Hardee’s Ad From Late 1940s, “Women Don’t Leave the Kitchen!”

There seems to be many chain restaurants of Hardee’s in America and other countries. There seems to be as many as 3000 chain restaurants in America and also quite a few chain restaurants in other locations. One could tell that Hardee’s is probably a quite successful and well-known chain restaurant in America and that the viewers of this advertisement was likely to be a vast number of customers. Thus, it makes it even more difficult to believe that the advertisement of this popular fast-food restaurant would contain such sexist contents and that the discriminatory message is conveyed in a very direct way.

The Hardees’s advertisement pictured above illustrates an example of a gender stereotypes within the text and image. Stereotypically, gender roles associate women with being in the kitchen and the man being out in the corporate world. This image shows a woman in the kitchen gazing out at her husband in admiration. The husband in this image looks as if he just came home from work in his business suit and is greeted by his daughter. The daughter has on a cute little yellow dress and seems to be thrilled to see her father. Ideally, this is the perfect American family which reflects the American dream.

The text in the picture reads, “Women don’t leave the Kitchen! We all know a woman’s place is in the home, cooking a man a delicious meal. But if you are still enjoying the bachelor’s life and don’t have a little miss waiting on you, then come down to Hardee’s for something sloppy and hastily prepared”. This message is an obvious gender role stereotype as it says because it says that women do not leave the kitchen it is where she belongs and where she completes the task she is required to do to please her husband. This message even provides a message to the men without a wife at home assuring that there is a meal available at Hardee’s if they do not have a little misses at home waiting for them.