Anne Taintor is an artist who has taken the iconic images of the 1950s era and turned them upside down with just a few words, giving the classic images new meanings.

The Anne Taintor products add interestingly witty layers to the one dimensional images of the “ideal” woman.

Images of women in 1950s and ’60s America depicted strict standards of “perfection” with their flawless hair, white faces, and red lips. This type of image can still conjure up thoughts of a Leave It to Beaver life filled with women in housewife roles baking apple pies and vacuuming in high heels.

But Taintor plays on this connection of a “wholesome” idea of a woman with the clever comments she adds to the images.

Anne Taintor products range from compacts and coasters to file folders and flasks–all with the trademark comments that are both silly and insightful.

One of my favorite products from the Anne Taintor web site is a makeup bag showing a proper looking woman with the Anne Taintor caption that reads: “maybe I want to look cheap.”

There are also items like notepads that have women’s faces smiling back at the viewer, featuring words such as “why yes, I am overqualified” pasted beside the classic image.

The few words pasted on the classic images of women point out the rigid standards women conform to in the media more generally.

In a culture where girls and women see “perfect” pictures of women almost everywhere they go, it’s refreshing to see silly products that poke fun and mock those pressures to look and be a certain way.

You can check out all the Anne Taintor products here.

If you want to let Anne Taintor know how you feel about her products and their impact on women, send an email to cs@annetaintor.com.

–Ashley