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Language
English
Description
During the 1950s, women were often depicted as "happy homemakers" in magazine advertisements and on television. During the cold war, the idealized image of the stay-at-home mother and doting wife underscored the differences between prosperous, capitalist America and communist Russia, where women had to work.
Language
English
Description
After the uncertainty of World War II, Americans sought refuge in the nuclear family. Both men and women married younger and had more children than at any other time in the country's history. White, middle-class women were encouraged to find fulfillment in their roles as wives and mothers, and they were often depicted as "happy homemakers" cooking, cleaning, and caring for children.
Language
English
Description
Following World War II, popular representations of domestic life in the United States centered around a traditional nuclear family, which had clearly defined gender and economic roles. Men were thought of as the primary breadwinners, while women were often assumed to be responsible for the upkeep of the family home. Eventually, discontent with these traditional roles in the face of the uncertainty of the cold war lead many of the "baby boom" generation...