Popular Culture: Beauty and Sexuality in the 1950’s
Unit 2 Response Paper
SaJuanna McCrary
Arizona State University
WST 371-Professor Michelle McGibbney Vlahoulis
Popular Culture: Beauty and Sexuality in the 1950’s
Unit 2 Response Paper
After the war America had a different battle within the construct of their societal expectations and views specifically regarding women. Previously they had needed women to leave their role of homemakers and work in jobs solely held by men (Haralovich, 1989). The men where home and the world was desperate to rescind the mock independence that had fleetingly been given to women for fear that nothing but bad could occur from creatures even the Bible deemed could be deceitful exhibitionist that used feminine wiles to lure unsuspecting men when left to their own devices-as we see in the story of the “apple” in the garden of Eden. In fact, it is imparted throughout the Bible the only time women have good direction is when they are guided by a higher power or men. There was a message that was being fed to the female identity that has arguably been problematic since before the 1920s but was heightened in the 50s and caused and almost impossible dichotomy. In this response paper we will address the duality in the message of female sexuality and beauty and how the female icons of that time remained popular and dealt with the subjectivity, objectification and how race and class played in the inherent messages that dominated the times. In the 1950’s on one hand you had censorship boards demonstrating the desire to preserve chaste versions of what the female sexuality should be and their insistence that female sex outside of marriage was inappropriate, destructive, and morally obscene (Sibley, 2011) while Hollywood, beauty pageants and other social outlets craved the sultry appearance of women to objectify and compliment their counterparts. As movies in the opinions of the conservative became void of moral values and full of sexual explicitness it became the forum for legions like the National Legion of Decency (Sibley, 2011). Anything deemed outside of the scope of the restrained view of sexuality was frowned upon and censored sending a message that …show more content…
There was no counter representation of these roles but rather a conformity within the restraints that allowed popular icons that were deemed inappropriate by the standards tolerable. Take for example Marilyn Monroe based on the readings in this Unit she was forced to play roles that she was objectified as a sexual object but was countered with being the “dumb blonde” or the butt of male jokes making it impossible to transcend the view that once male society sees you in one way it is difficult to be substantial. Yet Marilyn herself had to remain restrained from working outside the limitations inflicted on her. The Miss America pageant is another example of how the messages were directed at objectification and glorification of appearance, social standards and even race. When the pageant was first started it was a ploy to keep tourist and it literally measured the ‘value” of the contestants’ body parts. By the 1950s rules had been incorporated that excluded minorities and sought the views of what most Americans believed was wholesome; middle-class Caucasian female preparing to marry, take care of her husband and
Unit 2 Response Paper
SaJuanna McCrary
Arizona State University
WST 371-Professor Michelle McGibbney Vlahoulis
Popular Culture: Beauty and Sexuality in the 1950’s
Unit 2 Response Paper
After the war America had a different battle within the construct of their societal expectations and views specifically regarding women. Previously they had needed women to leave their role of homemakers and work in jobs solely held by men (Haralovich, 1989). The men where home and the world was desperate to rescind the mock independence that had fleetingly been given to women for fear that nothing but bad could occur from creatures even the Bible deemed could be deceitful exhibitionist that used feminine wiles to lure unsuspecting men when left to their own devices-as we see in the story of the “apple” in the garden of Eden. In fact, it is imparted throughout the Bible the only time women have good direction is when they are guided by a higher power or men. There was a message that was being fed to the female identity that has arguably been problematic since before the 1920s but was heightened in the 50s and caused and almost impossible dichotomy. In this response paper we will address the duality in the message of female sexuality and beauty and how the female icons of that time remained popular and dealt with the subjectivity, objectification and how race and class played in the inherent messages that dominated the times. In the 1950’s on one hand you had censorship boards demonstrating the desire to preserve chaste versions of what the female sexuality should be and their insistence that female sex outside of marriage was inappropriate, destructive, and morally obscene (Sibley, 2011) while Hollywood, beauty pageants and other social outlets craved the sultry appearance of women to objectify and compliment their counterparts. As movies in the opinions of the conservative became void of moral values and full of sexual explicitness it became the forum for legions like the National Legion of Decency (Sibley, 2011). Anything deemed outside of the scope of the restrained view of sexuality was frowned upon and censored sending a message that …show more content…
There was no counter representation of these roles but rather a conformity within the restraints that allowed popular icons that were deemed inappropriate by the standards tolerable. Take for example Marilyn Monroe based on the readings in this Unit she was forced to play roles that she was objectified as a sexual object but was countered with being the “dumb blonde” or the butt of male jokes making it impossible to transcend the view that once male society sees you in one way it is difficult to be substantial. Yet Marilyn herself had to remain restrained from working outside the limitations inflicted on her. The Miss America pageant is another example of how the messages were directed at objectification and glorification of appearance, social standards and even race. When the pageant was first started it was a ploy to keep tourist and it literally measured the ‘value” of the contestants’ body parts. By the 1950s rules had been incorporated that excluded minorities and sought the views of what most Americans believed was wholesome; middle-class Caucasian female preparing to marry, take care of her husband and