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Women in the 1950s: Is the image of the 1950s housewife accurate?

Women in the 1950s: Is the image of the 1950s housewife accurate?. WWII employment for women. WW2 brought unprecedented economic growth to the US. This booming economy created a large demand for labor, which offered new job opportunities for women and minorities

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Women in the 1950s: Is the image of the 1950s housewife accurate?

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  1. Women in the 1950s: Is the image of the 1950s housewife accurate?

  2. WWII employment for women • WW2 brought unprecedented economic growth to the US. • This booming economy created a large demand for labor, which offered new job opportunities for women and minorities • Women worked in new jobs in the war industry and filled jobs vacated by those who went to war • About 300,000 women served in the military during WW2

  3. Post-WWII employment • At the end of the war, women in jobs that had been traditionally filled by men were fired to make way for returning male veterans • Women were limited to jobs considered “women’s jobs”, such as teaching, clerical work, domestic labor, and retail.

  4. Social pressures • Women faced huge pressure to marry young and have a big family • Women who could attend college were expected to go only to find a husband, not a career path • Women were pressured to be stay-at-home mothers, and single mothers were often shunned • Cold War propaganda transmitted the idea that strong families would help the US beat the USSR Kennedy wedding, Jacqueline throwing the bouquet, 1953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-XR3cMPd5I

  5. The Baby Boom Births Year

  6. Media portrayals of gender https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oay9VxFVFmEm • The media portrayed a domestic ideal for women • Television shows and women’s magazines claimed that women were most responsible for their children and husband’s happiness and well-being • Women were told to keep their houses and appearances flawless https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nx6BsYIvU4

  7. Suburbia, home of the “happy housewife” • The first mass-produced suburb, Levittown, NY, was built in 1951. • These homes were affordable. • Many returning veterans were able to buy a house because of the GI Bill. • The homes were built quickly and cheaply • Mass production resulted in uniformity of design and homogenous suburban neighborhoods • Millions of African Americans moved out of the South and into Northern cities during the Great Migration, causing “white flight” to the suburbs

  8. Household products marketed to women • Life in suburbia encouraged conformity. There was a pressure to “keep up with the Joneses” with material purchases. • Ex. Cars, appliances • New forms of media, in particular the television, promoted consumerism, with household products being strongly marketed to women.

  9. What was it like for suburban women in the 1950s? Is the image of the happy 1950s housewife accurate? Central Historical Question

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