Analysis Of What We Really Miss About The 1950's

Throughout recent history, the fifties proved to be the most interesting to me because not only was it a time of great economic expansion; but it was also known as a period where current citizens and leaders of the United States frowned upon. The “Golden Age” proved to be one of the most outbreaking movements of the industrial age. This period in American history gave citizens of the United States access to a better standard of living, transformed American agriculture, and brought the rise of the suburban nation. Remarkably, the employment rate for women had skyrocketed during the year of 1955 proving that

Throughout history, people have looked towards past history to recognize the problems that society endured. Some might say certain time periods was the best time to live as others periods were full of failure and the mistakes and should not be repeated. The idea of a perfect time to live is known as “golden age thinking” which is ultimately defined as a certain time period is better than the one they live in today. This hasty generalization bases an entire era with very little evaluation and thought due to people lacking to realize there is no such thing as the best era. However certain times may have accompanied better economic stability or less social oppression such as Stephanie Coontz’s article “What We Really Miss About the 1950s.” The idea of making a golden age by force by structuring society in very detailed manners causes a loss of privacy, choice and ultimately a loss of freedom due to the deprivation of individuality. The loss of individuality causes a loss in competition within a society causing people to lose interest in being more than what is just allowed like in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story “Harrison Bergeron.” Every era in history has had its setbacks but that is why every time period is run through trial and error.

The time in which the book was published, was a period of a baby boom in the United States. Approximately 4 million babies were born every year in the 1950s. This baby boom represented an era of growth and prosperity within the American people. “After World War II ended, many Americans were eager to have children because they were confident that the future held nothing but peace and

Life in the 1950s was a time where when a women was married and has kids she would stay home taking care of the meals, and children. Men would be the ones to go out and find a good job that helps with money problems. Also sometimes married women would hire a nanny to also help around the house. In the 1950s men respected women more than they do today because women were supposed to be beautiful and elegant. Also men were able to be a gentleman around women.

As Coontz corrilates "Still, I have no illusions that I'd actually go back to the 1950s , and neither do most people who express such occasional nostalgia" (Coontz, 28). The air that it held of being secure in ones job, future and family was something that everyone could take a security in. Even if that security wasn't something that would have essentailly come to them. People of minorities weren't treated fairly, neither were women. However the ideal of a white man in the 1950's, working and being able to live comfortably with a family and send his children to school was something that everyone wanted to attain, and still want to attain today.

Coontz again describes this situation with the illustration of what is thought to be the typical 1950s family life of a tight knit nuclear family who had few issues and the ones they did have could be hashed out quiet easily and efficiently. However, she points out that in real life this was not the case, alcoholism and abuse were rampant in the 1950s, but one would never be able to tell this if all they looked at were television portrayals of families from that era. This creates an unusual warped sense of history and nostalgia for a time period that in many way never actually

The society in the 1950s was developing from the previous years where women now had to leave their jobs and their freedom to come back home to cook for their family, veterans came back home to a new world, and children were finally able to get family time. After the end of the war both in the European side and the Pacific, the Americans would have been celebrating and have a boosting economy providing jobs for many men who came back from war. It could be seen from the new inventions that the US now had money to spend on the new luxuries for the comfort and wellbeing of the society. The change in the society has impacted the lives of the women, men, and children through their daily lives and even medicine and law.

The text states that the 1950’s were the best decade for children to grow up according to a poll taken in 1996. Researchers believe that the 50’s were chosen as the best decade because the times had been much simpler, adults and children had fewer choices to make. Though many chose the 50’s, as the best decade to grow up in no one wants to relive the racism and abuse that took place during this era. In the 1950’s the economy had been more family friendly, families were able to survive on one income as opposed to today were it takes two incomes to keep a family afloat. Not only had the 1950’s given people a chance to be finically secure, it had also given families a chance to work well together. The divorce rate had dropped significantly during

Stephanie Coonts, the author of “What we Really Miss about the 1950s”, explains the misconceptions that lead people to believe that the “1950s was the ideal decade for the American family” (Coontz 25). Nostalgia is a common term used throughout this passage to explain the way some Americans could have felt about the time period, and after reading these few pages, another term that could be used is misunderstood. Throughout the passage, Coontz explained how television shows displayed the wrong portrayal of the average 1950s family, how the minority may not have though the same about this time period, and how nonmarital families changed the way that people thought of them.

Coontz is knowledgeable in the history and movement of family and plates inside and out the development of the family from the 20s to the 70s. She starts her contention by expressing a few reasons why the, "wistfulness for the 1950s" exists. She recognizes that this misguided judgment is not "insane." She constructs her data with respect to certainties and verifiable proof. Coontz talks about that occupations, marriage, birthrate and instruction were at high focuses in the 50s. The "post war financial blast" made

In Coontz’ Rereading America entry, “What We Really Miss about the 1950s”, she writes about how we nostalgically remember the 1950s as the “golden age” for American families because people seem to only remember the social and economic stability, educational advances, and all the government aid that made the 1950s look so great, but fail to remember the racism, sexism, repression, and pervasive discrimination that came with it. I’d have to disagree with the people who say the 1950s was the best time for families, not only because my family didn’t arrive until a few decades afterwards, but because my family has a Hispanic background and even if they were present in America during the 1950s, they would’ve been excluded from most of the benefits as ethnic minority groups often were, so I’d have to say that I believe the 1990s was the best time for families because that’s when my family began to develop.

"The postwar years are remembered as a time of affluence, consumerism, conformity, and stability, a time when American enjoyed an optimistic faith in progress and technology."(Heretta, pg.779) These words best describe the decade that Americas experienced in the 1950's. It was age of dad's always-right attitude and a culture that was family centered. The standard of living for American's was the best in the world. The times just looked to perfect lives were lived to privately. This private enjoyment was centered on the family, leisure, and consumerism. Soon everyone tried to become to "Leave it to Beaver" type of family and culture exploded. The explosion is

The 1950s was a time of progression from the previous decades and a time of fear for the same previous decades due to past experiences. The 1950s also was not sunshine and happiness, there were numerous issues and problems that affected life during that particular decade. Life in the 1950s would be something that I would enjoy due to the way things were for teenagers and how little care there was for numerous issues, but I would not have enjoyed it due to issues that I don’t feel comfortable with such as sexism, racism, and many other things. During the 50s, there was numerous of new advances being made in the medical field, technology, and many other areas. The polio vaccine came during the decade, tvs became more popular, radio did too, and automobiles became more efficient and better.

The 1950s could be argued to be the best decade of The United States. She was the world’s strongest military power. The Economy was booming, and the New prosperities like new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an decade of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the differeces of people in our American society. Americans were at war with eachother and without digging deep enough people would think everyone was equal and that veryone was the same but, alas this cannot be further from the

The 1950’s were a decade of great change in various ways. For example the American minorities, the women, and other outspoken ethnic and other groups of society, decided to stand up and fight for their rights. The Great War had ended, and men were coming back home. As this happened the demand for economic homes increased, and families began having children due to the economical stability and prosperity in which the United States of America was amidst. The nationwide home demand gave birth to one of the most comfortable and affordable ways of living: The suburban home. These neighborhoods were planned for young middle-upper class families who wanted to have, or already had children. These families were living the