Trends:
In the 1950’s men returned from war reclaiming their jobs back forcing women back into the households without a job. The trend that was created in the 1950’s after World War II was that women were domesticated and stayed at home and if they did go to work it wasn’t for very long before they discontinued and returned home to the family(Eisenhower). While men were seen as the bread winners their responsibility was to hold a job or career and provide for their family. Women had the disadvantage in this era a lot of times not being able to really do what they wanted in life, instead being stuck at home to do household chores, cook, and take care of their children and husband. Statistics show that in 1957 70% of working women held clerical positions, assembly lines, or service jobs, while 12% held a profession and 6% held management positions (Stoneham,2008). The little percent of women that held a profession worked as a nurse or teacher. Society believed that women’s purpose was to be housewives and their only goal in life was to please both their husband and children. This is how it was portrayed in advertisements, women doing household chores and cooking, and they were perceived as happy and content with that being their lifestyle. The number of women who entered college dropped in the 1950’s, many women dropped out of college to get married and start a family, or start in the work force. “Many women applied for jobs regardless of what society thought of them (Stoneham, 2008).” Women obtaining a job meant less time at home and this worried society. They felt like women spending less time at home they were depriving their children and neglecting their husbands. Even with the social norms of the 1950’s women still chose to go into the workforce and find their calling. “Women really progressed in the fifties with finding new job opportunities and finding their place in society(Stoneham,2005).” In the fifties women had a lot of responsibility taking care of the household, their children and their husband, with some still maintaining a job on top of that. As time progressed the women did as well, venturing out of the norms and creating new ones.
