Women's Roles In The 1950s And 1960s

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Other historical periods that influenced women’s roles within magazines and advertisements of the 1950s and 1960s was the Cold War Era, where magazines rarely displayed women outside of the home. Magazines and advertisements from the Cold War Era differed from the time of World War II since women were no longer displayed in both career and household roles but instead limited to just domestic roles (Gemberling 54-55). This was mainly caused by three reasons. The first event that led to women being restricted to domestic roles was that after World War II ended, men returned from war and were able to reenter the workforce which meant women no longer needed to hold jobs (Catalano 45-47). Secondly, women, as the primary caretakers of their children and their homes, were responsible for maintaining and “correcting the flaws” within the family (Gemberling 54-55). …show more content…
The last of the three reasons for the dramatic shift in women’s roles was the disillusionment Americans felt from World War II (Wukovits 69). This ideology encouraged people to turn away from the negative results, including casualties and loses, from the Korean War and instead to focus on creating ideal families and achieving the American dream (Wukovits 69). This new role became greatly supported by magazines during the 1950s and 1960s by expressing the ideal woman to be a housewife rather than having a career or receiving higher education. Rather than women have a diverse range of options being mimic in magazines like during the period of World War II, the Cold War restricted women to roles only to the