Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
(Post 1452038)
I would argue that there were millions of women who did not share your point of view during the 1950s.
Among them would be those women who had been forced out of their preferred feminine roles as housewives and homemakers to work in the various defense industries during the 1940s, building airplanes, tanks, arms and munitions for our military forces engaged in a world-wide armed struggle that we were by no means assured we would win.
During World War II, American women demonstrated their ability to perform in the mechanical crafts and trades which had previously been closed to them, and they developed a new pride and self-confidence in their abilities. But, most of them preferred to removed to the traditional "feminine" roles of the pre-war era; and most did, welcoming home their husbands, and expecting to again be the ruler of their households while their husbands brought home a paycheck.
Many women that I talked to of that era were proud that they had been to work, become skilled. Some were thrilled to go back to being a housewife, some were not. Today, women have a choice. Not only can they work, but they can work in the profession of their choice. The only limitations are physical abilities. Personally, I believe that if a family can afford it, there should be no stigma to a man or woman staying home and running the household.
One of the greatest aspirations of our military men returning to civilian life was to settle down with a wife and family in their own home, working at a good job, and enjoying life.
This aspiration forced many women back into a role they did not cherish.
Technology which was developed in war time found civilian applications which blossomed quickly into "modern conveniences" such as tape recorders, AM/FM transistor radios, and television. The 1950s was also characterized by the introduction of a wide variety of automobiles, and the American romance with cars began a decades-long love affair.
You mention lynchings, but you fail to mention that the Civil Rights Movement took wing in the 1950s, with such events as Brown vs. Board of Education, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr., as leader of the Civil Rights Movement. By the 1950s the Armed Forces had been ordered integrated, and minorities were moving into the supervisory ranks.
Yes, Brown was made law in 1954. Even so, schools were still segregated. I saw that in Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi and Kansas in the late 50's and early 60's. Let's remember that it was 1964 when George Wallace stood on stairs of the University of Alabama to block black students from attending the school..
I don't know where you lived in the 1950s, but in none of the places where I lived was wife beating legal or accepted.
Legal, no. Frowned upon, generally, yes. Accepted, sadly, yes. Even today women are afraid to admit they have been beaten. A slap or a light punch was very much tolerated back then. Full out beatings, no.
And, as someone else mentioned, it was not rape if the woman was your wife, regardless of how much your wife objected.
You properly decry the disparity in moral values between sexual promiscuity of men and women in the 1950s, but seem to feel that lowering the standard for women was the proper solution, while there are those of us who argue that raising the standard for men would have been the proper solution.
Actually, I'm with you on this one. I would much prefer that sexual standards be raised for both sexes. But, if that's not going to happen, then let's make both sexes equally responsible.
In the 1950s, I was a white, male, heterosexual teenager with a beautiful high school sweetheart who I later married, and a nice late model car to ride around in for trips to church, parties, and the beach. I did well in high school, attended church regularly, grew up in a two-parent family, with a younger brother who also did well.
I was aware of alcohol and drugs, but did not use them. I had a part time job in which I worked with a Black male who I considered a friend. I lived in a city in which White, Black, Italian and Spanish influences were all in evidence. I read a weekly newspaper that had articles written in English, Italian and Spanish. I ate "soul food," Italian food, Cuban food, and lots of sea food.
And I was happy.
Clearly, we have very different memories of the 1950s.
I was an Army/embassy brat. English was my fifth language. As a child I hated all the moving around. As an adult, I wouldn't trade my childhood for all the money in the world.
I was loved, cherished, cosseted. I saw some ugly things in my travels and had parents who didn't gloss over these events but did try to help me understand why people did the things they did.
The 50's I remember aren't the 50's I write about here. How could they be? I was ten when they ended. I had little knowledge of how women were considered chattels, how different schools in the same town meant different levels of education, etc. I was pretty happy barring all the moving. Even so, I refuse to romanticize the 50's, the 60's or any other era. Just because you weren't aware of the issues, doesn't make them any less real.
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