What Was The Role Of Women In The 1950's

The 1950’s were a great time and one main reason was because most people were happy with their lives because everything was going well. In the 1950’s most men had

Women became very large helpers for the war. “As men were needed on the battlefield, there was a shortage of people to work in the outside domain. Consequently, women filled roles traditionally held by men, and their skills no longer solely applied to domestic chores.” (NA) After the return of the soldiers, many debated the women’s

They also had to handle the loss of children, men and family members and go on about their daily lives. Some women accompanied the men and assisted with military jobs and operations .

From the outset, women were as actively involved in the war as the men were. Women worked in specific areas that considered traditional roles, including: cooking and administering. This meant that men could go fight without having to complete other jobs on the way. The government disapproved all attempts made by women to fight in the army force.

Although, the 1950’s were looked at as peace and ‘happy times’ it was a tad bit different from what was advertised. The 1950’s were an era of prosperity, growth, and chaos in the United States. The population during this time was about 151,684,000 with an unemployment figure around 3,288,000 (Bradley). Industries were expanding in order to meet the needs for people

Women were always treated differently from men. They couldn't vote for anything. They were always stereotyped as people who couldn't do a single thing. They were basically only allowed to cook, clean, and homeschool the children. They couldn't go out and do things with their husbands and do the things that they do like hunting.

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

In the beginning, our Government was against involving women in our military forces. Before the war, it was commonly thought that a working man was the main provider in a household. Therefore, any woman who took a job that was known to society as a “man’s job” was stealing work from another man and his family (Roles). Knowing this, our government mildly discouraged women who had wanted to work for the army; until they

Women made contributions to the war that included fighting and supplying the war. White women were considered free, but they still had few rights compared to white men and were very much under control of their husbands. Women were defined in society as being homemakers, who were to have children and raise the children, while their husbands provided for the household. Women wanted more than to just be seen as wives, and wanted a good education as well as having their own say in politics. In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote, “Remember the Ladies” to her husband John Adams.

During the 1950s in America, the ideal image of a women was a good wife, can cook and stay at home and take care of the children. There were even ads and magazines to promote that lifestyle and because most of the consumers were women that were housewives. There were also stereotypes that came along with it such as not being a smart shopper and dependent on a dominant man. Iraq had gender roles that were considered the norm also. During the 1950s in Iraq, separating the women from the men was prevalent, they were expected to follow the traditional norm such as: submission, dressing a certain way, being pure, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children.

Women have been serving in the military longer than one might think. The roles women played in previous history are overlooked and not paid attention too. Before women were actually in uniform, many served as nurses, telephone operators, clerks, along with many other roles (Blanton & Cook, 2005, p. 84). It was originally intended to keep women far from fighting due to the idea that women are not capable of protecting themselves let alone others, but women continued to put their lives on the line in order to serve in the United States Armed Forces (Blanton & Cook, 2005, p. 139). Women often followed their spouses to war beginning in the Revolutionary War, 1775 through 1783 (Laurence, Milavec, Rohall, Ender, & Matthews, 2016).

They had the same kinds of food, the same way of dressing and the same way of resting. During the bloody conflict, the women were wounded, killed, while some were maimed just like the men, where they in turn

Men being the primary gender in combat today, have always had to deal with being away from their home and families for long periods of time. Women on the other hand, have not, and have always normally been the ones to stay home with the children while their husbands

Walking into toy stores or isles filled with children’s toys usually, and is supposed to, fill people with joy and happy thoughts. Seeing the newest toy for the first time creates unmeasurable excitement in children and often brings back favorable memories to the adults that accompany them. Sitting through lectures in my college psychology class and thinking about the lecture, joy and happy thoughts quickly float to the back of my mind and confusion and frustration replace the previous emotions. In the years leading up to 2016, many people have fought to improve women’s rights and to gain equal opportunities for every person. Even with years of improvement, when a child and parent walks into Toys R Us or any toy store, there’s often a clear

Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,