Helpmates

The statement that women will supplement men in public life as well as private life has changed substantially since Bernay’s published his statements in 1928. There have been so many significant changes in the social atmosphere when it comes to gender roles and standards for each of the sexes, that saying women will supplement men in public is a disagreeable statement.I interpret Bernay’s statement as a preliminary thought for the propaganda campaign of “Rosie the Riveter” that was so prevalent during World War II. Not in so much as men ignoring their roles, but when men are unable to perform duties on the home front because they are out fighting a war, women will be looked to fill their positions at the factories and in the job force.
Some examples of how women perform jobs in the public eye that men “are likely to ignore”, are the responsibilities of buying groceries, getting the children’s haircut, and buying birthday presents for the extended family. Men do not typically take the time to do those things unless asked to do so by their wives, so Bernays argument still holds some truth today.
However, women have held many duties and responsibilities in the past that men now perform, so to say that only men have been supplemented by women is wrong.