Daily Life
2 total works
From Beatniks to Sputnik and from Princess Grace to Peyton Place, this book illuminates the female half of the U.S. population as they entered a "brave new world" that revolutionized women's lives.
After World War II, the United States was the strongest, most powerful nation in the world. Life was safe and secure-but many women were unhappy with their lives. What was going on behind the closed doors of America's "picture-perfect" houses?
This volume includes chapters on the domestic, economic, intellectual, material, political, recreational, and religious lives of the average American woman after World War II. Chapters examine topics such as the entertainment industry's evolving concept of womanhood; Supreme Court decisions; the shifting idea of women and careers; advertising; rural, urban, and suburban life; issues women of color faced; and child rearing and other domestic responsibilities.
A timeline of important events and glossary help to round out the text, along with further readings and a bibliography to point readers to additional resources for their research. Ideal for students in high school and college, this volume provides an important look at the revolutionary transformation of women's lives in the decades following World War II.
- Spotlights individuals of diverse backgrounds throughout
- Includes a helpful introductory overview for each section that places it in historical context
- Presents cultural and historical highlights impacting women in an easy-to-follow timeline
- Underscores terms familiar to postwar American women nationwide in a glossary
- Leads readers toward other sources to broaden their understanding in bibliographical entries
- Contains academic references and suggestions for further reading
Placing the era firmly within the American experience, this reference illuminates what daily life was really like in the 1950s, including for people from the "Other America"-those outside the prosperous, white middle class.
'Daily Life in 1950s America shows that the era was anything but uneventful. Apart from revolutionary changes during the decade itself, it was in the 1950s that the seeds took root for the social turmoil of the 1960s and the technological world of today. The book's interdisciplinary format looks at the domestic, economic, intellectual, material, political, recreational, and religious life of average Americans. Readers can look at sections separately according to their interests or classroom assignment, or can read them as an ongoing narrative. By entering the homes of average Americans, far from the corridors of power, we can make sense of the 1950s and see how the headlines of the era translated into their daily lives.
This readable and informative book is ideal for anyone interested in this formative decade in American life. Well-researched factual material is presented in an engaging way, along with lively sidebars to humanize each section. It is unique in blending the history, popular culture, and sociology of American daily life, including those of Americans who were not white, middle class, and prosperous.
- Illustrates how a seemingly uneventful decade defined today's world
- Includes helpful historical overview for each section by placing it in context
- Contains academic references and suggestions for further reading in each section
- Illuminates the era's tastes through appendices of 1950s slang, award-winners, and best-sellers
- Leads readers toward other works to broaden their understanding in a bibliography