“Fourteen-Hour Wives of Eight-Hour Men” – N. K. Fairbank & Company
While this ad finally acknowledges a woman’s hard work and how she puts in more hours than her husband, it also manages to belittle all a wife’s effort. In fact, N. K. Fairbank & Company is telling women that they need the Gold Dust washing powder to make them more efficient with housework and enable them to complete all their chores in eight hours just like men.
Of course, the men behind this sexist ad probably never spent a day cleaning the house, cooking meals, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, ironing the clothes, caring for the children, and the list goes on—there are simply more tasks to juggle than there are hours in a day. And no type of dust—gold, fairy, flight-inducing or otherwise—can help a woman complete all her chores unless her husband comes with the washing powder to help her with the housework.
Also, let’s not forget that men typically have weekends off while the woman is expected to cook, clean, and take care of the family even on Saturdays and Sundays. Household work never takes the weekend off.