Return to Normalcy

Women's Roles in the 1950's Investigated


The return to normalcy was one of society's most important goals of the 1950s. 
With World War Two over, but threats of the Cold Was looming, as the men
returned home from Europe and South Asia, the women returned to traditional
roles as mothers and wives.  Women's roles in the 1950s were idealized as
anti virile to aid in the post-war return to normalcy.  This return to a world
where pre-war patterns were the standard and everyone knew their place was
important to most people in North America.  Why was this so essential?  With
the future unknown, and the past so frighteningly fresh on people's minds, it was
 imperative that men, women, and children alike, feel safe, secure and at home in
their daily routines.  Although this meant the placing of debasing and simplified roles
 and standards on women, idealizing women's roles in such a way to deem them
non-threatening to men was the only way popular culture had to achieve this
common goal of “normalcy.”

                           

 The Stay-at-Home Mom

   The Working Girl

Women's Roles in Popular Culture


Sources


Rachel Leslie
History and Film 200
Fall 2004