Growing distinction between workplace and home led to distinction in societal roles of men and women. Women had long been denied legal and political rights, little access to business, less access to education at high…
As American women's roles evolved over time, women were confronted with contradictory messages about their place in society. Traditional ideals about women met new challenges with each generation, from outside forces like war and economic depression, and from the activity of women themselves. This caused many women to struggle with societal expectations that did not fit their reality, and with an identity that did not fit expectations. Colonial society delegated to women the job of protecting and sustaining the morality of the people, yet it refused them a public forum in which to do so; the nineteenth century ideology of domesticity presented a standard of maternal care that could not be universally achieved; the twentieth century offered women the opportunity for education, independence, and a place in the labor force, but expected her to return to her proper place in the home after marriage.…
The mid twentieth century proved to be a compelling, interesting time for the United States and an era that changed the World. The Civil Rights movement brought the end to de jure segregation and racism and this incredible grassroots movement served as a foundational model for other groups to mock and seek their own liberation. The 1960s spurned movements not only for African Americans, but also for the LGBT community and women. With the emergence of America as a media savvy economic powerhouse post the World Wars, a tide sort of changed within the community of women. According to Sara Evans in the selection “Cracks in the Mold,” women in the 1950s recognized they were somewhat limited to performing the dutiful tasks of motherhood, but many were outright no longer finding fulfillment in such rolls (176). Evans describes the complexities of sexism in the United States’ culture while also she explains that both a conservative female push and a more radical feminist movement helped shape the legislation and attitude changes permeating through twentieth century America.…
Women were expected to perform more domestic chores than their husbands who were spending more time at work due to the implementation of a more socialist society. This began a transition into similar expectations that American women had to uphold to as well, such as staying at home, cleaning, caring for the children more so than their husband counterparts. After several years of making up labor for the country, the FCW was established and this helped change society for women after the 60s (Nazzari). This liberated women from their “patriarchal norms.” At the same time, economic development was needed and so were women.…
“The way to a man’s heart, so we’ve always been told, is a good working knowledge of a pot, pan and mold.” –The Brides Cookbook, 1956. This quote is from a cookbook, which was made especially for newlywed women (Brides Cookbook, 1956). This is one example of the gender roles that was expected during this time era. Many women during that time period were expected to stay home, cook, clean and take care of the children, while the man of the house would work. The quote also continues “A juicy red steak, or a tender fish fillet, done to a turn, in a bright copper skillet, And leaves the man happy, content and drooling” (Brides Cookbook, 1956), It states that the meals the women makes will leave him happy, and during this time era, women did all the work in the house (Brides Cookbook, 1956). Even television shows during this time era make is acceptable to be a house wife, such as I love Lucy and Leave it to Beaver.…
Ever since the beginning, women have been downgraded. Many people ask the question why? Well, many people have thought that women cannot do the things that men can. Which later proves to not be true at all, as women believed they can do anything they put their minds to. With America's involvement in World War II, there was a change to women's roles. Women at the time may have not seen it but they were planting the seeds for the rebirth of feminism in the 1940s. (Writer, Leaf Group. “Feminism During the 1940s.” )…
Then we enter the baby boom period and things change a bit. Post war was during 1945 through 1960 and the troops came home. Marriage rates increased and the birth rate was through the roof(Norton, 839). Since families were growing the women now needed to stay home. When we entered the 1950’s people were getting married younger and families became the main focus. During this period is when I see the biggest change in gender roles. Women before this were trying to do the same things as men, have rights and be independent. They basically take a few steps back. While a good portion of women did work during this time, they were still responsible for the household duties and the children. Women who did work work faced discrimination. There would help wanted signs asking specifically for a male or a female(Norton, 860).…
Women were discouraged from working , while men would leave the home to work and provide for the family. This didn’t change until the year 1940 when the United States actually was at war and women were recruited. During this year women were portrayed differently. In 1930s during the depression, women were portrayed in the home, but in the years of war, women were pictured as heroines since they were in the assembly lines working. During this time, waves of women stepped up to work as men went overseas to…
The roles of women took a big turn and have developed into new roles for them today in modern society. According to Erika Cox in Life in the 1950’s, “Life in the early 1950’s was still very strict. Women were still obligated to the status of housewives and men were the main breadwinners in the family.” In the 1950’s and 60’s housekeeping and raising a family were considered ideal female roles. Women were expected to be perfect, in every way. Everyone wanted the perfect TV family and a wife who would gladly wash the dishes and do the housework. In 1950s Daily Life, Kayla Allen writes “Women were the ones who had to cook and clean. They had dinner on the table before their husbands came home from work. That lets them know that their wives are concerned for their needs.”For example, other than women having dinner ready, they also had to take care of the children, keep the house organized, and happily wait for their husband to come home from work. In our television programming of today, we see women taking the jobs of men. Women are now able to get an education and become police officers, join the military, and many other things. Females are now able to take the role of a female along with the role of a male. They have now become the housewife and the breadwinner in the family.…
During the 20’s, a majority of the workforce was mostly strictly males professionals, although some women in previous years worked it never measured to that of a male’s job. The social shifts in the social environments with gaining the right to vote confused many males whose mindsets remanded in the traditional past roles of women in the home. However one of…
As mentioned by Debbie Reynolds in The Tender Trap (1955), “A women isn’t a women until she’s been married and had children” (pg 652). Education also further enforced these ideas. In school, girls were taught to knit, cook, type and etc; they were also told not to miss out on marriage by pursuing higher education and because of that, only one-third of college women completed their degrees. But there were changes under the way. Increasing number of women entered the workforce and by 1960s, twice as many women worked outside the home as compared to 1940s. One-third of the labor force was women and one out of three married women worked outside the home. Their median wage, however, was less than half that of men. Majorities actually work to augment family income, not to challenge stereotypes and because of that, they are willing to take low-prestige…
We are persuaded through different types of media that the 1950s was a period of economic development, a period social change and awareness, and a period where women were fulfilled coming back to their pace in the home after the Second World War. Encompassing women with materialistic “necessities” to improve the home and the emphasis on family life and gender roles in the 1950s showed women their place in society. However, the expectation of society to fit in with gender roles has consequences. There was a desire to stay home and tend to the children and home and that a woman’s happiness depended on their children, home and spouse. Women in reality were unhappy and felt remorseful for encountering such emotions when they were told by society that their unhappiness depended on the happiness of their children and spouse. The lives of 1950’s middle-class, white, women in the U.S., considered another sort of comprehension of understanding of American women in the 1950s.…
An issue women struggled on during the 1920’s was that their working conditions and education rights were not given much importance. After World War One, women were asked to quit their jobs as the men needed to return to their workplaces. At these times,…
Women have fought throughout history in order to achieve different roles as well as to acquire recognition, independence, equality and respect. It has not been easy since they have had many barriers to overcome; their role in the family as wives, mothers and daughters; their role in society fighting for their rights, being heard and treated as men; their role as career women, not only receiving an education but also being able to work.…
The 1970s was a time when women realized that they had a second-class place in society. For instance although women made up about one-third of the American Workforce they were usually employed and low income, dead end jobs. Society was still teaching little girls that there was nothing, more than staying home and having children. And when those goals were just right for some others felt frustratingly limited. At the start of the seventies women's liberation groups grew in numbers and in strength as woman in all segments of the population discovered that they could have a voice. they also learn that they had common goals such as equality in jobs, education, child care, and abortion…