An Artist Recreated Ads From the 1950s With the Gender Roles Reversed
- Eli Rezkallah is a 31-year-old visual artist and photographer.
- He took mid-20th-century advertisements and recreated them with modern themes.
- Rezkallah reversed the sexist gender roles in the ads.
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Whether attempting to sell clothing, coffee, or food, vintage ads from the mid-20th century were often riddled with sexism, forcing women into deeming gender roles. Now, however, a Lebanon-based artist has changed these out-of-date ads: Eli Rezkallah.
Rezkallah, a 31-year-old visual artist and photographer, recently gained attention for his photo series, "In a Parallel Universe." In each photo, Rezkallah took a vintage advertising and recreated it entirely, reversing the gender roles in it.
An ad for Ketchup that originally read "You mean a woman can open it?" now features a picture of a male model and reads "You mean a man can open it?" Another ad for coffee with the headline "If your husband ever finds out," showing a man spanking a woman on his lap is now titled "If your wife ever finds out" and shows a wife spanking her husband on her lap.
In an interview with South West News Service (SWNS) regarding "In a Parallel Universe," Rezkallah explained, "I was visiting my family in New Jersey and I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen, and fulfilling 'their womanly duties.'
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"Although I know that not all men like my uncles think that way I was surprised to learn that some still do," Rezkallah added.
He also shared with the outlet his hopes for the project as a whole, saying, "I hope that people who are stuck in stereotypical gender roles imposed by patriarchal societies will be able to visually see the cracks in the limitation that those roles carry through this project."
Rezkallah, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, is also the founder and creative director of Plastik Magazine and Plastik Studios, which opened in 2007. His work has been viewed and displayed internationally and often is focused on art that compares beauty with themes that are more off-putting and contradictory.
For more of Rezkallah's work, visit www.elirezkallah.com or follow him on Instagram.
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