Importance Of Conformity In The 1950s

A common saying people have embedded in our minds is that the past between 1950s and 1960s is considered as “The Good Ol’ Days” or “The Golden Age.” These assumptions were made due to the prosperity and growth of the nation however the truth is that many Americans felt disadvantaged. After WWII women became confined to the home where they were expected to care for the family. Many housewives did not like these conditions because they felt as though they were slaves in their own little worlds by losing rights they had gained during the war. The only work women were wanted for was for cooking, cleaning, laundering, sewing, taking care of children, etc. Many women became discouraged due to the fact they no longer felt important in society.

American society today has been shaped by years past. After the Second World War, U.S. inhabitants dedicated their lives and time to shape and improve America’s culture to the way it is today. Through the decades of the 1950s and today, the society has changed through scientific and technological advances. On the other hand, aspects of the culture have not changed because its citizens have yet to advance in those areas.

The 1960s was a period of change in America. Civil rights movements were at the forefront of domestic culture, protests against racial discrimination took a main role, but seemingly everyone was fighting for equal rights of some kind. Among these, were liberal, sometimes radical peace movements and intertwined with these movements came the concept of “free love.” People became more liberal about sexuality and the way they viewed other people’s sex lives. This culture of free love remained fairly strong through the 1970s, but when the AIDS crisis became a concern in the early 1980s, people panicked, and the liberty that people had in the 1960s and 70s seemed to disappear.

As the years have gone by, you can see the change of how gays and lesbians are widely seen in mostly every tv show or movie in today’s society. This is something most of our own parents didn’t even grow up seeing gays throughout the media. Living in today’s time period, you’re able to see how the influence has changed the way people see gays and lesbians. The nation has become more accepting of the gay and lesbian culture verses back in the days of when our parents and even grandparents were our age. Not only was is rare to see homosexuals on television, it was portrayed negatively, and now you can see it portrayed positively.

As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the

During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.

The values of the modern American society have changed drastically from how they were sixty years ago, in the 1950s. The values of today’s society consist of relationships (social), appearances (clothes), and items of possessions (technology).

Ideas about sex, gender and homosexuality have been changing rapidly over the past several decades in the United States. There are several obvious reasons for this. The primary one is legal: various legal decisions by the United States Supreme Court have altered existing law on the subject of sex and homosexuality, and substantially affected matters of gender as expressed in law. But there has also been a social shift driven by medicine, largely based on response to the AIDS epidemic at its height in the 1980s and 1990s, but also in terms of other medical matters such as contraception and abortion.

The 1950s is considered to be the model decade of America. Families were close, children respected their elders, workers worked hard to provide for their families who grew up in nice neighborhoods, and the economy was booming. The forced conformity, neglect of the poor, and segregation are often overlooked when talking about the decade as they were during the time period. The 1950s were a prodigious time period for family life but not for the individual or societal ethics.

The uprising of gay and lesbian entertainment in shows such as “Will & Grace,” Showtime series “Queer As Folk” and “The L Word,” has overthrown the former cookie cutter husband and wife TV series. Gay and lesbian affairs in the media emerged quickly after the coming out of Ellen Degeneres in her hit sitcom, “Ellen.” The comedian now has her own daytime talk show, achieving mainstream popularity for obvious reasons: she’s funny, down-to-earth, and openly gay. In earlier decades homosexuality was previously limited to a closet of taboos, where no one knew about it, and no one admitted to it. Primetime programming would never house a show in which gay men and lesbian women openly discussed their sex lives and sexual preferences, nor a show that based its entire plotline on gay and lesbian couples.

Historians tend to portray the 1950’s as a decade of prosperity, conformity, and consensus, and the 1960’s as a decade of turbulence, protest, and disillusionment. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Show evidence to support your argument.

America in the 1950s had many social norms that everyone was expected to follow. If

Bisexual. Gay. Lesbian. These are all words that in today’s society are becoming more and more common to hear. Although just a few years ago hearing these words might have shocked some and angered many, they are becoming a part of today’s norm. People are broadening their views on sexuality and the possibilities open to them. Being bisexual, gay, or lesbian is slowly becoming accepted. On television a few years ago, a comedic sitcom Ellen attempted to make gays even more accepted by casting the main character as a gay woman. Sadly, Ellen failed because viewers weren’t ready for gays to be seen in a comfortable TV setting. The idea was too new and the show was before

During the 1950’s art took a major turn in history from traditional styles depicting people and scenes of everyday life to abstract thoughts and ideas that were transformed onto a canvas to express emotions and ideals in society. People, events, and society have always impacted several styles of art, but the consumer culture in the 1950’s impacted art in a new completely unique way. Post WWII society was more industrialized and more focused on developing and selling new products. The postwar generation had more disposable income to spend on the latest and greatest products and the market turned to advertisements in mass media to get their products out there to consumers. With televisions and films increasing in popularity the market flooded these forms of media with catchy flashy ads that showed favorable people like movie stars using products. With the increasing use of mass media, the culture shifted to consumerism which effectively shifted art as well. Art was directly impacted by the consumer culture because of society’s use of advertisements, photographs, and films which artists like Richard Hamilton and Andy Warhol used those elements in their own works to portray the change of societal standards in a new modern style of art called pop art.

In literature, there are four main types of conflicts: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society and, the toughest one of them all, man vs. himself. In the novels The Kite Runner by Kahled Hosseini and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both of the main characters have large conflicts with themselves. They battle with their conscience to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. “So [they] beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 189). I see this battle every day in the high school world. There is always someone who breaks under peer pressure even though that person knows it is wrong. It’s the battle of conformity.