The Role Of Women In The 1950s

Throughout Americas rocky history the role of women has changed a lot. It’s not so much that the role of women has changed but societies view on what women should do has changed through the course of approximately seventy years, 1910s to 1980s. Women have always been held at a higher standard and often are forced to conform to society or be considered an outcast. Women have a higher standard of how they are supposed to act compared to men of the same era in time. Along with conforming to societies views towards them they somehow managed to have enough time to stand up for their rights also. Americas view on women drastically changed from needing women to help take a role in making materials for World War 1, to women being the stay at home nurturing …show more content…
Unlike the working class women of the World War 1 era, women in the 1950s were considered to be a domestic women. A popular book The Feminine Mystique set a lot of the unofficial guidelines in place for what was to be expected from women. It stated that women should “find fulfillment in devotion to their homes, families, and serving others.” They were expected to stay at home and be a homemaker rather than go out and make military equipment like they had during the World War II era. (Roark 828) A lot of this was shown through the TV shows also during that time, such as I Love Lucy. The typical day for a women in the 1950s would consist of her waking up to wake the kids and prepare breakfast for them. She would then get the kids ready for school and send them on their way to school. Throughout the day she would perform house chores that consist of cleaning and cooking. When the children got home she would give them a bath and set the table for the husband’s arrival. When the husband arrived dinner would be ready. After dinner the wife would wash dishes and dispose of food. (Harcourt 20)This is a far cry from what was expected from women during the world war era and what women would consider their lifestyle during the 1980s. Women were being suppressed and had no say in what went on during their daily basis. But throughout all this …show more content…
Often tackling problem that not many men could do. During the World War 1 era women stepped up to not only accomplish what was expected from them but did it without a problem nor a question asked. During a time when a women was not expected to be able to do the job of man, they not only did the job of a man but managed to have time to stand up for what they wanted and gained the right to vote. (Roark 665) Women of the 1950s did what society expected from them and did it. Women were expected to be the center of the home and without one question they did it. (Roark 828) During the 1980s the role of the women once again changed and they took this feat head on. For the first time women were attending college to be a contributing factor to society which lead women to hold a lot of new jobs that included many government jobs. Resulting in women winning Supreme Court cases and gaining other laws to protect them (Roark 930). The United States could learn a lot from the past of women. Not only did they stand up for what they wanted but they did what society expected from them also. The United States could learn that not everything is going to go your way but you have to take like you get it and role with it. After you get what you need to get done that’s when you go above and beyond and stand up for what you want. Not only did women step up and do a man’s job during World War 1, not only did women conform to society in the 1950s and do