Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Family LIfe in the 1950s

The 1950s were a resurgent of traditional family values. The soldiers were back from the war and many began to go back to their traditional lifestyles. After the war, there were more white-collar job than blue-collar jobs for the first time, and this enabled ore money to flow and a consumer society to emerge. 





A traditional value that emerged after the war was that most of the war industrial women went back to their previous, domestic lives. Their main goal was to raise and take care of the family at home, while the men brought in the money for their needs. The money flow was booming because of the jobs and this allowed consumer demand to grow as more people wanted more stuff. 






Values and ethics among the younger generation also changed. The parents taught their kids to be very respectful and obedient. They were also independent, as their parents had no intention of spoiling them. They spent a lot of time with their family and had close relationships with everyone. This era was change for the youth because of the many cultural movements, such as rock and roll and other new ideas began to emerge. It made the youth more distant from their families and more independent. 



The society and media were two of the most contributing factors of these changes in family life. Better jobs meant a better pay, and this brought in more things such as kitchen appliances, electronics and cars, things were once not affordable. Shows such as Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, and The Ed Sullivan Show were some that influenced and portrayed the family life and their values and ethics, that were reflected among families in real life. 




2 comments:

  1. Interesting post on family life and values of the 50s. It makes sense that, after the mayhem of the Great Depression and World War II, people would want to return to a stable, consistent lifestyle. However, this solidifying of traditional values also meant that discrimination was also a big part of the 50s, especially sexism. Why do you think that, after fighting for freedom in the war, this unfairness was allowed to persist? For more information, go to: http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/women1950s.pdf

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  2. Very interesting to see what life in the 1950s was like. Aside from people being entertained by TV they also had music, specifically, Rock n Roll. You mentioned that parents raised their children to be respectful and obedient but I wonder if the type of music they listened to influenced their behavior at all during the 1950s

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