Business & Economics: Advertising and Marketing
Advertising and Consumer Culture in the United States
In the twentieth century, Jewish women played a disproportionate role in the development of American consumer culture because of a combination of factors. For one, American industry became increasingly consumer-oriented, and consumer industries were comparatively open to small entrepreneurs. For another, Jewish immigrants and their children tended to display strong entrepreneurial tendencies.
Ilse Bing
Ilse Bing’s legacy is her photographs. She was an artist who seized the moment and is recognized as a pioneer in the birth of modern photography.
Ruth Gikow
Ruth Gikow reached maturity as an artist during the heyday of abstract expressionism, yet she remained committed to a figurative art that, she believed, reflected the humanity of her subjects and was both politically and socially relevant.
Donna Karan
Not just an ordinary fashion designer, Donna Karan has proved she is an extraordinary New York designer. She has stretched her role as “artist” in the high-paced designer world to include aspects of life far beyond the typical wardrobe.
Barbara Kruger
An image like a 1950s advertising poster of a girl looking admiringly at a boy making a muscle is captioned “We don’t need another hero” in red. A woman looking into a shattered mirror is underscored by the jagged headline “You are not yourself.” These works, by artist Barbara Kruger, are not only among the most easily recognizable in American art of the last twenty years, but are also—through their relentless questioning of gender roles, consumer society, and the power of the media—among the most provocative.
Matilda Steinam Kubie
Media, Israeli: Portrayal of Women
The integrated examination of the content of the Israeli print and electronic media engaged either in documenting reality (e.g. newspapers, news programs, current-events programs, talk shows, social programs) or in entertainment (e.g. quiz shows, soap operas, children’s programs) demonstrates the perception of the marginality of women in Israeli society. While men are presented as the “normal,” women, who constitute the majority of society, are presented as the minority “other”—the exception, the incomplete, the impaired, the marginal.
Photographers in the United States
There is no simple way to categorize Jewish American women photographers—they are too diverse a group. They come from distinctly different political periods, economic strata, and even cultures (some were born abroad). They share neither mind-set nor style, their subjects and interests vary widely, and their worldview and art seem to have little to do with their Jewish identity.
Shirley Polykoff
“Does she ... or doesn’t she?” asked advertising copywriter Shirley Polykoff in 1955, in the first advertising campaign ever to try to sell hair dye to a mass audience.
Dawn Steel
Grete Stern
Grete Stern was one of the founders of Argentina’s modern photography. After studying photography in bohemian Berlin and at the legendary Bauhaus School, Stern developed an unconventional approach to photography, including advertisement collages and studies with crystals, objects, and still-lifes. Between 1935 and 1981 Stern was an influential artistic presence in Argentina, known for her photographic work, graphic design, and teaching.
Helen Rosen Woodward
Helen Rosen Woodward is best known for her contribution to the world of advertising and is generally believed to be the first female account executive in the United States. She was also prolific author who was committed to social justice.
