Analysis Of Homeward Bound: American Families In The Cold War

Kalley Ravndalen Essay 2
In the historical study, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, the author Elaine Tyler May conveys her argument to be on how people embraced the dominant gender roles and family models in regard to the Cold War. May uses the word containment to describe a response to postwar developments and she also shares how people adhered to this idea because it was a guide to lead them in their own personal and political lives. Domestic containment was occurring most commonly in the homes because most of the decisions that people had made were because of their fears of the cold war world. People of the time believed that “Containment was the key to security,” and this eventually became known as one the goals

To prove her argument, May relies on a variety of sources in the popular culture like movies, mass-circulation periodicals, newspapers, writings of professionals, as well as the papers and statements of those who influenced public policies. The Kelly Longitudinal Study (KLS) was another source with data that provided information for, “finding out why white class-middle Americans adhered so strongly to a normative and quite specifically defined notion of family life at the time” and this was also used as a primary source for May in her studies (May, 14). For many generations, domestic containment was a response that occurred in regard to the different circumstances that they were apart of and it portrayed dominant gender roles and family models that were promoted and accepted at the time. May is attempting to convey her argument and trying to prove why the postwar Americans had been so excited towards marriage and parenthood unlike their parents and children. She proceeds to portray this in the rest of her historical book explaining how domestic containment changed and expanded

People would purchase these things because they felt comfortable enough to do so and it also showed superiority in the cold war world that they were living in. Most of these purchases were meant for the family and the home, which were considered conservative consumption because they were not just spending money luxuriously because of the fear that the depression could come back again. For safety and protection, most of the houses of this time contained actual shelters inside them. This brought a sense of security and it was a place where people of the time could have sheltered existence in the cold war world. May described the houses as “…the suburban ranch-style home was to blend in with nature,” and there was a look of protection as it was surrounded by bushes and trees that outlined the outer part of the house for privacy (May, 164). Most of these houses were typically located away from the core of the city and in a location with more safety and security. The reason for this was typically because of the fear of a bomb that would take place in the core of a city. The GI Bill of Rights, Veterans Administration, and Federal Housing Authority were “The new programs, which