Over the last 70 years, we would like to think that society has changed enough that women are no longer seen purely as mothers, looking after their families at home. But how much has thinking really changed? Are women still depicted as mothers first and foremost, or as the professionals they often are, with diverse skillsets and a wealth of knowledge and expertise? Working with colleagues in Australia, Scotland and Switzerland, we looked at the depiction of family, women and mothering in 1,147 advertisements published between 1950 and 2010 in Australian Women’s Weekly (AWW) – the best-selling women’s magazine in Australia – and 775 in the UK’s Good Housekeeping (GH). We wanted to see what had changed – or not – in these depictions, and how different the general picture of women in the home is now to that portrayed over the past seven decades. Despite perceived changes in society, we found these adverts continue to tell mothers to put their families front and centre. Their professional skillsets and capabilities are secondary: they are still encouraged to devote all their knowledge to protecting and caring for the family. Advertisers repeatedly position women in terms of their domestic responsibilities, such as cooking and cleaning. Women are presented with an idealised image of the ‘knowing mother’, knowledgeable consumers for the whole family, required to acquire more expertise and skills to professionalise their mothering. Advertisements for washing powder, vitamin supplements, tissues and disinfectants all place an emphasis on what mothers can, and should know. They invite readers to compare themselves with the ideal they are presented with. Attitudes appear to have shifted to share the role of caring within a family, and you can see that men’s roles are changing in advertisements, with opportunities for fathering within the home featured, though still to a far lesser extent than mothers. Despite this, there exists an enduring assumption that mothers should be responsible. It is the way they are presented with this knowledge that changed over the period, from mothers being guided by experts to possessing expertise 26 | ʼʼ As you go through the 70 years, the mother becomes more educated, more on the ball, more of an expert almost in her own right, but what is interesting is that she does not move out of the family setting. ʻʻ
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