Clips from Various Magazines

The objects on this page are clips from three major women’s magazines (Para Ti, Vosotras and Mucho Gusto) in the 1950’s and one insert from a 1950’s edition of Vosotras titled Labores. These clips do not feature advertisements for yerba mate, but they provide important important information as to the context of magazines in which the yerba mate advertisements were placed. This section will demonstrate that the themes in the yerba mate advertisements fit in with the themes in the magazines in general. These magazines use race, class, fashion and gender roles to create an image of a “modern woman,” just like the yerba mate advertisements.

Race

The one object that demonstrates a distinct exception to the rule of thin, white, fashionable women portrayed in these magazines is the woman portrayed on the cover of Labores, a pamphlet that was an insert in a 1950 edition of Vosotras. Although I could not find Labores mentioned in any academic texts, it seems to be a pamphlet that gives tips for completing domestic tasks efficiently. The fact that this cover features a stereotyped black woman with grotesque features, a plump body and clothing that was not in fashion at the time, shows that for non-white women, their role was decidedly not “modern” but rather as the traditional person who did domestic tasks. Therefore, the other women portrayed in the yerba mate advertisements and in the other magazines have domestic tasks, but it is also acknowledged that they have agency outside of these tasks in consumption, fashion and working outside of the home. Magazines in 1950’s Argentina often “celebrated whiteness” as the pinnacle of domesticity, while ignoring the domestic labor done by other racialized groups (Pite 124). The woman on the cover of Labores is not afforded the same conception of womanhood as the white women.

Fashion and Beauty

The cover of each of the three magazines I selected includes a thin white woman, with fashionable hair and makeup wearing clothing that was considered fashionable in the USA in the 1950’s. The inside of the magazines confirms that white, young, thin and fashionable were considered essential for beauty and for a woman to reach her potential. Milanesio asserts that in advertisements women’s bodies were unrealistic with tiny waists and curvy bosoms, making them an untainable goal for the average woman (105). These magazines support that claim. The September 1951 issue of Vosotras includes an article titled “Those Fat Problems” which details how to become skinnier in order to fit into fashionable clothing. The woman pictured is anything but “fat” but her body does not fit into the standard set by the other women pictured in the magazine and in the advertisements. The women in the magazines also often wear makeup and have manicured nails, which Milanesio points to as a sign of wealth and beauty (105). The 1954 version of Para Ti features an advertisement for Turen, a lipstick company which says “the lipstick for happy times,” implying that a woman is happiest when she is wearing makeup. These examples demonstrate that Milanesio’s “female visual cliche” extends beyond advertisements for yerba mate and into the magazines themselves.

Class

With the exception of the Labores pamphlet, each of the magazines features upper middle class women on their covers. Their class status  is obvious because of their fashionable clothing, jewelry and manicured nails. In Para Ti there is a two page spread that features women wearing expensive tweed suits and has an advertisement for an expensive perfume. Since Argentina’s economy recovered in 1953, it makes sense that these luxurious products were advertised in 1954, a time when female consumerism was celebrated, but it was only those who could afford to consume who could fit that mold (Pite 132). Additionally, the representation of a domestic servant on the cover of Labores points to another class issue within women’s magazines. Middle and upper class women who were reading these magazines often couldn’t afford to hire domestic servants which then made it difficult for them to live up to the domestic standard set by the media (Pite 140).

Gender Roles

Despite the celebration of female consumerism that many magazines conveyed, there was still the overwhelming sense that the woman’s place was in the home, subservient to men. This confirmed existing gender roles. For example, Mucho Gusto featured an article titled “The Cold War of Work” which is about how difficult it is to complete domestic tasks in the summer when it is so hot. The article goes on to explain what clothing to wear to make these domestic tasks easier, which means that even though the article acknowledges that the tasks are not fun, it is still expected that women will complete them. In the same magazine there is an article titled “Men Love Good Cooks, Don’t Forget that Young Lady.” The implications of this headline alone show that women were expected to hone their domestic skills for the love of a man, which is the highest accomplishment. This also has racial and classist implications since it uses the word “senorita” which in Latin American culture often refers to white or mestiza women who are upper class. The only instances where men are portrayed in these magazines are when they are portrayed as satisfied husbands whose wives cooked or cleaned to their liking or as older father figures looking over the young women to make sure they meet society’s standards (as in the perfume ad in Para Ti).