Women's Role In The 1960s

In the 1960s, magazines, such as “The American Home”, littered coffee tables filled with articles about the socially acceptable standards of parenting. Today, thanks to the ease of accessibility to social media and the nature of media consumption in the US, Instagram and Facebook have replaced magazines and become the new version of “The American Home”. While the media has been helpful to many new parents, it also plays a significant role in defining parenthood. By encouraging and advising housewives in the ‘60s, the media created families that produced co-dependent children, who turned into co-dependent adults. The media played a role in setting expectations for mothers/parents and affecting the development of children in the 1960s through

Women were not included in political conversations or allowed to work unless they absolutely had to. Women were seen as domestic figures who stayed at home, creating a safe environment for their husbands and family to heal and restore. In the 1960s, magazines were one of the largest role-enforcing entities available to women. For example, a cover article published by the Saturday Evening Post in 1962 portrays what an American woman looks like, showing “Mrs. Charles Johnson” with her husband and children. The caption attached to the photo stated that Mrs. Johnson’s prime goal was to “take care of Charlie and the children” (Coontz 1). Wives who stayed at home became mothers who stayed at home; the effects of this were devastating for their children because the mother was constantly around. Kids became extremely reliant upon their mothers for emotional support. This created a cycle where children would have a problem that was solved by or with their parents, limiting the

With the explosion of social media and the freedom to post whatever one wants whenever one wants, apps like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and more have oversaturated the media with parenting advice. In a 2015 report about the effects of social media on parenting, the Pew Research center found that “parents- 75% of whom use social media – turn to social media for parenting-related information and social support” (Duggan). This can be very confusing for new parents, especially when they want to raise their children in the healthiest and most supportive way possible. Not only has social media created a platform for parents to share what they think is best for their children, but it has created a platform for parents to share their fears as well. As a result, many parents have taken to being overprotective of their children and how they spend their time. An extreme form of overprotective parenting has been named “helicopter parenting”. Going through the child’s phone in search of predators and/or red flags, monitoring the child’s location through apps to ensure their safety, and creating excessive rules for who, how, when, and where their child may spend their time are just a few general examples of helicopter parenting. The motive behind these behaviors is understandable, and admirable even to some, however, this parenting style creates sheltered, co-dependent children. These kids become so reliant on their parents making decisions