Pop Cultures influence on Women of the 1950's and 60's. Author (Douglas)

Essay by Viper0543College, UndergraduateA, November 2003

download word file, 4 pages 4.3

Downloaded 78 times

Douglas Review

Douglas says that pop culture influenced women of the baby-boom generation with images of increased feminism and sex-role stereotypes.

There are many factors that increased feminism of the 1960's. First, Douglas explains how a woman's fate was predetermined. She explains that media told girls they were to sit back and watch their husbands and boyfriends change the world. While they were to be the kitsch of the 1960's. By this she means ignorant, nudity at Woodstock, and the trendy hair of the day. Women were not to play an important role, only as a homemaker. As they watched their mothers grow up in an insecure environment. The baby-boom generation wanted nothing to do with the life of their mothers. As she came to realize many other girls felt this way also. She determined that she was destined for womanhood and the only way to survive was to organize women.

The ladies' home journal is her prime example of postwar schizophrenia. Quoting slogans such as, "How to Bring Out the Wolf in a Man" and " She's Engaged! She's Lovely! She Uses Pond's!" which argued for a feminist revolution. With Kennedy's new frontier women looked forward to job openings and opportunities for women. On the other hand T.V. shows and other media moguls preached at limited work for woman. They showed women as nice housewives obedient and obeying of their husbands. This was only a small taste of what was about to come.

As women's confusion mixed with puberty it made way for the sexual revolution. Their mothers were told that nice girls didn't go all the way before marriage. They were also told that nice girls never really liked sex. Yet popular music like "Will he still love me tomorrow" and "My Boyfriends Back" sung a different tune...