How Julia Child changed American Society in the Mid-to-late 1900s

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The purpose of this study was to delve into the life and accomplishments of Julia Child, in order to discover how she affected the society in America in the mid-to-late 1900s. Objectives of the essay were to identify the gender roles and social norms in the mid-to-late 1900s, analyze Child’s accomplishments, and draw connections between the change in the role of women and Julia Child’s influences. Through Julia Child’s profound lifestyle, she revolutionized the societal norms of the time. Historical references of society in America, novels about Julia Child, scholarly journals over Child’s influences, and databases about each were used to probe thought and provide connections between the two topics.

This study is important in order to show how people or certain events promote societal changes. The essay was separated into two topics: the change in society (focusing on gender roles), and Julia Child’s influences and accomplishments, with connections between the two made throughout. Analysis of research is provided to discern how much Julia Child had to do with the change in America as opposed to other people or events that occurred around the same time period.

The conclusions reached from this study show that Julia Child did play a role in affecting Americans; however, it was because of many other reasons, events, and people that the major changes took place. The effect that Child had on America can certainly be seen though the change in the supermarkets, and personal accounts of the affect Child had on them. But more than that, it is because of the increases in technological advancements in the kitchen and through many other women revolutionaries that the society in America changed. Through discovery, Child had a huge impact ...

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... Child." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Aug 25 2013.

"Julia McWilliams Child." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit:

Lehrman, Karen. "What Julia Started. (Cover Story)." U.S. News & World Report 123.11 (1997): 56. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.

McEnaney, Laura. "Gender." Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Ed. Richard Dean Burns, Alexander DeConde, and Fredrik Logevall. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 123-134. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

Namboodiripad, Savithry. Women in European History. The University of Chicago. 8 June 2009. Web. 25 August 2013.

"The 1950s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Overview." U*X*L American Decades. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 6: 1950-1959. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 92-93. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

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