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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.
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.
The 1920 's is remembered and referred to as the "Jazz Age," or the "Era of the Lost Generation," which had its share of cultural conflicts between many groups and organizations. In the article of The New Woman and Politics of the 1920 's, by Lynn Dumenil, he explains how the "new woman" of the era also know as a "Flapper," was a symbol for women 's roles in society. The article states that "women 's participation in the workforce, and the political activism of these newly enfranchised citizens, offers a vehicle for broadening our understanding of the social, economic, and political developments of the era. " When the article mentions "women 's participation" this to me, became a major influence to changes in American politics, society and
Women in the 1950s were dealing with a lot of things during the 1950s. They were dealing with sexism and not being allowed to seek more than the ideal fulfillment for women. Women are looked down upon and thought of less than men during the 1950s.
Between 1770 and 1860, the role of women in society transformed from their expected position as republican mothers to a new place as advocates for reformation. While republican mothers focused all their attention on domestic matters, the reformers of the antebellum era became public figures. Society persisted in its expectation that women be nurturing of others and dependent on men. However, female antebellum reformers defied society’s expectations by going outside the home in order to nurture a larger number of people in the society and promote the God-given rights they shared with men.
Industrialization in the United States created increased employment opportunities in factories and metropolitan regions, liberating women from conventional homemaking responsibilities. Consequently, women sought independent lives, gaining financial independence and personal expression (Source 4). Women from various racial and cultural backgrounds, particularly those from working-class neighborhoods, entered the workforce, advocating for better working conditions and fair pay. These advancements shattered preconceived notions of gender roles, laying the groundwork for future women's rights
Society has always painted the picture of a “traditional” woman: stay home, raise the children, keep the house, be nurturing, and in a multitude of ways, contribute to American society. However the 1920’s marked the birth
The breadwinner-homemaker family, the norm since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, is being replaced by a new norm of diversity” (Schulte). Family life in the 1950s is one of the most looked back upon generations, because it was so closely following the second World War, and was the beginning of the Baby Boomer generation. Because a lot of the soldiers were returning from the war to their wives to have children, the
Protests over the unfair treatment of different races, especially African Americans, and the rights of women were hallmarks of this era (Rosmanitz, n.d.) The election of John F. Kennedy spurred the creation of the War on Poverty, and Great Society programs of federal assistance to the poor (Tindall & Shi, n.d.). Like the 1920s, Americans enjoyed high levels of prosperity during the 1960s. This prosperity helped create a robust middle-class in which more families enjoyed the modern conveniences we take for granted today (Active USA Center , n.d.). However, this ideal lifestle could take a toll, especially on women who were required to be everything to everyone, often times leading to intense dissatisfaction (Active USA Center , n.d.).
Between the 1900s and 1940s, America experienced many significant events that has changed the lives of the people of the country. Many of these events include the Great Depression, the passage of the 19th amendment, the New Deal, and more. Before this time, Americans were constantly divided into separate groups in terms of race, culture, gender. However, these many of these events provoked Americans to come together and become more unified than ever. Many occurrences during this time period led to women’s increasing involvement in society, the increase in labor union membership and the working class and employing class cooperating with each other, and also a supportive struggling society which allowed Americans to become more unified than it
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).
Some women who tried to go against the set norms in most cases were ridiculed and scorned. Such actions made the American women also believed that being at home, caring, and supporting their family was their only duty (Wishart
American women in the late 1800’s received unequal treatment, even more so than in today’s society. Not only were they treated unfairly, they could not even vote until 1920. Moreover, they were unable to obtain certain jobs, and if they did get a job it was from the home. Furthermore, women had little to no say in their decisions. They often had their husbands either picked for them, or mutually agreed upon.
The fight against women’s oppression has gone through many challenges throughout the decades, one of the most iconic changes being the flapper era. Flappers are well known for embracing their new freedoms such as; drinking, smoking, dancing, being more sexually promiscuous, and not adhering to the expectations that their previous feminist mothers had recently laid just a decade earlier. As flappers gained and used these new freedoms and advancements, many of their conservative elders started to worry about the implications of their new carefree actions. To deal with the flapper's new behavior, the elders began describing flappers as a phase in life that was okay for young adults to go through , while still expecting them to settle down and become a wife and care for the home later in life.
In the 1960’s, the women's population of how many worked outside of their house had been 35%. Also in the 1960’s, the work force women had increased by 6 percent since 1950 and had become 35%. Women’s employment with children who had gone to school had also increased. Women who had children who were preschoolers had been a major influence in work because ⅓ of them were working outside their house. Also, 40% of women with children ages six to seventeen years old had been working outside of their house.