Essay On Gender Roles In The 1950's

Gender defined roles are continuously adapting to the new societal norms of the era. There is a surplus of historical events that have reimagined the traditional expectations of a man or women.

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

In the 1960’s, women had been placed in stereotypical roles for years. But women were tired of these roles and were done with being complacent. They felt like something was missing in their lives, and they desired something more. The typical American

“We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.” This quote was said by Beyoncé, a famous female singer who embraces the woman she is. Even though gender inequality is present for women in both societies, there are many differences between the expectations of females in the 1930’s to females today.

The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.

Women’s role within the household has changed considerably over a period of time. In the later days in the United States women were to attend to the children and to the house and not do much more than that. Children are now being raised by stay at home dads instead of the stereotypical stay at home moms. According to Gardner, "Real-life families have changed considerably since 'Mr. Mom ' appeared, with more men sharing child-rearing and household chores." (Gardner 2010) This is occurring because women’s jobs are no longer labeled as being just for women. Men have gotten a lot of criticism for being stay at

Gender roles, societal expectations and gainful employment for women in America were quite limited prior to the early 1800s. By 1850 we can see that doors were opening little by little due to subtle changes in attitudes and the needs of our emerging industrialized nation. Many upper middle class women were concerned with more than domesticity. They were felt that a woman was more than a wife and mother only concerned with her home and family. Between 1850 and 1950 the three most important changes for women were political voice due to the women’s suffrage movement, expanded access to education, and rich, educated women leading the way to social reforms.

“were forced out of their wartime occupations and into the domesticity of the new American nuclear family, many women felt disenfranchised. Furthermore, the 1950s are often identified as the pinnacle of gender inequality as women were denigrated and portrayed as ‘stupid, submissive, purely domestic creatures’” (George, 2013).

When females went to college, recommenced courses included interior decoration and family finance. Many women applied for jobs, and did not care what society thought. Society had strong thoughts to share though, and working women received plenty of criticism. They were putting time into their work and spending less time at home. Many critics said this wrecked the relationship between a parent and her child. Over all, the working woman faced many difficulties in the 1950s.

The 1950’s were cookie cutter; there was usually a working father, a homemaker mother, and a couple of kids. Although women were working and had jobs in the 1950’s, after WWII many women still stayed home being a house wife if the husband’s income could afford it. If women had jobs, and the job was unnecessary they were considered selfish. Having a husband at this time was more important than having a job or a degree. Marriage in the 1950’s was highly based around religion. Pre-marital sex was considered unacceptable, and women were married at ages as low as nineteen (People & Events, 1).

Throughout American history, stereotypes about gender socialization and gender roles have existed in society. During the late 19th to the early 20th century, genders roles began to shift. This is mainly due to the shift as more women took on more professional roles. Because of this shift, women became less reliant on male financial support, allowing them to be socially equal in the eyes of men. Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles makes a moving statement how the gender roles were in the early 20th century and how women were treated. The play takes place on a midwestern farm inside a farmer's house during this period. After law enforcement was called to investigate a crime scene, Mr. Hale belittles his wife, which in turn angers her. At this point, her perception changes and forms a feminine bond between herself and the Sherriff's wife. As a result, they begin to take the matter into their own hands. In George's Singleton's collection of short stories, The Half-Mammals of Dixie, his story "Public Relations" shows how professions and gender roles correlate with each other that takes place in the early 21st century. In the short story, the narrator and his wife sit at a bar joined by his boss and his wife to lure in a female business client. After the narrator makes a case on how the American education system is failing students by putting women with lower IQs to become teachers, he loses his job. This cause the perception of gender role to

Ever since the 1700's, women have been fighting to earn an education. Being only able to "teach", women have always wanted to succeed. Women did not begin attending college in equal

In the two films, The Last Picture Show and The Graduate, women are shown in a more aggressive nature. Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate and J.C. in The Last Picture Show, although representing very different age groups, display the sensual side of a woman’s nature and how women can crave sex just as much as men do. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, this was still a controversial topic and these films really highlighted it. Society has a way of placing certain expectations on each of the genders, and these films show how stereotypes are not always correct. This essay will show how Mrs. Robinson and J.C. went against their stereotypical gender roles.

The term gender roles refers to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered appropriate for individuals of a certain gender. These roles vary between cultures. Gender roles, unlike gender itself, are socially constructed. They may reflect the natural aspirations of the gender, or they may be manipulated, resulting in the oppression of a gender.

Conventionally, females played a very insignificant role in the paid work force of a society as many times they were expected to be home taking care of their family. Their roles at home can often include grocery shopping, meeting all the needs of her children and husband. As time moved on, our society became more accepted of sharing housework between the couples, but even so, the traditionally more feminine housework such as cooking, caring for sick children, and shopping for the entire family are mostly done by the females of the house. It is argued in a research journal Work and Occupations (Witkowski & Leicht, 1995) that in an average North American family, females take on roughly three-quarters of the housework. Even though we are in a democratic society, parenting roles in the household are assigned based on gender rather than in a democratic fashion (Winslow-Bowe, 2009). Because of the many responsibilities and obligations that are associated with the female gender, their career paths are eventually affected for the worse. According to Statistics Canada (2001), for every dollar a man earns, a single woman earns 93 cents and a married woman earns 69 cents. These statistics