Domestic Containment Of Men And Women In The Early 1960s

History defines the post-World War II period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s (also known as the era of domestic containment) as one of strictly defined gender roles. These gender roles more specifically set women to be a housewife and men to become breadwinners for their family, which were stressful for both throughout this period. However, men and women during this period fit themselves into these boxes due to the need to conform with societal and political institutions.
Historians refer to the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s as the era of domestic containment. In Homeward Bound by Elaine Tyler May, she explains that domestic containment was the way that people used the home to minimize the risk of unsavory ideas

making their way into society (May, p. 16). Domestic containment forced people to be constantly on alert to conform to society’s standards and minimize “potentially dangerous social forces” (May, 207, p. 16). In the case of domestic containment, it “was bolstered by a powerful political culture that rewarded its adherents and marginalized its detractors” (May, 2017, p. 16). However, in this situation, society refers to those in power who primarily affected white, working- or middle-class, two-parent families. While the narratives of those that were not white, working- or middle-class, or in two-parent families are important, they do not apply as heavily to the powerful American ideas of gender roles and domestic containment during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Therefore, the societal norms of a housewife and breadwinner for women and men, respectively, primarily applied to the former group.
During the era of domestic containment, white societal norms were a key factor in creating the gender norms of housewife and breadwinner for women and men, respectively. Films and magazines oftentimes had depictions of women that portrayed them as focused on their family rather than their career (May, 63). More specifically, there was a shift from the strong, independent woman to the family-driven, caring mother. Movies like Penny Serenade showcased how motherhood was a central aspect of a woman’s being (May, 136-138). Motherhood was the key in fulfilling a woman’s sexuality (May, 133). Family involvement, though, was just as societally important for men as for women.
While staying at home to take care of the family was a norm for society’s ideal mother, society also expected fathers to spend quality time with their family. Again, as seen in Penny Serenade, fathers were expected to be there for their family no matter the cost (May, 136-138). The television show Father Knows Best also showcased the importance of fatherhood, rather than the man’s career, to promote family life throughout white society (May, 138). Men were expected to be there for their children to prevent them from becoming “sissies” who could “become homosexuals, ‘perverts,’ and dupes of the communists” (May, 2017, p. 139). These ideas were the epitome of fear for families. The need to keep their children safe from whatever harm that parents expected to befall their children led to ideas of conformity.
Men and women followed gender roles due to society’s need for conformity. Men and women “who did not conform to [political and economic institutions] were likely to be marginalized, stigmatized, and disadvantaged as a result” (May, 2017, p. 139). Furthermore, white society as a whole created a need for conformity due to the prevalence of media that promoted adherence to the cultural norms that stated that men and women should be primarily breadwinners and primarily homemakers specifically. People also believed that “as long as they conformed to the prevailing norms of political and personal behavior, their virtue and patriotism would not be questioned, and they would have access to the suburban dream” (May, 2017, p. 15). Adhering to the ‘correct’ political and personal behavior made individuals appear to be ‘normal’ and not communistic during the cold war and red scare.
The United States needed to present themselves as a unified society to showcase American society which therefore showed capitalism as better than communism.

As May states “domestic containment and its therapeutic corollary undermined the potential for political activism and reinforced the chilling effects of anticommunism and the cold war consensus” (May, 2017, p. 17). Domestic containment, as described earlier, made the home into a place in which societal norms were reinforced. Therefore, there was a strong need for the general white population to comply with societal norms. This also led to other factors in the anticommunism movement during the cold

war.
The political context involving the cold war was a key factor in white, middle-class individuals to comply with gender roles. The movement towards anticommunism demonstrated the need for Americans to conform as a way to avoid looking like a communist, as seen with the red scare. Additionally, there was a need to showcase that the capitalistic economy of the United States was inherently better because the women did not have to work as hard. In the 1959 “kitchen debate,” Vice President Richard Nixon used this information as a way of promoting capitalistic ideals.
The “kitchen debate,” as May explains, was an “ideological struggle fought on a cultural battleground” (May, 2017, p. 19). Vice President Nixon used kitchen appliances and their helpfulness as a way to showcase how the American way of life was better for people than communism (May, 19). Moreover, Nixon used the kitchen appliances to boast about the quality of women’s lives in the United States and how it was easier for them to take care of their family compared to women in the Soviet Union (May, p. 20). By showing that household tasks were easier for American women than Soviet women, people could make the implication that if tasks were easier, then they were better, so the United States was better in general. These ideas helped to lead to more technology being used in the home. Furthermore, the kitchen and other automatic appliances allowed mothers to do more with their children and for their household, as examined in “Modern American Housewife,” a letter to the editor published in Ladies Home Journal, ® magazine.
As a reader from Castro Valley explains in her letter to the editor, automatic equipment allowed her to be able to do more for her family (Reader, para. 4). The ease of the equipment was similar to the kitchen appliances discussed in the kitchen debate. Additionally, these appliances helped the mother “provide a happy, wholesome life for her children” that were “all time-consuming” (Reader, 1956, para. 4). The author also discusses how much work she puts into her household, and how much she does to make sure that she does everything “by the best methods” (Reader, 1956, para. 3). This woman’s opinion shows to modern historians that while gender roles could be constraining and tiring, there were ways to try and alleviate some of the burden. However, gender roles for men and women led to feelings of discontent throughout the population.
Outwardly, it appeared that the era of domestic containment was a happy time for the general population; however, there was much discontent within families.

Women specifically suffered mental breakdowns and anxiety, and some of that stress came from a lack of support from their husbands (May, 202-207). That is not to say that it was the husbands’ faults that their wives were in a state of mental disarray due to the fact that societal norms put stress on women that men were unable to understand and vice versa. Furthermore, these internal problems were not publicized, so women felt alone and as though their problems were due to their own faults rather than societal pressure. As May explains, women did not have a name for their problems until 1963 and the release of The Feminine Mystique (May, 199). Societal norms led to women and men feeling isolated from the rest of the population due to the need to conform and the fear of questioning those

norms.
Societal and political norms of conformity during the era of containment led to white men and women putting themselves into the roles of breadwinners and housewives. These gender roles came from the need to present the United States as a unified and uniformed nation in contrast to communism and the Soviet Union. The era of containment was a time of stress for individuals that the general public does not recognize and instead believes to be a time of happiness and prosperity. Thus, the gender roles placed on white men and women of this era were problematic for both parties and led to more discontent within these individuals.

References
A reader from Castro Valley, CA. (1956, March). Modern American Housewife [Letter to the editor]. Ladies Home Journal ®.
May, E. T. (2017). Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (Fourth ed.). New York: Basic Books.