“If you are a woman, read this, it’s good for you”: the advertising of medicines targeted at mothers in the Colombian press, 1903-1945

Abstract

This article analyses the advertising of patent medicine directed at mothers, which circulated in newspapers between 1903 and 1945. It demonstrates that these advertisings played an important role in shaping women as a consumer demographic, promoting a scientific approach to motherhood intertwined with health challenges. The methodology employed included the analysis of advertisements in the newspapers El Tiempo, La Prensa, Rigoletto, El Faro and Evolución. Additionally, it examines the historiography of the subject in Colombia and other latitudes. The conclusion of this study asserts that motherhood was a significant target for pharmaceutical industries, leading to a commercial concept of motherhood.

Keywords
Motherhood; Advertising; Childcare; Medicine