Traditional Gender Roles In The 1950's

The 1960s brought along important and beneficial changes to America, especially changes regarding gender roles and race relations. Even after World War II and the increasing tensions between the United States and Russia and Vietnam, America’s culture was changing faster than before. During the 1960s, gender roles changed for the better and race relations improved significantly.

The United States is a country with ever-changing morals, social norms, and ideas. Triggered by significant events such as new laws or wars, the changes that occur usually result in altered attitudes towards existing morals, norms, and ideas. One of the country’s most important changes was the huge cultural shift among young people that took place during the 1960s which had an immense influence on society.

Many individuals/Scholars tend to characterize the 1950s as a time of conformity, prosperity, & solidarity. While the 1960s was viewed as the decade of pandemonium, chaos & rebellion. These descriptions of both decades may be accurate. But many argue that there is a correlation between the two periods.

The United States had appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s. The fifties were the decade of reform to the better led by president Eisenhower. The economy was booming. Further, there was a rise in consumerism which resulted in a domino effect on the economy. On the other hand, issues arose during that time as well, such as the fear of communism. Additionally, disagreements and rebellions. The 1950s was characterized as a prosperous and conformist for several reasons. For instance, the development of the suburbs. The fifties was a period of civil rights groups, feminism, and change.

During the 1930’s there was an overwhelming sense of preconceived ideas of gender roles and what place they maintained in society, men were expected to work in order to earn a living and provide for their families, while women were more likely to stay at home to look after the children and cook and clean until the man returns from work. For working class Americans and the poor, the situation was during the Great Depression and many people were out of work and had to resort to desperate measures in order to provide for their families. Contrast to the upper class of the time who went by greatly untouched by economic downfall and thus become increasingly more obliged to seek a wife in order to have a family and live what seemed to be the idea of a middle-class woman’s American dream to marry a wealthy man.

In the 1900’s, life started to change for women; they started to gain a higher position in society, they were able to demand more rights and they started thinking and acting freely and independently. Although the process towards women’s rights was challenging, it’s value to the future generations is clearly seen through the great amount of legislation passed throughout the years. Since the attempt at furthering equality among the genders, the biggest achievement was the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The fight for gender equality however was not achieved easily. There were a series of campaigns, propaganda, and conventions that took place in this struggle; starting off by the famous Seneca Falls Convention, the fight for women’s rights began. It was a very long and harsh process to gain their rights; women witnessed other races overcoming discrimination while they were still ignored. While men fought to preserve their position in society and their image of being superior, many important women fought against the society’s unfair oppression and many life-changing events were taking place.

Although gender roles have changed over time, where males and females have become more equivalent , a certain level of behaviors and tasks which are acceptable for men and women still exist today.

Looking in from the outside, the journey of Women’s rights was a lengthy one, and it has come a significant way from what it began as. It was a long road to freedom that started with just a few women protesting together for change in the mid 1800’s to the large movement it is today. What started only as an effort to put women on equal footing with men in the voting realm blossomed into a full on fight against gender norms and independence through protesting, speeches, and gatherings. Gender norms or ‘roles’ are (as defined by Webster’s dictionary) “a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex” and they are one thing that modern feminist have set their sights on to change for the better. Traditional gender roles have continued to exist for hundreds of years through perpetrators such as religion, government and society, and its effects have been felt by every woman, whether they realize it or not.

Men worked to pay the bills, while the wife stayed at home to take care of the house and the kids. Women were seen as inferior to men

Over the past sixty years’ women have made their mark, some decades more drastic than others. Women’s roles in the household, the family life they dreamed of, their rights in society, and their values towards themselves have all made a huge impact and difference on the women then and now. The nineteen fifties had one of the largest impacts with the greatest music, styles, and breakthrough advertising techniques, the fifties have remained to leave a memorable impression on passing decades. The morals and styles of the fifties is known to have left the greatest inspiration on today’s modern culture. The modern two thousand with its drastic difference has re mastered the definition of modern living. The advancement in technology, music, and ways

2 It is essential to go back to the fifties to be able to understand the sixties historically and sociologically. The fifties brought relief since the Depression and war were over, and now “science was mobilized by industry, and capital was channeled by government as never before.” 3 This new affluence gave the United States the ability to create suburbia and conform to moving in. This affected the sixties because conformity resulted in people rebelling.

Men believed that women served only one purpose which was to take care of the household. Being a wife and a mother was considered

There were high standards for women in society as well as in the home, as their main job was to be

Does television have an impact on people’s everyday lives? Yes television has an impact on people’s everyday lives because it displays certain social expectations like gender roles for men and women. For example, in the 1950’s television shows illustrated that the men had to be breadwinners while women had to be homemakers. On the other hand, in American society today the old expectations are being challenged by displaying women as breadwinners and homemakers. These social expectations of gender roles led to the “perfect” family structure on television represented during each era. In addition, the family structure formulated the ideal wife for the 1950’s and contemporary times, which plays a huge role when it comes to consumerism and the economy.

The 1960’s was also a decade of dramatic change and turmoil across the world. There were nuclear threats across the world including France, China, the United States and Cuba and the dramatic construction of the Berlin wall in Europe. Anti-war protests, social revolutions, the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement and the second wave of progression of feminism were especially important in making the world we have today. Politically important figures such as Martin Luther King Jr and John F Kennedy were also assassinated during the 1960’s which caused uproar in America. The 1960’s was also the decade the first man landed and walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong which had many opportunities for scientists to discover more about the universe.