1950s: Gender Roles In Popular Culture

Though many gender role advancements were achieved in past and future decades, these were more segregated in the 1950’s than they were in even colonial times. Popular culture constantly influences society; the 1950s were no exception. In this era, there were rigid gender roles represented in popular culture. To start, magazines were filled with degrading advertisements for women, as described in the article “Women’s Roles in the 1950s” from American Decades, “The magazines of the time were filled with images of dedicated housewives whose only pleasures were that their families were satisfied and their chores made easier.” This quote asserts the idea that popular publications were filled with propaganda for what a woman should be. In …show more content…
She must have the courage of his convictions and not to be afraid to back him up in his ambitions, regardless of where the chips fall. Those who sacrifice initiative and enterprise to security are likely to wind up with nothing else” ("How to Help Your Husband Get Ahead"). Carnegie is telling housewives they should always do whatever the husband says when it comes to work; otherwise, allegedly, they’d end up with nothing except a divorce. Also, the idea of having a man rather than a job was an idea portrayed within popular culture in the 1950s. Many women were put down by being told they could either have a man or a job. An excerpt from the popular television show in the 1950s, Father Knows Best, reports, “The worst thing you can do is to try to beat a man at his own game. You just beat the women at theirs.” and “Are you after a job or a man? You can't have both” (Coontz). These quotes were meant to impact the average woman’s ideas on her position in marriage, the influence of this was substantial because the show was very popular for six years. When women did decide to go into the labor force, many employers made it challenging. Many service jobs in the 1950s, such as flight attendants, had multiple requirements