Role of Women and Mothers in 1950 Despite the fact that more Americans choose 1950s as the ideal decade for American family, it should not be taken literally. For example, in the Knight-Ridder Poll, 38 percent of the respondents picked the 1950s as the ideal decade which was not an outright majority (Coontz 53). There is no doubt that people feel nostalgic about the 1950s but few people actually want to go back in reality. It is quite apparent that women were underrepresented in the society and the workforce. There was a big gap between job difference for working men and women. Gender roles became more predictable in the 1950s (Coontz 57). Women in 1950s were generally more concerned with family and children. There was more love and attachment in family than there is today. Mothers gave more value to their children. Women had different roles in family than men which helped society as a whole prosper.
Stephanie Coontz - PopTech 2011 - Camden Maine USA
Screenshot of Shelley Winters from the trailer for...
Stephanie Coontz - PopTech 2011 - Camden Maine USAFirst let's establish the fact that there is basically no reason why women should not be the equal of men. However, some scientists would argue that the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls logic and analytical ability, dominates in men whereas the right side of the hemisphere, which controls emotion, dominates in women (Bukeley).
This suggests that men and women have different ways of thinking and communicating in terms of family roles. A family is not a place where only financial and logical issues (masculine abilities) need to be encountered. There also needs to be love, care and emotion (feminine abilities) related to family to make the relationship work. There are a lot of emotional related problems in a family which can be justified more accurately by women who can come up with better solutions than men. On the other hand, the...