How Did The Civil Rights Movement Change In The 50's

The transition between the 50s to the 60s was quite remarkable. Once known as an age of conformity soon transformed into a world of equal rights and protest. Consequently, this transition would be very influential to modern day America. Civil Rights, feminism, and the idea of the ideal american changed. Segregation was a large part of the 50s and 60s. The Supreme Court ruled on the Brown v. Board of Education case that “separate educational facilities for black children were inherently unequal.” As the schools were forced to integrate, many Southern whites pulled their kids out of school. They placed them in all white “segregation academics”. Although blacks were against the idea, Southern whites used violence and intimidation to prevent them …show more content…
In the 50s women were thought of as homemakers whose only responsibility was to raise a family and keep a house. Although that stereotype is mostly true, some women obtained an education in college. Most women started school for only one reason though, to get married. Slowly though, women claimed there spot as college professors. Women's organizations began to insist for equal pay for women. Feminism was majorly shaped by literature, specifically by Simone de Beauvoir. In the 1960s another famous womens author emerged. Betty Friedan brought awareness to the “dissatisfactions of domesticity”. The 60s brought attention to the assumed roles of wives and husbands in the home. Women’s groups began to bring awareness to the fact that most of the time women would be forced into their roles of society, wasting all of their talents and abilities. One of the well known protests was a protest against the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Women protested because they believed it “objectified women”. All of these protests and leaders helped further progress the Women’s Rights Movement and Feminism, creating a better awareness of women’s …show more content…
This increased the amount of crime in city, and the suburbs became sheltered and left to enjoy conformity. In the suburbs as they were sheltered they began to focus on their community and the trendy products. Families all bought the same things. A large contributor to this was television. Commercials, movies, and advertisements were all ways that shaped the ideal American. The family was greatly affected also. The idea of the perfect family was “briefcase-toting professional father who left daily for work, and a pearls-wearing, nurturing housewife who raised their mischievous boys and obedient girls.” This idea of the “perfect family” was hardly ever achieved but was always what every ideal American hoped for. Commercials created what has become known as the “mass market”.This occurs when a large mass of people buy the same things. The mass market was created as a directly result of the move to the suburbs by so many white families. The 50s was full of conformity and the greatest reason for this was the television and radios. In the 60s conformity soon turned into rebellion as protesters demanded getting rid of unfair treatment of African Americans and women. This effected many young Americans. Those Americans grew and a whole new age of protest emerged as they were again influenced through the news and television.