Gender Portrayal

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Gender Portrayal. The 1950s. Change. One may wonder what these words mean, today, here, these words shall be explained . Gender portrayals are how a gender, such as the only two, Male and Female, are portrayed in media and social life. In the 1950s bread was .14 cents, bomb shelter plans were sold, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and people were afraid of communists invading America and turning them into communists (American Cultural History). New technologies were arising, like computers and color television, and with this new technology; the advertising industry was born, and with them, new kinds of gender portrayals. Gender portrayals changed in the 1950s, father figures were portrayed as irresponsible and that they could not help their children with their problems (KON), Women were portrayed as being the “happy homemaker,” they were expected to get married and have kids quickly, and to take care of the home, where the husband could not (PBS AMEX), but the portrayal of black men stayed the same, they were portrayed mostly as “Uncle Toms” and this did not change for quite a while (FERRIS).
The typical family in the 1950s, portrayed by the media, was comprised of a father, mother, and usually two children; It was known as the “Nuclear Family,” the epitome of the 1950s, the way every family wanted to be, thought they should be. The father was shown as a buffoon, an idiot who could not possibly comprehend how to do the simplest tasks around the house, and was too inert to even attempt to do any of it. The mother was portrayed as the polar opposite to the husband; being more than able to do everything the husband could not, such as doing the dishes and cooking, anything more complex than general yardwork she could do, as well as...

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"Leave It To Beaver : Jerry Mathers & Gang." Leave It To Beaver : Jerry Mathers & Gang. N.p., n.d.
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"People & Events: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
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Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
"The Tom Caricature." Tom Caricature. Ferris State University, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
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