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Cold War & The Civil Rights Movement
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In the United States, the 1950s are a period that some scholars attribute to the return to
the paradigm of the 'cult of domesticity,' nearly identical to that seen in the first half of the
nineteenth century. This revival was well grounded in societal angles of post-Second World War
and regression to the setup of gender positions. The cult of domesticity, which emerged in the
1800s, depicted women as virtuous beings whose role was to raise the family and preserve order
in the household. In the same way, after the Second World War, women were expected to leave
their employment and get back to being homemakers, wives and mothers in the societies of the
1950s.
After World War II and the consequent economic prosperity of the 1950s, many families
could be supported by one income, which helped solidify the ideology of the domestic sphere for
women. The portrayed ideas of the beautiful woman were further advanced by the media and the
popular culture of the 1950s, which included shows, adverts, and magazines. The magazine
portrayed women as the ideal housewives who derived the greatest pleasure and happiness from
being homemakers, preparing meals for their families, raising children, and catering to the needs
of their husbands. This was supported by other social needs, such as longing for order and the
mundane after the disruptive period of the war.
Further, the era's social policies and education systems reinforced this idea of a return to
traditional gender roles. Most schools had home economics subjects to give girls lessons on
managing homes in the future. Family and marriage were prioritized, and any deviation from
these standards was frowned upon. Even though the first wave of employees included females in
the 1950s, the women continued to be tucked back into the home and working only to ensure
they performed their expected roles as wives and homemakers.
Cultural myth of the feminine mystique
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The cultural myth of the feminine mystique became widespread through scientific
discourse, advertising, and popular culture in mid-20th-century America. This myth placed
women into social categories where they should be naturally happy doing house chores, getting
married, and becoming mothers. This gave women a very limited role in society.
Science played a particularly significant role in popularizing this myth. This ideology,
which dominated post-war psychology and sociology, implied that women were naturally
incapable of requiring anything more than wifely and motherly duties. Research and articles
focused on the traditional family structures, thus supporting the culture of heteronormativity and
suggesting that children who grew up in anything other than the traditional family units would be
problematic to society and themselves.
This message was further supported by advertising through portraying women in
household environments. Ad campaigns for everyday household items depicted women as
happy, satisfied women who derived pleasure from cleaning, cooking, and child-rearing, alluding
to the notion that a woman's role was to be a homemaker. These images became familiar, thus
influencing the perception of society and acting as a set goal for individuals.
Television shows, movies, and magazines, in particular, played a large role in
perpetuating the feminine mystique. Educational and cultural programs like "Leave It to Beaver"
and "The Donna Reed Show" depicted American suburban life as smooth and perfect, idealizing
women as just homemakers. These cultural narratives marginalized it for many women to picture
a good life beyond such roles, thus perpetuating the belief that the only worth and happiness a
woman could find was in domesticity.
The feminine mystique that was heavily promoted by the media highly subordinated
women's activism and limited them to specific domestic roles. This cultural ethos recommended
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that women be confined to homes and did not encourage them to engage in public and political
domains. This myth limited women's prospects and prevented women from seeking more
opportunities in society, as activism was portrayed as incompatible with femininity and family
values. It put pressure on women and made them withdraw from activism to focus on home
chores, thus hampering efforts to fight for women's rights and other social democratic causes.
The revived, repackaged cult of domesticity in the 1950s specifically targeted middle-
class white women and was targeting middle-class white women as the representatives of the
perfect wives and mothers. This demographic was saturated with media images and cultural
mandates that defined their duty in the house. White suburban families were dominant in
advertisements, television programs, and magazines, giving a message to middle-class white
women about what was expected of them.
At the same time, female workers and women of colour were subjected to other specific
pressures under this ideology. Even if they could barely support the single-income family norm
and had to seek employment, they were expected to remain confined in the home domain. This
dual burden highlighted a glaring contradiction in the cult of domesticity. While promoting the
image of happy and fulfilled white middle-class mothers who do not work outside the home, it
erased and sidelined working-class and women of colour's experiences, reinforcing societal and
economic discrimination.
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Reference
Hewitt, N. A. (Ed.). (2008).<A companion to American women's history. John Wiley & Sons.
