First Specific Idea

An idea for my Photography project within Reflections is to focus on collective memory, mainly within the regions of advertising and the idealism put towards women in the 1950's.
I'm aiming to find some iconic advertisements or photographs from over the 1950's that are presenting the world with what they believe is the idealistic housewife/woman; and then recreate them with women that would be socially unaccepted or considered not ideal at the time. For example I would find iconic pieces of artwork from 1950's advertising like the following:

And then use models that will have a variety of body modifications, unidealistic body shapes and in one case I would love to use a male model.

History of the perfect housewife

"The housewife is remembered as being pretty, made up at all times of the day, the cook and maid, consumer, mother, and loyal wife. Where did all these stereotypes come from? Simply answered, they came from the conservative and conformist decade that produced the housewife." [1]
Due to advertisements and television programs the life of the stereotypical housewife was born; with some girls even leaving college once married to pursue a life of cooking, cleaning and anything else that was portrayed by those women they so desperately wanted to be.

Advertisements and their ways with women

"Advertisements often targeted women, depicting them in the kitchen, conversing with children, serving dinner, cleaning, and otherwise espousing the joy of a clean home or the latest kitchen appliance." [1]

"American ads “exhibited rampant stereotyping and gender bias throughout the [1950s], and the idea that a woman should live for her husband and family became a dominant image.” Indeed, the media "portrayed American women as possibly the best-dressed housekeepers ever seen." They wore "elegant dresses, high heels, jewellery (the pearl necklace seems almost de rigueur), and smile as they dust and vacuum."[5] The wider availability of new appliances and consumer goods helped foster an attitude of 'Keeping up with the Joneses'. Did this carry the danger of creating mindless conformity? Possibly. But it is not very different from the present trend in purchasing stainless steel kitchen appliances and granite counter tops. In some advertisements women are even wearing crowns--"women as queens of domesticity." Marjorie Husted, the creator of Betty Crocker stated that 'Good things baked in the kitchen will keep romance for longer than bright lipstick.' "[1]

The stereotype within TV

Housewives were even portrayed like this on TV, they were shown in advertisements and on shows with their nuclear family (which is of course the perfect family). As time went on television commercials became linked with reality making the stereotype stand out even more than it already did. Television shows were no better; it was an easier way to get the stereotype across because they weren't just suggesting the housewife lifestyle but in fact were showing them in action. Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and I Love Lucy are just a few examples of how they would do this.
"Conservative shows like these depicted classic family values such as the nuclear family, the wife deferring to the husband, and the husband and wife team teaching moral lessons to their children." [1]