Advertisement Analysis

 

  A woman is shown lying on the floor next to a man's dress shoe, naked and with her breasts covered in the advertisement. "Keep her where she belongs..." reads the phrase above her.

 The advertisement, like its objective, is aimed at men, particularly married ones. Her lack of clothing and position render her defenseless, reinforcing the idea that husbands should dominate and keep their women at their feet. At the time, the stereotype was that women should be confined to their homes as housewives. Lying next to the shoe, it can be implied that men were supposed to use force to keep women at their feet, fitting the gender superiority of the mid-1900s.

Consider how the woman's eyes direct the viewer's attention to the shoe, resulting in a picture of how a woman at the time should be at a man's toes. The image is given a masculine character by the sepia, monochrome tone utilized throughout the advertising, which contrasts the woman and the shoe.