Alina Serbina Pd 3 Essay #1 Compare and contrast United States society in the 1920s and the 1950s with respect to TWO of the following: role of women and consumerism The 1920’s and 1950’s played a big role in women’s roles and consumerism. The 1920’s was a time of an economic boom , due to the end of World War I. Once the soldiers came home , the life of women drastically changed. Many women were no longer satisfied with staying home and wanted to continue to work and perceive careers. The 1950’s were also a post-war decade , marking the end of World War II. This decade sparked an intellectual and economic boom because of the struggle to become a world power.
In the middle of the 20th century, women were at a cultural crossroads in American society. Work or not to work? Ration or consumption - a ration? These very concerns were a hot debate across the nation at the time, as women of this period were expected of nothing more than keeping the house and raising children, but the goliath that was World War II opened up opportunities in manufacturing and other non-traditional jobs for women because of the fact that there was no men to fill these vacancies. Many women upon hearing Congresswoman’s Clare Boothe Luce’s speech in September of 1942 directed to the women’s banking committee were motivated to fill these spots that men normally would’ve worked at.
Several social changes in the post-war years opened women to feminism's message. P. 2, The demand for a larger and more skilled labor pool generated by the Cold War, and postwar consumer economy were the driving force cause American society to become more open to feminism’s message. No doubt WW II created the demand for expanded women’s roles in the workplace, Document 1. Having proved their equal abilities during the war, they stood ready willing and able to contribute moving forward. Nevertheless attitudes toward women staying in the workforce after World War II were not favorable.
That was because, in the late 1950s, the only people that were supposed to work were men. The intention that men got was to do the incomes and taxes and bring wealth to the family. But women were just looked at as helpers for their husbands. This is why women wanted to do more with their life than be seen as a housewife by the world. Women wanted more advantages than men because they
Women faced discrimination based on the fact that many people still held their traditional values and were even more outraged at the thought of women taking their jobs. The purpose of this piece was to reflect on the absence of women society and to ask what could have been happening to them during the time. Men believed that it was wrong to hire women when their were mass numbers of unemployed men. Although women were suffering in the same fashion, people believed that they were taking away jobs and should return to their role in the home. Women like Frances Perkins were advancing during they were not always accepted in the positions they were taking.
During WWII to most men were drafted to join the military. This some what forced many women to take on the jobs most held by men at the time. When the Baby Boom happened, many Americans viewed this as a chance to get women back as household keepers. Many magazines at the time promoted sending women back to housewives. They would post articles like “Cooking To Me Is Poetry” and “Femininity Begins At Home”.
Women were able to join the workforce since there was an increased need for workers while most men were out fighting in war. In a photograph in Washington in 1919 we can see women lined up with working attire as they work on the construction of a ship. (Doc. 3A) This is significant because we see that they are able to contribute and work, demonstrating a shift in what their roles were considered to be. The idea that women were meant to be nothing more than housewives were discarded after the increased need for workers.
One of the biggest factors that caused the roles of women in the united States to change during the 1920’s was the work they did during World War I. While the men were serving overseas, the women stepped into the men’s jobs and made up the majority of the labor force at that time. This allowed women the chance to show that they can do some of the same jobs that men could do. After the war, the number of women in the workforce increased by twenty-five percent. This opened up more opportunities all over the country to earn their place in providing for their families. Another thing that changed for women, during the 1920’s was “flappers”.
During this decade women started to go beyond the job restrictions set by men. Women were expected to stay at home and tend to the children, clean the house, and cook for their family yet they soon
The television, air-conditioning, dishwasher, and cheaper phone calls and air travel all made life easier (Foner, 728). The “postwar baby boom” caused a large demand for “housing, television sets, home appliances, and cars” (Foner, 739). Automobiles became an essential part of daily life, causing a trend of “motels, drive-in movie theaters, and roadside eating establishments” (Foner, 740). During WWII, women had a vital role in working during the war; in 1955, the tendency continued and a higher amount of women worked than during the war. However, the motives were different in that the purpose was no longer “to help pull it out of poverty or to pursue personal fulfillment or an independent career” (Foner, 742).
While world war II was going on there was a lot of athletes making history. The 1940s was a time of war, world war II was a major event of the forties. During world war II the women had work opportunities. Since most men went to war the need for women increased to fill in for the men in war (“Women In The Weather Bureau”).
This opened so many possibilities for women because now their voice can be heard. While women have always worked either as a housewife or in the field, it was not until World War II that many women started to begin careers. After the war though there was a big emphasis on religion and family in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This push for Americans to be religious and have a more traditional family
The women were expected to create a happy home, guard the religion, and the morality of her family. The unmarried and married women who tried to seek work outside the home faced limited employment opportunities because of their gender. Women were expected to only focus on domestic duties and her role were limited to continue living in the man’s world. Women roles were expected to be in line with the culture and norms set by the society. The American culture perceived that women were not intellectually and emotionally stable to be involved in the complex world of work and, therefore, women did not take up leadership and political roles.
As schools started to accept women, all classes were available for anyone to take; specifically meaning this gave women the choice to choose what classes they want to be enrolled into, rather than automatically being placed into home economics because it was “suitable for women.” Women could actually explore the realm of math and science which was usually a class for men. “Between 1987 and 1997, the percentage of women taking AP calculus increased by 6% and the percentage taking AP physics increased by 10%” (Math). This shows how women wanted to pursue math as well as science; they just never had the chance to. Women would stray away from those classes because there was a widely held stereotype that girls didn’t like math and science, so when wanting to pursue science or math, girls would feel discouraged because it wasn’t the “girly” option to
Raisin in the Sun: Gender Roles Defied Following the event of World War Two, America during the 1950s was an era of economic prosperity. Male soldiers had just returned home from war to see America “at the summit of the world”(Churchill). Many Americans were confident that the future held nothing other than peace and prosperity, so they decided to start families. However, the 1950s was also a time of radical changes. Because most of the men in the family had departed to fight in the war, women were left at home to do the housework.
