On the surface, the post-war age of the 1950s seemed like the American Dream come true: nuclear families, traditional gender roles, and abstinence (“Women in the 1950s”). Underneath, gradual actions of nonconformity would set off a shift in societal standards, like the movement of tectonic plates initiate earthquakes. Though women gained some political rights, due to the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the early 20th century, their positions in jobs originally intended for men were challenged once the soldiers returned home from the war; Consequently, women were rendered housewives, yet again, and resumed the illusion of the American Dream (“Causes: Women’s Suffrage Movement”). In such an age driven by misogynistic outlooks, poet, Adrienne Rich, …show more content…
A small breeze of retaliations started a hurricane once protests against discrimination began with the Civil Rights Movement. In an effort to prevent the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from passing, a congressman suggested that women deserved equality, since the idea at the time seemed so outrageous (“Second-wave Feminism”). Ironically, the act passed giving women protection in the workplace alongside African Americans. Victories such as these gave women the much-needed courage to step up and fight for even greater rights: birth control pills freed them from childbearing, giving them more time to get an education and work; radical feminism fought against gender expectations and femininity (“Second-wave Feminism”). The Feminist Movements of the 1960s and 1970s transformed the roles of women in society. The oppression of women dies with Aunt Jennifer. Rich used the words “terrified,” “ringed,” “ordeals” and “mastered,” in the final stanza, to revisit the suffering these women felt, trapped in an unfulfilling mold of good wife and mother. In the lines that follow, “prancing,” “proud” and “unafraid,” provide a contrast to the misery, displaying a sense of perseverance. The tigers, the very spirit of feminism, will outlive
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
Moran, Mickey. “1930s, America- Feminist Void?” Loyno. Department of History, 1988. Web. 11 May. 2014.
The world was a very different place sixty years ago. The men came home from the war to take back the work force from the women and sent the women back into the home to follow traditional domestic roles. All aspects of life had to be cookie cutter perfect, to include the gender roles. The roles of both genders have been portrayed by the BBC Television show, Call the Midwife, as they use to be in the 1950’s. The men were the breadwinners of their family by working arduous hours, protect their family and home, and have zero contact with feminine things and activities; the women were expected to get married early, always look their best, and never indulge in their aspirations for a career outside of the home unless they were single.
In the early 1900’s, women who were married main jobs were to care for her family, manage their houses, and do housework. That is where the word housewife was come from. During the 1940's, women's roles and expectations in society were changing quickly and a lot. Before, women had very limited say in society. Since unemployment was so high during the Great Depression, most people were against women working because they saw it as women taking jobs from men that needed to work. Women were often stereotyped to stay home, have babies, and to be a good wife and mother. Advertisements often targeted women, showing them in the kitchen, talking with children, serving dinner, cleaning, and them with the joy of a clean house or the latest kitchen appliance.
“Gender” refers to the cultural construction of whether one is female, male, or something else (Kottak 2013: 209). Typically, based on your gender, you are culturally required to follow a particular gender norm, or gender role. Gender roles are the tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes (Kottak 213: 209). The tasks and activities assigned are based upon strongly, seized concepts about male and female characteristics, or gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes…are oversimplified but strongly upheld ideas about bout the characteristics of males and females (Kottak 2013: 209).
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
The social perception of women has drastically changed since the 1950’s. The social role of women during the 1950’s was restrictive and repressed in many ways. Society during that time placed high importance on expectations of behavior in the way women conducted themselves in home life as well as in public. At home the wife was tasked with the role of being an obedient wife, caring mother, and homemaker. Women publicly were expected to form groups and bond over tea with a slice of cake. All the while government was pushing this idealize roll for women in a society “dominated” by men. However, during this time a percentage of women were finding their way into the work force of men. “Women were searching their places in a society led by men;
Due to the idealization of domesticity in media, there was a significantly stagnant period of time for women’s rights between 1945 and 1959. Women took over the roles for men in the workplace who were fighting abroad during the early 1940s, and a strong, feminist movement rose in the 1960s. However, in between these time periods, there was a time in which women returned to the home, focusing their attention to taking care of the children and waiting on their husband’s every need. This was perpetuated due to the increasing popularity of media’s involvement in the lives of housewives, such as the increasing sales of televisions and the increase in the number of sexist toys.
also managed to prove that they could do the jobs just as well as men
The 1950s was a time when American life seemed to be in an ideal model for what family should be. People were portrayed as being happy and content with their lives by the meadia. Women and children were seen as being kind and courteous to the other members of society while when the day ended they were all there to support the man of the house. All of this was just a mirage for what was happening under the surface in the minds of everyone during that time as seen through the women, children, and men of this time struggled to fit into the mold that society had made for them.
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening were two works written during the Age of Expression. The entire country was going through an era of Reconstruction; politically, socially, culturally and econmically . The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening are feminist works aimed at the psychological, social, and cultural injustices during the era. According to Mizruchi, “ Cosmopolitanism aroused dis-ease: depression and disaection were prevalent in a society whose pace and variety seemed relentless. Yet the same circumstances also instilled hope. For it was widely recognized that the burgeoning heterogeneity of a newly global America would be a source of enduring vitality.”(Mizruchi, 2008) The wives portrayed in these works defeated the attitudes of their husbands during this patriarchal culture.
Women of the 1920's Women during the 1920's lifestyle, fashion, and morals were very different than women before the 1920's. Flappers became the new big thing after the 19th amendment was passed. Women's morals were loosened, clothing and haircuts got shorter, and fashion had a huge role in these young women. Women before the 1920's were very different from the women of the Roarin' 20's. Gwen Hoerr Jordan stated that the ladies before the 1920's wore dresses that covered up most of their skin, had pinned up long hair, were very modest, had chaperones and had men make all of their decisions (1).
Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, explains the mind set of society in the 1960s. She writes that the women of the ‘60s were identified only as creatures looking for “sex, babies, and home” (Friedan 36). She goes on to say “The only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman [was] permitted [was] the pursuit of a man” (Friedan 36). This mind set, this “feminine mystique,” is clearly shown throughout the show Mad Men. The side effect of the feminine mystique hurt all the women of this time. Matthew Weiner shows how this conception of the “ideal woman” hurt all of his lead women. The consequences are shown in the two women who bought into the idea, Betty and Joan, and the one who re...
The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then, it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be three waves of feminism, each wave fighting for a different issue concerning women’s rights. Laws protecting sexual assault and alimony would be enacted, and women were now allowed custody of their children in divorce cases.