Start Date
12-6-2011 9:30 AM
End Date
12-6-2011 12:00 PM
Subject Areas
North America, class, family, gender
Abstract
In its earliest years on the national stage, car ownership offered the wealthy an affirmation of their privileged status. While men bought and drove the vast majority of cars, particularly early in the twentieth century, advertisers considered women a vital market and included them in their sales pitches. Americans believed women to be the purchasing agents for their families. A woman’s ability to manage her family’s budget and buy smartly not only reflected her worth, but also helped determine her family’s status. Car advertisers targeted them not just in general weekly and monthly magazines, but also spent millions buying ads in women’s magazines. In the second half of the century, as women entered the workforce in growing numbers, advertisers acknowledged their growing role in determining automotive purchases.
Across the century, advertisers used language and symbolism to assure women that they could drive home their family’s class status. Using images of opulence, ads suggested that buying a car would reflect on their family’s socioeconomic success. From the high-class status promised by Cadillac to the assurance that a second car would let their families fit in, advertisers targeted women with language and symbolism that clearly connected their cars with the promise of a family’s socioeconomic acceptance and respect.
Keywords
automobile, advertising, consumer
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Download
Driving Home Class Status: Women and Cars in the United States
In its earliest years on the national stage, car ownership offered the wealthy an affirmation of their privileged status. While men bought and drove the vast majority of cars, particularly early in the twentieth century, advertisers considered women a vital market and included them in their sales pitches. Americans believed women to be the purchasing agents for their families. A woman’s ability to manage her family’s budget and buy smartly not only reflected her worth, but also helped determine her family’s status. Car advertisers targeted them not just in general weekly and monthly magazines, but also spent millions buying ads in women’s magazines. In the second half of the century, as women entered the workforce in growing numbers, advertisers acknowledged their growing role in determining automotive purchases.
Across the century, advertisers used language and symbolism to assure women that they could drive home their family’s class status. Using images of opulence, ads suggested that buying a car would reflect on their family’s socioeconomic success. From the high-class status promised by Cadillac to the assurance that a second car would let their families fit in, advertisers targeted women with language and symbolism that clearly connected their cars with the promise of a family’s socioeconomic acceptance and respect.