Women in the 50's:
The new norm for women in the 50's changed greatly from their roll in the 40's. This was mainly due to the war and new inventions of the time. First, during the war, many women took over many jobs previously filled by men . This also meant that there was a lot of employment opportunities, even more minority women during the war. However, once the mean started to return, many women were layed off to give the men back their jobs. Gender discrimination became far more prominent. Most African American women had very domesticated jobs such as maids and nanny's. |
Social Pressures:There were many social pressures being a woman in the 50's. For one, most women were starting to get married very young, around 18. They were also pressured have kids and then be a stay at mom. The "Nuclear Family," which consisted of a husband, wife, and an average of 2.3 kids , became very prominent. During the baby boom, which lasted from the 40's to the 60's , family's of 3 children doubled and family's of 4 children quadrupled.
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Suburbia:Suburbia was heavily popularized in the 50's. It started with the G.I. Bill which was initiated when the men started coming back from WWII. It gave money to the returning veterans , and this money went towards buying new suburban households. Houses in suburbs were mass produced and very affordable. This began the "White Flight" movement.
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Products Marketed to Women:During the 50's, women were expected to be housewives that were perfect in every way, Women were even socially required to be very well dressed every day, even when their day only consisted of cleaning, cooking, and shopping. Also, many products were invented in the 50's and then marketed specifically to women. However these products were usually just supplies for around the house that a women would not be quite as enthusiastic about at the ad shows.
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