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Oppression Of Women In The 1950's

Decent Essays

During the 1950s, women’s identities slowly changed; there were positive adjustments for women and for the equality of the sexes, but some things continued to remain the same, which is portrayed in The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, and Mona Lisa Smile. The 1950s was the decade after World War II came to a close, so there was a want for stability but also change from many minority groups, such as women. In the war, women were given many responsibilities, some of which transferred over into the next decade, so they had more freedom and control over their lives. However, many limitations persisted into the 1950s. During this decade, women had some expanding independence, and many women used it to the fullest. At this time, more and more women …show more content…

Women were still expected to marry, even if they couldn’t work to do it. In Mona Lisa Smile, many girls went to college with the idea of getting married and not pursuing a career. Moreover, in The Bell Jar, Buddy Willard, Esther’s previous crush, stated, “You’re crazy” and “you’ll change your mind” when she told him she didn’t want to ever marry(page 104). Although they could get in education, women, especially of a higher class, were not likely to use it after marriage, which was necessary for women to be truly accepted in society, and could be “taken care of”. Not only that, but women were still held to a ridiculously higher standard than men in nearly every way besides their smartness and physical strength. In an article that Esther’s mother gave her, it said that before marriage a woman must “have a single pure life and a man being able to live a double life; one pure or not”(pg 90). The fact that women were expected to remain chaste before they were married while a man could do whatever he pleased demonstrates that, although they gained more power, women were held to unfair ideals by their society that held them captive from full freedom. Despite some minimal advances after the war, there was still a wide gap between women and men throughout the

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