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Though the 1950s was in many ways a period of conformity with traditional gender roles, it was also a decade of change, when discontent with the status quo was emerging.

Popular culture and the mass media reinforced messages about traditional gender roles, consumer culture, and the Cold War ideal of domesticity, but the reality of women's lives did not always reflect these ideals.

African American women faced particular difficulties in the pursuit of postwar material abundance and the "American dream." Popular portrayals of ideal femininity and home life ignored the lives of minority women and families.

Conformity and the 1950s

The 1950s is often viewed as a period of conformity, when both men and women observed strict gender roles and complied with society's expectations. After the devastation of the Great Depression and World War II, many Americans sought to build a peaceful and prosperous society. However, even though certain gender roles and norms were socially enforced, the 1950s was not as conformist as is sometimes portrayed, and discontent with the status quo bubbled just beneath the surface of the placid peacetime society. Although women were expected to identify primarily as wives and mothers and to eschew work outside of the home, women continued to make up a significant proportion of the postwar labor force. Moreover, the 1950s witnessed significant changes in patterns of sexual behavior, which would ultimately lead to the " sexual revolution " of the 1960s.

Changing social trends following World War II

Demobilization at the end of World War II brought a great many changes. Millions of women who had joined the workforce during the war were displaced by returning soldiers. Messages in popular culture and the mass media encouraged these women to give up their jobs and return quietly to domestic life. Most women, however, wished to keep their jobs, and thus women made up approximately one-third of the peacetime labor force.

During the 1950s, marriage and homeownership rates skyrocketed, so there is no doubt that many Americans were content to pursue the "American dream." These trends were aided by suburbanization and the mass production of automobiles. Cars allowed Americans who lived in the suburbs to commute easily into urban areas for work. Cars not only changed work and housing patterns, but also facilitated the rise of new sexual norms. They provided young couples with a place to spend time together alone, away from the prying eyes of parents and other members of the community. This, in turn, led to a rise in premarital sex and birth rates. Thus, patterns of sexual behavior were changing even as the traditional ideal continued to insist upon marriage before sex.

Between 1946 and 1964, the largest generation of Americans, known as the baby boomers, was born. This demographic trend in turn reinforced women's identities as wives and mothers. Despite societal norms that encouraged women to stay in the home and out of the workplace, approximately forty percent of women with young children, and at least half of women with older children, chose to remain in the work force.

Cold War domesticity and popular culture

Gender roles in the 1950s were intimately connected to the Cold War. The term nuclear family emerged to describe and encourage the stability of the family as the essential building block of a strong and healthy society. In this view, a woman played a crucial role in waging the Cold War, by keeping the family unit strong and intact. She could do this best, it was thought, by remaining at home to take care of her husband and children, and refusing to pursue a career. Thus was a link forged between traditional gender roles and national security.

Moreover, because the Cold War was also a competition between two very different economic systems, the virtues of capitalism were touted as proving the superiority of the United States over the Soviet Union. Capitalism revolved around the exchange of goods and services in the marketplace, and so identifying with consumer culture became a way of waging the Cold War. Women, traditionally expected to do most of the shopping for the household, were encouraged to identify as patriotic Americans by being savvy consumers.

The norms of consumer culture and domesticity were disseminated via new and popular forms of entertainment - not just the television, which became a fixture in middle-class American households during the 1950s, but also women's magazines, popular psychology, and cinema. Shows promoting the values of domesticity, like Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, became especially popular. These shows portrayed the primary roles of women as wives and mothers. Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy, inevitably met with disaster whenever she pursued job opportunities or interests that took her outside of the household. On the other hand, the fact that every episode revolved around Lucy's attempts to pursue outside interests indicated her discontent with remaining at home. Moreover, Lucille Ball, while playing the role of a hapless housewife on TV, was in reality a highly successful actress and producer, and thus challenged society's expectations of women.

African American women in the 1950s

It is important to remember that the ideal of domesticity was primarily aimed at middle-class white women. African American women, as well as women of lower socioeconomic standing, were not portrayed in popular culture as wives and mothers; in fact, these women were hardly portrayed at all. Although African Americans have been hugely influential in popular culture throughout the twentieth century, the 1950s were a very "whitewashed" decade from the standpoint of the mass media. Additionally, many African American women were forced by economic necessity to work outside of the home, and were thus excluded from the postwar ideal of domesticity.

What do you think?

Who benefited the most from the postwar surge in material abundance?

Were there signs of discontent with the status quo of the 1950s? What were they?

How did the imperatives of the Cold War shape gender roles and society's expectations of women?

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Women in the 1950s (article) | 1950s America | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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In the 1950s, financial prosperity allowed young Americans to participate in a shared culture of rock and roll music, movies, and television.

In the 1950s and 1960s, young Americans had more disposable income and enjoyed greater material comfort than their forebears, which allowed them to devote more time and money to leisure activities and the consumption of popular culture.

Rock and roll, a new style of music which drew inspiration from African American blues music, embraced themes popular among teenagers, such as young love and rebellion against authority.

In the 1950s, the relatively new technology of television began to compete with motion pictures as a major form of popular entertainment.

The postwar boom and popular culture

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States emerged as the world's leading industrial power. Generous government support for education and home loans coupled with a booming economy meant that Americans in the postwar era had more discretionary income than ever before.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the bumper crop of children born after World War II, known collectively as the baby boomers, grew into teenagers and young adults. As the largest single generation up until that point in American history, the baby boomers had a tremendous effect on popular culture thanks to their sheer numbers. Starting as early as the 1940s, savvy marketers identified the baby boomers as a target demographic and marketed products and entertainment geared to their needs and interests.

The baby boomers developed a greater generational consciousness than previous generations. They sought to define and redefine their identities in numerous ways. The music of the day, especially rock and roll, reflected their desire to rebel against adult authority. Other forms of 1950s popular culture, such as movies and television, sought to entertain, while reinforcing values such as religious faith, patriotism, and conformity to societal norms.

Rocking around the clock

In the late 1940s, some white country musicians began to experiment with the rhythms of the blues, a decades-old musical genre of rural southern black people. This experimentation led to the creation of a new musical form known as rockabilly; by the 1950s, rockabilly had developed into rock and roll.

Rock and roll music celebrated themes such as young love and freedom from the oppression of middle-class society. It quickly grew in favor among American teens during the 1950s, thanks largely to the efforts of disc jockey Alan Freed. Freed named and popularized rock and roll by playing it on the radio in Cleveland-where he also organized the first rock and roll concert-and later in New York.

The theme of rebellion against authority, present in many rock and roll songs, appealed to teens. In 1954, rock group Bill Haley and His Comets provided youth with an anthem for their rebellion with the song "Rock Around the Clock." The song, used in the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle about a white teacher at a troubled inner-city high school, seemed to be calling for teens to declare their independence from adult control.

Haley illustrated how white artists could take musical motifs from African American musicians and achieve mainstream success. Teen heartthrob Elvis Presley rose to stardom doing the same. Thus, besides encouraging a feeling of youthful rebellion, rock and roll also began to tear down color barriers in popular culture, as white youths sought out African American musicians such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

While youth had found an outlet for their feelings and concerns, their parents were much less enthused about rock and roll and the rebellion and sexuality it seemed to promote. Many regarded the music as a threat to American values. When Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety program, the camera deliberately focused on his torso and did not show his swiveling hips or legs shaking in time to the music.

Despite adults' dislike of the genre, or perhaps because of it, more than 68 percent of the music played on the radio in 1956 was rock and roll.

Hollywood on the defensive

At first, Hollywood encountered difficulties in adjusting to the post-World War II environment. Although domestic audiences reached a record high in 1946 and the war's end meant expanding international markets too, the groundwork for the eventual dismantling of the traditional "studio system" was laid in 1948 in a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court. Previously, film studios had owned their own movie theater chains in which they exhibited the films they produced; however, in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., this vertical integration of the industry-the complete control by one firm of the production, distribution, and exhibition of motion pictures-was deemed a violation of antitrust laws.

Hollywood also felt the strain of Cold War fears. The House Un-American Activities Committee hearings targeted suspected Communists in Hollywood. When Senator Joseph McCarthy called eleven "unfriendly witnesses" to testify before Congress about Communism in the film industry in October 1947, only playwright Bertolt Brecht answered questions. The other 10, who refused to testify, were cited for contempt of Congress on November 24. The next day, film executives declared that the so-called "Hollywood Ten" would no longer be employed in the industry until they had sworn they were not Communists.

Eventually, more than three hundred actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other entertainment professionals were placed on the industry blacklist. Some never worked in Hollywood again; others directed films or wrote screenplays under assumed names.

Hollywood reacted aggressively to these various challenges. Filmmakers tried new techniques, like CinemaScope and Cinerama, which allowed movies to be shown on large screens and in 3-D. Audiences were drawn to movies not because of gimmicks, however, but because of the stories they told. Dramas and romantic comedies continued to be popular fare for adults.

To appeal to teens, studios produced large numbers of horror films and movies starring music idols such as Elvis. Many films took espionage, a timely topic, as their subject matter, and science fiction hits such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers -about a small town whose inhabitants fall prey to space aliens-played on audience fears of both Communist invasion and nuclear technology.

The triumph of television

By far the greatest challenge to Hollywood, however, came from the relatively new medium of television. Although the technology had been developed in the late 1920s, through much of the 1940s only a fairly small, wealthy audience had access to it. As a result, programming had been limited.

With the post-World War II economic boom, however, all this changed. By 1955, half of all American homes had a television.

Various types of programs were broadcast on the handful of major networks: situation comedies, variety programs, game shows, soap operas, talk shows, medical dramas, adventure series, cartoons, and police procedurals.

Many comedies presented an idealized image of white suburban family life: happy housewife mothers, wise fathers, and mischievous but not dangerously rebellious children were constants on shows like Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best in the late 1950s. These shows also reinforced certain perspectives on the values of individualism and family-values that came to be redefined as "American" in opposition to alleged Communist collectivism.

Westerns, which stressed unity in the face of danger and the ability to survive in hostile environments, were popular too. Programming designed specifically for children began to emerge with shows such as Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, and The Mickey Mouse Club designed to appeal to members of the baby boom.

What do you think?

What can popular culture tell us about a historical time period? Are trends in music, film, and television important for understanding an era? Why or why not?

Why do you think rock and roll became so popular?

What messages about American values were promoted by popular culture in the 1950s?

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Popular culture and mass media in the 1950s (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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Anticommunism in the 1950s (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn about the Rosenberg trial, HUAC, and Joseph McCarthy.

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Film & Media Studies with Jordan Schonig

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Rear Window Film Techniques for students | Lisa Tran

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REAR WINDOW - Interpretation, Symbolism and Vocabulary to use - VCE ENGLISH SUCCESS

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Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller Rear Window encapsulates his masterful use of controlling information to create deep-seated suspense in the audience. James Stewart plays L.B. Jefferies, a photographer bound to a wheelchair in his apartment as his broken leg heals. He finds himself in a world in which his perception is limited to the apartment complex outside his window. The summer days grow long and the stifling heat causes the tenants of Jefferies' complex to open their windows and reveal the story of their lives to Jefferies as he watches unseen from his rear window.

Each window opens a unique narrative to Jefferies; he even gives the characters titles as he follows their lives. There is Miss Torso, a beautiful dancer, Miss Lonely Hearts, a loveless bachelorette, a young newlywed couple, a songwriter and most notably a salesman living with his bedridden wife. Jefferies shares the stories he observes with his girlfriend, Lisa, played by Grace Kelly. Jefferies, Lisa and the house nurse, Thelma, find themselves engrossed in Jefferies speculations regarding a murder plot involving the salesman, Lars Thorwald, and his wife.

Jefferies tirelessly stares out his window, marking every movement of Lars after Mrs Thorwald mysteriously disappears. Despite Jefferies' friend, Doyle the detective, attempting to convince Jeffreies that his plot is an imagined tale, Jefferies tenaciously observes Lars day and night from his rear window. After collecting piles of "hard" evidence including Lars' strange, late-night walks, a dead dog, mysterious long-distance phone calls, suspicious jewelry and a handbag, the amateur sleuth trio decide to investigate further, resulting in Jefferies' hidden vantage point being revealed. Lars ventures to Jefferies' apartment and after a failed attempt to throw Jefferies from the rear window, he confesses to the police that he did indeed murder his wife.

By maintaining the voyeuristic point of view from the rear window of Jefferies' apartment, the audience views the same events that Jefferies stumbles upon from the same limited perspective. Hitchcock is the renowned "master of suspense" because of his expert use of revealing just enough information to the audience to keep them on the edge of their seat as events unfold in the movie's narrative. Because the viewer knows as much as Jefferies does, they are forced to make their own conclusions regarding this mysterious murder plot. They must decide if they will believe Jefferies, in which case Lars' apartment across the courtyard lurks ominously as a scene of a gruesome murder, or follow the advice of Doyle and believe the entire story is the figment of a stagnant imagination.

Hitchcock is known for using the thematic element of mistaken or misguided identities in his film to create twists and turns as well as suspense in his narratives. In his eerie psychological thriller, Psycho, he portrays Norman Bates as a polite, reserved individual. As we know Norman turns out to be quite the opposite: a deranged psychopath. In North by Northwest the main character is mistaken for a government agent and becomes the target of both the government and spies. Rear Window is no different; Lars is identified quite quickly as a murderer, but that identity is what is in question throughout the film. It is this idea that pushes the plot of the movie forward and creates conflicting theories among the characters as well as the audience viewing the film.

The historical context of the film brings up another intriguing aspect of Hitchcock's vision for Rear Window. Between 1950 and 1955 the age of Mccarthyism was in full swing. The United States was in a communist scare. Friends threw friends under the bus to save their own skin, neighbors turned on neighbors; suspicion ran rampant. It seems reasonable to assume Hitchcock was inspired by the social strife in America during this period as he directed Rear Window. One neighbor speculating about another committing terrible actions is very reminiscent of the attitude of many Americans during the early 1950's.

Unlike a vast majority of films portraying cinematic worlds with numerous settings and diverse sets, Hitchcock's Rear Window does an incredible job of creating a minimalist cinematic world within the confines of a single apartment complex. The camera's gaze never leaves Jefferies' apartment or the courtyard outside his window.

The opening and closing shots of the film take on a cyclical nature in terms of presenting the entire world of the film to the viewer. The movie begins as the blinds of Jefferies' windows rise, revealing the apartment complex beyond. The camera slowly zooms forward to the ledge of the window frame to convey Jefferies' view throughout the entire movie. After a brief cut to a close-up shot of a thermometer reading over ninety degrees, conveying the stifling heat of the season as well as foreshadowing imminent tension, the camera pans around the entirety of the apartment complex. This pan shows wide-open window frames in which Jefferies' "characters" go about their daily actions. The viewer receives a sense of every miniature narrative observed by Jefferies. Each window literally frames these characters with a medium shot. This medium shot allows the viewer to perceive what the character's actions are as well as the relationships or lack-there-of..

In a sense this panning shot conveys many separate cinematic worlds within a grander world, the apartment complex. Each window frame is essentially a narrative within the larger narrative. Each character plays the central role within their own small story, viewed by Jefferies, Lisa, and Thelma. Each narrative is it's own separate entity. The narratives very rarely overlap; the neighbors seldom interact with each other.

Only a catastrophic event brings each framed story together into the overarching world of the apartment complex. For example, the first time every tenant of the complex interacts together is when the dog is mysteriously killed. Everyone races to their windows to watch as the dog's owner mourns. "Didja kill him because he liked ya?" the woman yells into the night, addressing the community as a whole. The next example is when Lars is pushing Jefferies out his window. The scene appears to fast-forward as the tenants race to their windows to see the action. This sped up action conveys the stress within the community and the cinematic world as a whole.

The way we view the world of the apartment complex changes as Jefferies utilizes different methods of gazing into the windows surrounding him. Specific aspects of the world become magnified as Jefferies uses his photography tools. We are given close-up and extreme close-up shots as he looks through his camera's telescopic lens. His binoculars give us more of a medium close-up shot. Each tool gives us the advantage of being able to see specific objects, actions and emotions in more detail while also narrowing our gaze within the world.

When a character leaves the complex, such as Lars as he walks mysteriously into the night through the narrow alleyway, they essentially exit the cinematic world all together, like exiting a stage. We have no way of knowing where they are going or what they are doing. When they leave our gaze, their narrative pauses until they return to the complex.

It seems notable that Jefferies is a traveling photographer. He has made a career of capturing images from all over the world. He never seems to go to the same place, something new and intriguing always calls to him. So when he is confined to viewing the apartment complex around him, it becomes the entire world to him. He makes do with what he is given and observes every aspect of his world. In turn the viewer is given glimpses into the lives of half a dozen other people. With the turn of Jefferies' head he can move from one world to another, one window frame to another.

The world within the apartment complex is even given it's own diagetic soundtrack through the constant practicing of the songwriter living near Jefferies. If the songwriter isn't playing the piano alone or with his band, he is playing music on his record player. The music in the background of the action observed by Jefferies rarely, if ever, matches what's happening on screen. An intense moment may have a lighthearted soundtrack because the music is an aspect within the cinematic world and the songwriter doesn't play for the events we see in the film.

The closing scene of the film directly corresponds with the series of shots from the introduction. The camera zooms to the edge of the windowsill in Jefferies' apartment to view the complex. The shot cuts to a close-up of the thermometer, this time it reads around seventy degrees. This tolerable temperature signifies a cooling of the tension in the film as it comes to a close and the ending of the summer. The camera cuts to a pan of the complex to show us the same characters we followed during the film. Each narrative is given it's own closure: a new dog is introduced, Miss Lonely hearts is visiting with the songwriter, Miss Torso's boyfriend comes home from the army, and Lars' apartment is being painted over to get ready for new tenants. The final shot of the film shows the blinds of the rear window closing, hiding the cinematic world as the film draws to a close.

Hitchock created something very special with Rear Window. He takes the notion of narrative perspective and exaggerates it by creating an invalid character without the ability to leave his apartment. We see what Jefferies sees, nothing more or less. Hithcock's artful approach to what information the viewers should or should not be given shows his mastery of suspense and ability to make an audience identify with his characters but it also shows his ability to make an audience question even their own notion of the truth.

What do you think? .

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Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954): The Limited Perspective of the Voyeur

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Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller Rear Window encapsulates his masterful use of controlling information to create deep-seated suspense in the audience. James Stewart plays L.B. Jefferies, a photographer bound to a wheelchair in his apartment as his broken leg heals. He finds himself in a world in which his perception is limited to the apartment complex outside his window.

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'Zooming in' to the author's/director's construction

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'Zooming in' to the author's/director's construction

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Alfred Hitchcock: The Rules of Visual Storytelling