Life in 1940s America
Conformity, family and success
I would feel very pressured to be a teen in late 1940s America. Looking at these advertisements from Life, everyone was the same. In the shaving ad, all the men look the same. Thin, handsome, same parted hairstyle. In the photo I chose to represent family, everyone is together and they all are dressed very well. In all the ads that I saw, especially the ones that I chose to represent conformity, family and success, everyone is the same. Nowadays, in different ads, you see a lot of diversity amongst people. You'll see an Apple commercial with hipsters, and then you'll see a Ford commerical with a well-to-do American family, and then a commerical for Gatorade, which shows young people working out and getting in shape. There is much more diversity nowaday then in the 40s. In the 40s, I'm sure I'd feel very outcasted if I was not the exact same as others. In current day, being unique is celebrated because of all the diversity we have. Now people can express themselves better than they could 65 years ago, instead of hiding their true self behind the norm. In that case, I'd rather find a group of friends to be with that would just be who they want to be, not who advertisements say they should be.