- Women in the 50’s
Women in the 50's had a very stereotypical role. They were expected to dress up and stay at home while the man went out to work. In all the pictures the women looked happy, but were they really? The answer is no. They felt like they were trapped and they were getting bored of staying home all day and doing the same things daily over and over while having to keep it up to be 'the perfect wife'. One thing that made women feel empowered was when they were able to get jobs and help out their families like the men did. This was one step closer for them to be viewed equally.
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PROPAGANDAWomen were presented as a pulled together role, the picture perfect image. They were put into propaganda, typically posters, to show what was expected of women and their role in homes. Sometimes they were put in ads for house conveniences such as irons, and dishwashers. Cleaning supplies were also advertised with women in the posters and ads to establish that a good woman cleans the house and take care of the children while the husband is away. This was not only to sell the product, but to show how a woman should act and how she should look daily.
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EmploymentDuring WWII employment rates for women had quite a spike. While the men were away on the battlefront at war, the women would take over their jobs. Black women even got to fill in for higher positioning jobs such as in science and medical labs. 300,000 women were hired to help out the military in other ways besides fighting such as medicine, clothes, food, etc. "Women Only" jobs became a popular concept for those who needed to provide for their families. These jobs typically consisted of nurses, secretaries, teachers, maids, and others like that. However, this spike was kind of a short run because after the war ended a lot of women were fired because they had the men back to fill the positions again.
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social pressuresWomen in the 50's really had to up their role and standings in society, especially if they lived in the suburbs. There were social pressures to be the perfect wife or woman. The number of children went from 1 child per household to 2.3. As soon as a woman was out of school she was expected to be married around the age of 18. Since they got married early they were also expected to have a child in the first year which is why the 50's was the era of 'baby bloomers'. After they have children they were expected to settle down and take care of the house and kids. These were the social norms back then especially in suburbia.
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