# data[].attributes.body
“Images of femininity offered to the young girls of the 1950s were cited conflicting. The sexy, frilly prom dress quickly switched to a practical, frilly apron once the goal of marriage was achieved” (Gourley 18).

# data[].attributes.body
“These publicity measures met with only partial success amid public sentiment suspicious of women in nontraditional roles. In fact, rumors about the supposedly promiscuous sexual behavior and scandalous drunkenness of female recruits were so widespread that the armed forces had to refute the charges publicly” (May 43).

In women's eyes working was a good thing and could show how they preformed and their abilities to be seen. The rest of the public did not see it this way. Most people thought the opposite of women in the workforce.

# data[].attributes.body
On screen women would portray one of 3 stereotypes (Gourley 40):

1. The Glamorous woman: she knows her fashion, but may be a little dumb

2. The virtuous woman: she’s is pretty but not as much as the glamorous woman. She is much smarter too

3. The almost-independent woman: she is successful and pretty but is not as smart as in the love area

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
"Tips for a Happy Marriage" old 1950s film

# data[].attributes.body
Check out this video of the expectations the husband required from the wife. This video shows the how the wife would have to go along with with whatever the husband wanted to do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Tips for a Happy Marriage" old 1950s film

# data[].attributes.body
“The wife’s duty was to build the man’s, self-esteem by making him feel smart and important” (Gourley 31).

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Vintage 1950s Makeup Tutorial & Hair Care Routine | 4K 60fps

# data[].attributes.body
Here is a video to check out on how to prepare yourself for the day in the 1950’s. This video will show how women dressed and how they did their makeup and hair.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vintage 1950s Makeup Tutorial & Hair Care Routine | 4K 60fps

# data[].attributes.body
“It reflects an idealized view of families. A beautifully dressed, well made-up TV mother always did her housework in a pretty dress and high heels” (Gourley 50).

From the TV show Father Knows Best

# data[].attributes.body
During the war women starting working to provide for the war and its efforts. Women enjoyed the freedom they felt. They had the chance to make money at a well paying job along with demonstrating their abilities.

# data[].attributes.body
“Marion Donovan’s disposable diaper cover was made of nylon parachute cloth and featured metal and plastic snaps. It launched at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949 and was immediately successful” (Gourley 57).

# data[].attributes.body
A working wife was an embarrassing commentary on her husband’s earning power (Gourley 54).

Explains that the husband had the expectation that he would be sole provider for the family.

# data[].attributes.body
Many women in their spare time would come up with products in their home

When their was no one home the housewife would get lonely, so they would start inventing

Invention examples included handbags, diapers, catalogs, and etc

# data[].attributes.body
Women were considered for their highest calling was for homemaking, raising children, and to serve her husband. Along with doing all the cleaning, cooking, and caring for the children and husband, she was supposed to remain proper and have hair and makeup remain attractive.

# data[].attributes.body
If someone is looking to learn more about the mental health of the housewife in the 1950s the book the Feminine Mystique shares amazing facts and stories restarting the mental health of the housewife’s.

Wether women agreed or disagreed with the Feminine Mystique, the book shattered the image of the happy housewife (Gourley 61).

# data[].attributes.body
It was the women’s job to keep the marriage happy and to prevent divorce. Many women were encouraged to take marriage as a career. Women were also a factor in her husband’s career. Women were often blamed for being with a man that was not successful at his job.

# data[].attributes.body
TV made it easy to set expectations to what the average American family should look like

TV shows/sitcoms hardly showed how it actually was in a household

# data[].attributes.body
Make up was worn to bring more definition to the eyes and to preserve the natural beauty. Only one shade of eyeshadow was worn on the eyes. Every aspect of a woman’s make up was to add definition to the eyes.

# data[].attributes.body
“‘The function of daytime TV… is neither to entertain nor to instruct. It is to provide pleasant background babble-rather like an indoor waterfall-while the American housewife goes about her chores”’ (Qtd. in Gidgets and Women Warriors, 42).

# data[].attributes.body
“Buddy wrote that he was probably falling in love with a nurse who also had TB, but his mother had rented a cottage in the Adirondacks fir the month of July, and if I came along with her, he might well find his feeling for the nurse was a mere infatuation” (Plath 119).

Ester wasn’t going to fall into the trap that Buddy wanted her to do to become his wife to stay at home with their kids. She did not like the fact of being manipulated by a man and she did not like the fact that Buddy wanted her to be a housewife.

# data[].attributes.body
Many women wore shirtwaist dresses, with an apron, small high heeled shoes, and with her hair in what was called a poodle up duo. When women were cleaning the house they wore a scarf over her hair to protect the curls, this was done when dusting or other dirty cleaning activities.

# data[].attributes.body
A 1950s ad in one of the magazines from the time period.

# data[].attributes.body
All I’d heard about, really, was how fine and clean Buddy was and how he was the kind of person a girl should stay fine and clean for (Plath 68).

This quote explains that Buddy was a good man and should have the expectations that a girl should never do anything wrong and practically be a perfect housewife.

# data[].attributes.body
“Some felt angry for no apparent reason. Others felt like crying, but they didn’t understand what was making them so sad” (Gourley 58).

This explains that back in the 1950s people didn’t really understand what was going on with their emotions and would even blame their emotions on other things such as low iron.

# data[].attributes.body
Doctor visits were taken by many women complaining about being anxious

Biggest problems that were told by women was being tired and having pain

The housewives were comparing themselves to women on television (asking themselves why ain’t I like them)

# data[].attributes.body
This is a picture from the sitcom I Love Lucy made in the 1950s that shows an American housewife going against the normal standards (Gourley 52).

# data[].attributes.body
He was always saying how his mother said, “what a man wants is a mate and what a woman wants is infinite security,” and, “What a man is is an an arrow into the future and what a women is is the place the arrow shoots off from,” until I’m tired (Plath 72).

Buddy’s mother is saying that men are the future and women are kinda just there for the husband for support.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
This 1955 ‘Good House Wife’s Guide’ Explains How Wives Should Treat Their Husbands

# data[].attributes.body
The daily duties that women were to complete while the husband was at work. Many of the tasks that women did was to please the husband when he came home from work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This 1955 ‘Good House Wife’s Guide’ Explains How Wives Should Treat Their Husbands

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stay connected to family and friends by sharing the LittleThings that spark joy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Not Done: Women Remaking America | 1950 Housewives | Season 1

# data[].attributes.body
Women in the 1950’s share their experiences on how they felt being a housewife and how their mental health was impacted.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Not Done: Women Remaking America | 1950 Housewives | Season 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most middle class women of the 1950s became homemakers. Many women felt dissatisfied.

# data[].attributes.body
“‘I was a closet worker. Nobody knew for years that I had a job”’ (Qtd. in Gadgets and Women Warriors 54).

# data[].attributes.body
“‘Don’t disturb his belongings. Don’t open his wallet or read his mail without his approval. Don’t read over his shoulder, either’” (Qtd. in Gidgets and Women Warriors, 31).

# data[].attributes.body
"This hotel-the Amazon- was for women only, and they were mostly girls my age with wealthy parents who wanted to be sure their daughters would be living where men couldn't get at them and deceive them; and they were all going to pash secretarial schools like Katy Gibbs, where they had to wear hats and stockings and gloves to class, or they had just graduated from places like Katy Gibbs and were secretaries to executives and junior executives and simply hanging around in New York waiting to get married to some career man or other." (Plath 4)

Many women's parents weren't ready for them to be married and sent them to college to go to work, but the daughters wanted to be married. They wanted to settle down and be a house wife and not to be in the new normal of women working.

# data[].attributes.body
“It’s not that we hadn’t enough to eat at home, it’s just that my grandmother always cooked economy joints and economy meat loaf’s and had the habit of saying, ‘I hope you enjoy that, it cost forty-one cents a pound,’ which always made me feel I was somehow eating pennies instead of Sunday roast”(Plath 26).

Women in the 1950’s were supposed to be slim and proper. By eating too much many women were judged. It was women’s responsibility to cook and clean for the husband, with making sure he was satisfied with her cleaning, cooking, and the way she looked.

# data[].attributes.body
The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters.

Esther doesn’t wanna live up to fulfill the expectations of a housewife, but instead doesn’t wanna be told what to do by a man and do what she wants.

# data[].attributes.body
“Typists transcribe dictation in a government office staffed entirely by women. Most working women during the war and in the following decade held clerical and other nonprofessional jobs.” 55

# data[].attributes.body
“Alice Leopoldo became director of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor in 1953. She proclaimed, “Women are becoming increasingly important in the development of our country’s industry, in scientific research, in the education field, and in the social sciences.”