The first female publisher in U.S. history was Eliza Jane Nicholson. She ran the Daily Picayune from 76’-96’. And when we say that, we mean 1876-1896! Not only was the first female publisher, she owner the entire major newspaper. She moved to New Orleans to become a professional journalist and began working for the Daily Picayune, where she wrote under the name, Pearl Rivers.
Notable Women in Advertising: Phyllis Robinson
Phyllis Robinson was born in 1921 and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in sociology from Barnard College. After WWII, she moved to Boston from NYC and started working at Grey Advertising where she wrote fashion ads for Bresnick & Solomont. She was a chief copywriter for DDB in 1949 and was the first ever woman to hold this roll.
Women’s History Month: Erma Perham Proetz
Erma Proetz was the first woman to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. She was a copywriter, account executive, director, creative vice president and executive vice president, who spent most of her advertising career at Gardner Advertising Company in St. Louis. She received multiple awards for her advertisements in the 1920’s.
Women's Role in Advertisements Today
In 2022, 46.6% of the workforce in the United States was female (Mathew Zane of Zippia). That’s almost half of the entire workforce! So, why then are women still being portrayed in a stereotypical manner in advertisements? A recent article written by The Drum shows that stereotyping women in advertisements has actually went up in the past year by 66%. What’s going on? Are we not in the progressive 21st Century? On top of this fact, women of darker skin tones have been featured 80% less than women with lighter skin.
