Gender Role In Men And Women In The 1960's

The woman’s role in society had many changes during the era of WWII to the baby boom era. It went from the strong independent woman that can work in a factory to a house wife that takes care of the family to the final slightly dominant, but still dependent female. All of these different feminine mystiques were changed because of society and through indirect propaganda in TV shows and

Advertising in the 1950’s, at first glance, can be described as sexist; however, with a deeper understanding of the assumed gender roles of the decade, it is discovered that advertising was pushing established boundaries, especially that of women’s portrayal in ads. Advertising in the 1950’s was drastically different compared to today’s advertising norms. Ads in the 1950’s, under today’s values, are mostly interpreted as purely sexist. However, a deeper understanding of the decade and society can reveal how ads were even boundary pushing. While these ads may not be successful in today’s society, a simple comparison to today’s advertising can show how society’s values have shifted to accommodate different gender roles.

With the shift of gender roles in American culture, comes the shift in how Americans portray characters in certain television and media shows. While the cultural norms and beliefs change as a country, so do the way people perceive the roles of males and females. In the 1950’s, it was normal for a female to be working on and at the home, taking care of the kids, and doing the tedious chores around the house. All while the male is at work, making the money to support the family. In today’s time, with many advances in women’s rights and cultural acceptance, these roles are not so specific to a gender.

In the 1950’s, women were working and being transformed into the American housewife, while their husbands went off to corporate careers. In Ingalls and Johnson, women were said to have careers however, could only succeed at “motherhood substitute jobs” such as teaching, nursing, administrative assistive, and social work (I&J, 51). This culture portrayed woman as only being capable of household jobs. When looking for the perfect suburban home, General Electric said women would head straight for the kitchen because this was where she would be spending most of her time. General Electric’s Wonder Kitchen made it even easier for women to save time, space, and work, allowing for wives to have more leisure time. The Chase & Sanborn advertisement reinforces the culture of women having to do everything to please their husbands. The picture on the ad depicts a man spanking his wife across his lap because she disappointed him with flat and stale coffee. Not only are women conforming to this domestically pleasing life style, but men also had

The 1950s seemed like the perfect era in America thanks to pop culture and people romanticizing the life of being young and free during the 1950s. But in reality, it wasn’t like that. After reading the Guest of the Shiek, you shouldn’t compare the life of an Iraqi woman to the life of an American woman because you think it’s the “ideal”. Their culture is entirely different from ours and it wasn’t all that great being a woman during that time in America either. There were problems with stereotypes of women in the media, women were still fighting for equal rights and working opportunities, and black women were very oppressed.

First, what was the Culture of Female Domesticity of the 1950s/1960s? This time period saw the age for marriage dropping rapidly, a huge increase in birthrates, and a steady decrease in divorce rates. After World War II ended, men returned home expecting women to move aside as they regained their jobs that they had left behind. “These men also harbored fantasies of wifely submission as payment for their soldiering sacrifices” (Campbell, 65). Marjorie Ferguson points out what Betty Friedan has also argued, that the “purveyors of commodities were wary of an increase in female employment and believed that women’s appetites for goods and services were the mainstay of increased sales” (Ferguson, 34). Women were expected to care for their husbands and their children and also

Gender roles became so complex in the twentieth century due how society has changed what men and women should be like. Men take being strong and independent as a God given right to them, while females on the other hand have had to work their way up in order to be titled independently strong. From growing up to early adulthood I faced the conflict of constantly worrying about how society wants me shape myself as a dependent and self-confident which was the complete opposite of me.

The concept of the “ideal” woman that prominent during the early 1900s to about 1960s, is still seen today through television and films that talk about the happier time that the 1950s held. The long lasting effects that the construction of gender roles created still has an impact on women in today’s society. There have been many novels written which deal with the idea of gender stereotypes. Most recently, more fiction novels have been written rather than nonfiction. Gender roles can be seen in simple things such as covers of books or genres.

The 1950’s was viewed as a period of conformity when women were observed strict gender roles and complied with society’s expectations. After the Great Depression and World War II women were expected to be identified primarily as wives and mothers ,and to refrain from working outside of home. Since then women have elevated from being just housewives to running for the President of the United States. The changing roles of women have been very beneficial to our society today as proven by research ,history,and from my own experience. Research proves that the changing roles of women have been beneficial to our society.

The unconventional portrayal of women through Angie’s character correlates to the changes in women’s perspectives and social roles in the 1960s. The feminist movement was among the many social movements of the 1960s, including the civil rights movement and the antiwar movement. The “second wave of feminism” led to women questioning their social inequality and to women exploring their sexuality to a greater degree (Klatch), and Angie’s character denotes the film’s feminist influences. When Angie awaits Rocky’s arrival to dinner at her apartment, she intently dresses provocatively and reveals more of her chest than she usually does to reignite a sexual relationship with Rocky. Her strategy works, and she impresses Rocky, who chauvinistically

Leave it to beaver and other paper situation comedies of the 1950s embrace the idea of women as caregivers charge with maintaining domestic life, placement in the role of the breadwinning leader of the pack, and set up children as pupils, attentively observing mom and dad in order to for fill those name same role in adulthood. Living in a world with no larger issues to confront, these television families were left to focus on their health and well-being, with each member giving their all to the respective roles. In the real world people faced worries of changing gender roles in the rebellious youth culture, capped off with an underlying sense of impending doom caused by there ever present reality of the Cold War. The presentation of stable, strong, functioning nuclear family served reinforce the idea that if families near the simple, for filling life pretrade in the small screen, ultimately everything will be “a – OK“.

to be a housewife however society tried to refrain this from happening. The 1970s was still very sexist and that can be shown in media of that period. (Brown, ‘It’s a wifesaver’ Advertisement, 1974) Advertisements of this time period were still very female dominated. Fig.1 is a clear example that gender stereotypes of being a housewife or home maker still haven’t totally disappeared.

In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.

The 1952 Schlitz advertisement that is shocking to most modern day feminists, was trying to normalize the “imperfect woman” by advertising beer. The printed ad states: “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the beer!” After WWII, women were slowly gaining independence as most of the male population was away at war. The women had to fill in the spots of males in society, transcending from the private sphere, being confined to the home, to the public sphere, where they would work for wages. Once the men returned home from war, so did the women. The women became confined to their homes and became what we know as the stereotypical housewife: caretakers of their children, caterers to their husbands, and makers of the home. The media continued to build upon the ideas of the perfect housewife, and while perfect housewives were ubiquitously depicted in their ads, they strategically used women as bait to conform to the development of the dramatic consumerist ideologies.

In the 1960s the women in the Western hemisphere were balancing between multiple different, simultaneusly affecting ideologies. Woman should have first of all been an obedient mother, who always thinks of the family's benefit, but at the same time the growing significance of the education and the fresh confidence endorsed by the women's movements distanced women from the traditional values (see Hobsbawm, 1995 & Boch, 2002). After the Second World War Women's awareness of their own status and finding a shared support group started the so called second wave of Feminism, which started to gain masses attention in 1960s. The European second wave Feminism was greatly influenced by the vanguards in the United States (Bock, 2002). One of the most important