Women in the 1950s

American society is the 1950s was geared toward the family. Marriage and children were part of the national agenda.

Women felt tremendous societal pressure to focus on their aspirations on a wedding ring.

The U.S. marriage rate was at an all-time high and couples were tying the knot, on average, younger than ever before.

Despite the fact that employment rates also rose for women during this period, the media tended to focus on a woman’s role in the home. If a woman wasn’t engaged or married by her early twenties, she was in danger of becoming an “old maid”

These changing expectations are reflected on college campuses.

In 1950, women make up only 30% of enrolled college students - a drop from 47% in 1920

Getting married right out of high school or while in college was considered the norm. A common stereotype was the women went to college to get a “Mrs.” (pronounced M.R.S) degree, meaning a husband.

Although women had other aspirations in life, the dominant theme promoted in the culture and media at the time was that a husband was far more important for a young woman than a college degree.

If remaining single in American society was considered undesirable, being single and pregnant was totally unacceptable, especially for white women.

Girls who “got in trouble” were forced to drop out of school and often sent away to distant relatives or homes for wayward girls. Shunned by society for the duration of their pregnancy, unwed mothers paid a huge price for premarital sex

In reality, young women were engaging in premarital sex in spite of the societal pressure to remain virgins.

There was a growing need for easy, safe, effective, reliable, and female-controlled contraceptives

Not only did most married women walk down the aisle by age 19; they also tended to start families right away.

A majority of brides were pregnant within 7 months of their wedding, and they didn’t just stop at one child.

Large families were typical.

From 1940 to 1960, the number of families with three children doubled and the number of families having a fourth child quadrupled.

This was also the era of the “happy homemaker”

For young mothers in the 1950s, domesticity was idealized in the media, and women were encouraged to stay at home if the family could afford it.

Women who chose to work when they didn’t need the paycheck were often considered selfish, putting themselves before the needs of their family.

But even for happy homemakers, pressures were mounting. In a departure from previous generations, it was not longer acceptable for a wife to shut her husband out of the bedroom

Starting in the 1950’s, sex was viewed as a key component of a healthy and loving marriage.

Without an effective female-controlled contraceptive, young wives faced three decades of child bearing before they reached menopause.

By the late 1950’s, both single and married American women were ready and waiting for a new and improved form of birth control. When the Pill was introduced, the social factors affecting women’s reproductive lives contributed significantly to the warm reception women across the country gave the Pill.

In 1950, Anna Rosenberg becomes the only female Assistant Secretary of Defense appointed by President Truman.

Also, it is the first time in American history that women are drafted for the Korean War.

In June, there are 13 platoons of Women’s Marie Reserves.

Over the next 5 years, more women will join to total 120,000 women in the military.

In 1952, Planned Parenthood Association becomes International Planned Parenthood Association. Sanger travels in Asia to raise support and money for research for the birth control pill.

In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier. She had been an important contributor to the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)

Also in 1953, Ethel Rosenberg dies (with her husband Julius) in the electric chair at New York’s Sing-Sing prison on June 19th. She becomes the only female to be executed for espionage in American history.

In 1955, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott. She becomes known as “the mother of the civil rights movement”

WHER becomes the first all girl radio station in the world.

Also in 1955, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the United States in founded.

Although DOB originated as a social group, it is later developed into a political organization to win basic acceptance for lesbians in the United States.

In an economic report taken during the 1950’s it is found that the average annual income for women in $2,179. For men it is $4,466.

In 1950, Althea Gibson is the first African American to play in the U.S. Nationals (U.S. Open). She wins in both 1957 and 1958. Also in 1957, she is the first African American to win the All England title in tennis at Wimbeldon.

In 1958, The Childbirth Without Pain Education Association begins Lamaze classes.

Other important women:

● Bette Davis - actress● Lucille Ball - actress● Marilyn Monroe - actress perceived as the ideal woman