How Gender Portrayals Changed and Remained in the Same in the 1950s

During the period after World War II, there was a shift in the role of women from the private sphere to the public sphere. Namely, at the turn of the 1960s, the concept of the nuclear family was becoming less of the norm as many women began to fight more and more for their rights and the way in which they were to be portrayed. For many years, women have been made to believe that they must follow certain expectations such to fit into the “American ideal” of what the role of a woman should be. For example, according to the Redstockings, contests like Miss America perpetuate the idea that women must be “inoffensive, bland, [and] apolitical” and that “conformity is the key…to success in our society.” The sentiment expressed in the quotation,

Throughout history women have been depicted and treated as an inferior to the male all aspects of life. It is without debate, that to this day, like many other countries, the United States of America is a patriarchal society, valuing men over women and using various tactics to oppress women by constructing gender roles. These gender roles are thrust upon people before birth and are reinforced through society within the media. This object here is to provide an overview of the portrayal of women in magazines from the late 1800’s to present day. As the years progress, so do the number of women’s rights. While women are still fighting for equality, the birth of feminism has done much to close the gender gap. Mass media, magazines in particular, facilitated in fostering a stereotype which became the standard, and continues to be, used by society. A society that continues to oppress and suppress its women. However, as the mass media has the capability to demystify, or to bring down and/or destroy a particular group or person, they also have the ability of mystification, or emulating a person or group into society’s graces. I plan to review how women were portrayed since this country’s inception with an analysis of how gender equality might be possible today.

Over the years the United States has grown to love each other as the way people are, especially women. Women have proven to be even stronger than what people expected them to be. You can see the strength, the courage, and the confidence they have gained. It has been discussed many years that women shouldn’t be allowed in combat for not being “strong enough”. Men have shown that they can be “manly” enough to do women or girl things, so why can’t women do “manly” things? If women feel like they can handle being on the frontline then we should respect their decision and allow them to go.

Life in the 1960’s consisted of many deep cultural changes; especially when it came to a change in gender roles and stereotypes. For woman, society was set on a believing that a their overall goal in life was to be married, have lots of children, and devote their life to be 100% dependant on their husbands. On the other hand, men had to be the provider and the rock of the family. This all changed when The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ensured that people of all colors, races, and gender could not be discriminated against in employment thus females were entering the paid workforce head on. Men also started to learn more about being a caregiver and became stay at home dads. Both Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler help convey this representation of gender roles, gender as a category and gender stereotypes in the 1960s through their written works.

Stereotyping is something that occurs daily. This occurs frequently in television advertisements. Many of these stereotypes are involving gender and gender roles. This can affect the way perceive others and view themselves. People may see advertisements and not realize gender roles are implied. These gender stereotypes have been occurring in television and advertisements since the 1970’s.

Gender roles once played an important role in marriage in the 1950’s. There was expectations for what a man should do compared to a woman. Women were supposed to stay home and take care of their husband and kids, while men were supposed to go out and make money for their families. Women were expected to want to be stay at home mom’s, and if they did work they had to work and still take care of their families. The husbands were not expected to help out.

The 1950’s can be glorified as such an amazing time period that so many people especially younger generations would love to go back in time to. As great as it may be portrayed as it was not as great for everyone especially women. In the 1950’s women had to follow strict gender roles. Their lives revolved around their families. They did all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, taking care of the children and taking care of their husbands.

Gender stereotypes are things that have been around for a very long time. But they are not always the same. Over time, they will change and evolve, either for better or for worse. The gender stereotypes in the past were very different than the ones that now revolve around people today. A stereotype that used to be for women was that they should wear dresses, cook and clean, raise the children, maintain a great figure, and remain pure. This is different than today’s stereotypes in many ways. The first way is that women today are not required to wear dresses, or are even always expected to wear them. Women have a choice. But in the past, that was part of the image of a woman. It was nearly a rule that women could not wear pants because then they would not be like other women. Another way the stereotypes were different was because women had to do all of the housework alone. The men were not expected to cook, clean, or always take care of their children. They were allowed to, but it was unheard of back then. So the way that women were expected to maintain things in the past is nothing like it is now.

Women’s roles were greatly changed during the 1950s, with men coming back from World War II, men started to take their jobs back that women had filled while the men

Throughout history, women have been seen as incompetent compared to men, whether it is in the aspect of running a family, maintaining a job, or, simply put, completing any task of importance. It is no surprise that works of art depict the same misogynistic attitude. Such works include, but are not limited to, stories, comics, and television shows. Not only does this discrimination hinder on gender, but also race, socio-economic class, ethnicity, religion, and any other factors that deem one different from the “norm”. Most works state men as the competent being, but what they really mean is white men and, even more specifically, white men with money, so discrimination has been brought upon white females and both black males and females.

There are many examples of literature that exhibit gender stereotyping. Too often, classical pieces of literature that are read in high school also showcase and help contribute to these negative gender stereotypes present in modern society. Classical literature reinforces negative gender stereotypes through objectification, sexist language, and gender roles. Objectification of women is present in many pieces of classical literature. Women in these pieces are portrayed in such a way that they are made to be owned and are treated as material objects.

Discussing two films (Iron Man, Knocked Up and/or Gilda) how are the concepts of gender and social scripts represented? When there is a shift in ideology, does representation or symbols of gender change? How do (or not) symbols reflect the ideology of gender? How are those outside of established gender roles portrayed? What stereotypes are reinforced?

The two world wars, had, for a short time, given women access to roles and employment previously dominated by men. There was a definite shift in the social expectations of gender, but by the 1950s, the dominant role had returned to men. Even though there was greater acceptance on a general level, with increasing racial tolerance and broadening views, women were still stereotyped as the weak,

Growing up as a child with parents that were both fairly busy with work I often found myself sat in front of a television either waiting for the day to begin or to end. I remember watching shows and seeing how the boys always seemed to be more outspoken, hyper-masculine and the leader in a given situation while the girls were always the passive ones who were depicted as shy followers. Now that I am older I find myself watching even more television, allowing me to see how the media depicts men and women in society. For example, The Big Bang Theory, in its earlier seasons, it only had one female lead, Penny. Her character was very stereotypical in the sense that she was the scattebrained neighbor. The way that men and women are portrayed has

It has been verified from research that women’s magazines during the 1960s portrayed women in a sexualized or old-fashioned manner. On the other hand, the Feminist Movement had already begun in the start of the century and was ongoing and at its peak at the time. Additionally, research conducted in more recent decades shows that despite the ongoing feminist movement, which supported that women should have equal rights and should be treated with the same respect as men, women’s magazines promoted an old-fashioned image of women. This role that had been attributed to the post-war women consisted of the woman’s position being in the house, taking care of the children, waiting for her husband to come home from work, and not being