Women's Changing Roles: 1950-1960

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The Transition of Women from Housewife to Feminists

Table of Contents

Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 3

Women of 1950s -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 3

Women Strike for Peace -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 4

The Feminine Mystique------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 5

Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 9

Biliography -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 10

Introduction

The depression in the 1930s and United States’ entry into World War II brought the new wave of nationalism. As the American women began to participate in the industries by taking jobs in factories and offices, new ideas of liberty and independence began to emerge. Women started to question what they should and could do. As the sense of dissatisfaction among women grew rapidly, feminists became active in fighting against the sex discrimination in all areas of society. Ultimately, the release of The Feminine Mystique in the early 1960, Betty Friedan’s work revealing women’s grievance toward their “perfect family life” caught attention of women across the country. The ideology of perfect housewife began to shift as the American women began to seek for the meaning of their marriages and their position in society, which led to the cultural shift towards feminism in the 1960s.

Women in 1950s

The American society in the 1950s was mainly based on family that the roles of male and female were ...

... middle of paper ...

...ov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm.

Witt, Linda, Karen M. Paget, and Glenna Matthews. Running as a Woman: Gender and Power in American Politics. New York: Free Press, 1994.

Young, William H., and Nancy K. Young. The 1950s. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004.

Work Consulted

Sawhney, Vintee. "The Women's Liberation." CWLU Herstory. Last modified November 2001. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/_notes/GrrlSmarts/sawhney.html.

Holt, Jennifer. "The Ideal Woman." The Ideal Woman. Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.csustan.edu/honors/documents/journals/soundings/Holt.pdf.

O'Neill, William L., and William L. O'Neill. Feminism in America: A History. 2nd

ed. New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction Publishers, 1989.

Swerdlow, Amy. Women Strike for Peace: Traditional Motherhood and Radical Politics in the 1960s. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

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