The Quest for Family The 1950’s were a decade of growth and expansion. Growth of the middle class, expansion of religion and a growing economy kept Americans on the move- literally. Families were moving from the cities and into the suburbs. “This massive shift in population from the central city was accompanied by a baby boom that started during World War II. Young married couples began to have three, four, or even five children (compared with only one or two children in American families during the 1930’s) (The American Story, pg. 729). This style of living began making the immediate family isolated from the extended family, making the extended family a thing of the past. “For many families, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and more distant relatives would become more distant figures seen on only special occasions” (The American Story, pg. 732). These new living standards were the result of a booming economy. The economic explosion was a result of the culmination of the war- Americans were no longer faced with the hardships of the depression and could indulge in material goods. This meant television, automobiles, or any other item from the long list of novelties that Americans craved found their way into the suburbs too. Religion also found its way into these communities. “Ministers priests and rabbis all commented ...
One of the greatest transformations to American society was the mass migration of families from the inner cities to the suburbs. This was thought to make for a better quality of life and a stronger nuclear family. The migration led to the rebirth of American religion, which was associated with suburban living. Less than fifty percent of Americans belonged to specific churches before the onset of World War II, but by the middle of the 1950, this number grew to almost seventy-five percent. Families spent more time together due to the distance from other families and recreational facilities.
People that grew up in the sixties experienced different values and morals. Parents were more strict when it came to rules. Children never stayed out past dark and always came home at a decent time on school nights. People would never question their parents and especially not their teachers People then were almost always married before having children. Having a child outside of marriage was very frowned upon and not
(It should be noted that the following discussion of these social developments is primarily of the general, dominant, white, middle-class American and does not address trends related to race or ethnicity.) Stephanie Coontz does just this in her book, The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America’s Changing Families. She addresses the several trends that have been misguidedly converted into the popularized images we hold of the 1950s. Indeed, begins Coontz in her argument, the 1950s was a decade in which “greater optimism did exist…even among many individuals and groups who were in terrible circumstances” (Coontz, 1997: 35). The postwar economic boom was
A family has always been expected to be a loving and caring environment with support and communication, but this sometimes does not come naturally to soon to be parents. Some get caught up specifically in bad things, perhaps their upbringings are to blame or maybe the individual could take all of the responsibility. When a society chooses what is to be socially acceptable, that limits relatives to only one kind of family and the object becomes destroying all other kinds. The 1950s was a time when technology wasn’t a big distraction from loved ones. Joyin Shih feels her true self being targeted by others, even her own family, in attempt to destroy her true self in her article, “Chyna and Me”. Alex Williams may also be missing the 1950s an article by Stephanie Coontz called “What We Really Miss About The 1950s” because he finds that families may not be as caring as they used to be in fact he argues that families are becoming more isolated than ever in his article “Quality Time, Redefined”. Good gives people a lot of frustration, more the division than the “good” because not all families coming from different cultures, different religions, and different ideas can fit into one mold that is called “acceptable”. The more connected individuals are to the Internet the fewer individuals are connected to each other. Technology should not be the biggest tool of communication in a family.
Remember when children could walk down the street without having their parents with them? Maybe, you remember your dad sitting around the house on his off day in a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie? No? Neither do I, the reason we don’t remember this is because this took place back in the 1950’s, well before we were thought of. A time when siblings got along with one another, the mothers and fathers both had their own roles within the household, and neither of them shared tasks for the most part. People always seemed to use their manners, always dressed their best, and always seemed to want to be kind toward one another, within their households at least. As time has changed through the years, the changes through or within society has been the
At the end of World War II, American culture experienced an overhaul that ushered in a period of complacency beneath which paranoia seethed. A generation that had lived through the privations of the Depression and the horrors of world war was now presented with large suburban homes, convenient and impressive appliances, and pre-packaged entertainment. Such wonders so soon after extended hard times were greeted enthusiastically and even treated with a sense of awe. They may have encouraged few distinctions among the middle class -- the houses in a suburb were generally as identical as hamburgers at McDonald's -- but they represented a wealth to which few had before enjoyed access. Life became automated, with dishwashers cleaning up after dinner and air conditioning easing mid-summer heat. The new conveniences left more time for families to absorb the new mass culture presented through television, records, and Spillane novels. Excitement over the new conveniences and entertainment led America to increasingly become an acquiring society. To my parents' generation, childhood in the 50s was a time when people were generally pleased with themselves and with the...
The 1950’s have received a reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity. This reputation is rightfully given, as with almost every aspect of life people were encouraged to conform to society. Conforming is not necessarily a negative thing for society, and the aspects of which people were encouraged to conform in the 1950’s have both negative and positive connotations.
With the beginnings of the cold war the media and propaganda machine was instrumental in the idea of the nuclear family and how that made America and democracy superior to the “evils” of the Soviet Union and Communism; with this in mind the main goal of the 50’s women was to get married. The women of the time were becoming wives in their late teens and early twenties. Even if a women went to college it was assumed that she was there to meet her future husband. Generally a woman’s economic survival was dependent on men and employment opportunities were minimal.
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.
There is a huge difference between life in the United States as it is today and in the 1950s/1960s. The greatest change is the way in which people lived back then verses how they live today and there are many things that influence these changes. For example, after World War II ended, there was a large increase in childbirth throughout the United States. As a result of this, many Americans moved to the suburbs in hopes of a better life. This would create not only more job opportunities, but some leisure as well. There also has been a significant change in the roles that both men and women played in society in the 1950s/1960s verses today. For instance, women are no longer looked upon as just a “House Wife”. Back in the 1950s/1960s, after a woman started a family her main job was to take care of the household while the men
Religion in the 1950s was a very important aspect to many citizens living in America. The amount that religion affected the population was shown by the increase of religious groups at the time, it was stated in “The 1940s: Religion: Overview.” from American Decades, “..by 1950 more than 55 percent were members of religious groups, a figure that would increase to 69 percent by the end of the 1950s.” However, this number had not been the same throughout 20th century America. The amount of people in America that had been going to worship their religious figures during the Great Depression was a very small percentage of Americans. The number only started to increase after World War II came to a closing and brought major economic prosperity to America. This burst of church growth in America during the time
The 1950’s was when the baby boomer generation was at its peak. Many Americans wanted to have children because they were confident that the future was going to be very peaceful and bright. Almost as soon as
As mentioned before, sociologists Coontz and Hochschild further elaborate upon Parsons and Bales’ concepts of the American family, but they mostly critique the idea of the male-breadwinner family. One of the main arguments Coontz and Hochschild present is the decline of the male-breadwinner family due to the economic changes of the United States and the arising social norms of consumerism. Because Parsons and Bales never considered how the changes throughout society would affect family, they believed the male-breadwinner family would continue to be a functional type of family for everyone. However, within her text, “What We Really Miss about the 1950s,” Coontz specifically discusses the major expense of keeping mothers at home as consumption norms...
The era of the 1950s was an iconic era in American history. The American dream of freedom, self empowerment, and success was growing. After world war 1, the ideals of american culture changed. The country saw the aftermath of the war in the countries of western Europe where communism was beginning to take hold, and the U.S tried to be the opposite. Marriage was propagated to be the opposite of the war torn families across the world, where women were working in factories and children fending for themselves with no home. The American “nuclear family” strived to be one where the father supported his family, the wife stayed home and provided for her children. Family became a national priority, and women were taught that a happy marriage and home
Rubin’s research shows that a lot can happen in just one generation. Much has been spoken lately of what Tom Brokaw has declared “The Greatest Generation;” those who fought in WWII. These Americans came back from the war, started families, and worked hard to achieve “The All American Dream.” But somewhere they must have missed something because this generation is the generation that produced the “pot smoking, free love hippies” who then produced the adults in Rubin’s study. What changed so much with a generation that was the epitome of hard work, discipline, and structure? Stephanie Coontz’s article, “What We Really Miss about the 1950’s” addresses that. The world between 1920-1950 is not what we think. There was a high murder rate, a substantial divorce rate, and “an older generation of neighbors or relatives who tried to tell them how to run their lives and raise their kids.” (Skolnick 33) It’s this sense that their children see the world so differently that’s so hard for working-class parents. “For it seems to say that now, along with ...