This master’s thesis investigates discourses on housewifeness, and norms and values related to them, in the advertisements aimed at housewives, in Kotiliesi magazines of the 1950’s. The aim is to understand the housewifeness, construed by the fifties’ advertisement discourses, as a phenomenon. As for our near history, housewifeness has belonged to it as a focal part. Nonetheless, research on housewifeness has remained marginal in Finland.

From the two research questions, the first one mapped on discourses on housewifeness, constructed by the advertisements aimed to housewives. The second research question deepened the analysis into discussion on values and norms, recognisable in the discourses. The research data included 83 advertisements, altogether, aimed at housewives and gleaned from Kotiliesi’s volumes 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956 and 1958.

The research subject was approached via historically minded sociology. Sociological social constructionism worked as the methodological background for the interpretative discourse analysis. In analysing the data, textual analysis and vocabulary analysis were used for defining the discourses (research question 1). As for recognising values and norms (research question 2), interpretative analysis was applied.

Based on the textual analysis and vocabulary analysis, six discourses on housewifeness differing from each other were named, from which Constant toil in housework –discourse appeared as the strongest one. The other discourses were Provision of hospitality, Taking care of wellbeing, Transmission of know-how from mothers to daughters, Prudent long-sightedness, and Up-to-datedness and developmental ability. The discourses partly overlapped and they were relatively in tune with each other. Within single discourses however, there appeared contradictory narration.

By means of the interpretative analysis, various values and norms were recognised from the discourses. The norms related to housewifeness were mostly discourse-specific. In all discourses appeared a norm, which protected the intrinsic value of the home and indirectly required the housewives to stay in the context of the home. The housewifeness, construed by the advertisements of the fifties, appeared as a partly-traditional, partly-modern phenomenon. Contradictory narration, within which the housewifeness was searching for its place, was characteristic to it. The housewifeness in the advertisements was highly accomplishment-focused everyday life, filled with responsibilities. Rest, relaxation and freetime did not belong to it. Taking care of the needs of others was the first priority. The housewifeness, construed by the advertisements, reflected the reality of the housewives of the 1950’s, but also differed from it remarkably. The housewifeness, construed by the advertisements of the fifties, was a transforming phenomenon. In today’s society, housewifeness is not recognisible as such the phenomenon as it appeared in fifties’ Finland.