helpless and whiny and have to call their wife so she can tell him to take NyQuil or something silly
there's one in Poland where a guy visits women at home and asks them whether they're proud of their white laundry. It's not only saying a woman should be proud or ashamed of how she handles her white laundry but it's also implying that it is a man who comes to her with science and solution needed for her life goal which is indeed, snow white laundry...
And anything that has to do with caring for children or shopping for children is directed towards moms.
Yup. Ever been down the kid's toys aisle at a retailer? All you see is toys encouraging girls to raise children, cook, and clean. Boys toys are still all about cars, guns, swords, building things, and battling "bad guys".
Woooooman, let me tell you about the advertisements telling women to clean their vaginas (you're reading right here, not vulva, vagina!!!) with Lysol!!!! And all ads were pretty much blaming the woman for destroying a relationship because she didn't keep her nether parts tidy clean (from a chance of babies as well, since Lysol was seen as a kind of contraceptive as well) ... Google about it, it's horrific!
Omg
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I know right? And have you seen the sexism in the posters for the WWI and WWII? Not ONE inciting women to go and die on a battlefield, all poster assumed only men had to sacrifice their life. So glad things have changed. I'm happy, I'd have been happy as a man to stay at home cook and watch the kids if they send a woman in my place to die in a war.
Seriously? Who sends people to war? Women...? Nope! Men have been responsible for every war since the beginning of humans. Men have ruled the world and made the decisions. As if women had a fucking choice back then.
They may not have been on the posters but women very much supported the war efforts in factory's and on the field as nurses.