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.”
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