What Was The Role Of Women In The 1950's

586 Words3 Pages

Women in the 1950’s
When I think of the 1950’s, the terms wholesome image and the American Dream come into mind. It was a time when America had just gotten out of WWII and the economy had picked back up since The Great Depression. In addition to boosting the economy, the Americans wanted to rebuild their image. The best way to do this is through the media, as it is done today with many campaigns. The conservative ideas shown through the media in the 1950’s of how women should dress, talk, act, and generally carry themselves was a wide spread way of life for many women. From Barbie commercials for little girls, Miss America for young adult females, to famous Hollywood actresses such as Doris Day or Marilyn Monroe for the adult woman, all most everything broadcasted through the media was self objectification and reiterated to women to be a prim and proper but not to lose her sex appeal. …show more content…

He soon discovered the success he had with objectifying women, and it eventually made its way to television in 1954. Before Miss America made itself a household name; it had a few ground rules to change before it could be televised. In the 1930’s beauty pageants had a reputation for being scandalous. The women who entered them weren’t taken serious and where thought of to be loose. To make Miss America more legitimate; in 1945 they started offering a scholarship to the winner (PBS). I think this was the medias way of telling girls in America to look sexy and be smart, because it is the American