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This was where citizens were either embracing the American way of life
or using the time to really find out who they are. When the men
returned home from the War a large spike in the birthrate, known as
the baby boom, took a major hold on the American family because a
proper fella had a wife and kids and everyone in society expected
social and cultural changes inside and outside the home; two themes
breadwinner and head of the household, mom stays home to take care
of the house, kids, and her husband, all while also trying to figure
Within the confines of the post World War II family home, the parents
brought the values and traditions that were enforced on them during
their childhood; therefore it was only logical for them to run their home
the same way. Obeying authority, taming your emotions and not
causing problems, were amongst the rules the children of the home
1 Michael Rich, 1950s Family Life, Fifties Web (United Site, 2015)
Fiftiesweb.com/pop/info-family: 1.
2 Marynia F Farnham and Ferdinand Lungberg, Modern Woman The
Lost Sex (Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1947): 2.
had to listen too.3 And with these strict rules and traditions opposed
onto the 1950s youth were major contributing factors to their rebellion
in the 1960s.
the youths of the 1950s, the first place to visit is that of the parents
rules. With the prosperity that follows World War II, the culture of
the American party. In the 1950s the social act of marriage and family
father came back to life because the family social unit and their roles
determine not only the character, but also the structure became
acceptable among all men and women.5 It was thought that this way
before them, they conformed to the idea of proper gender roles within
comfortable dress, makes sure the kids are washed up for dinner,
and the list goes on.7 This way of life was all the parents were exposed
to, and of course it would be hard to run their home any other way
themselves.8 All the parents wanted was for their kids to be the best
that they could be. However under their roof, the children had to
follow their rules and traditions that they themselves had to follow.
Most children of the 1950s would act the way that their parents wanted
them too, in terms of following the rules; but behind closed doors, the
children would begin to figure out who they are. The rules in question
emotions. These rules were set in place because the certainty (of)
family unity was the focus of eternal values.9 They are important
their full potential.10 Most youths do not respond well to their parents,
choice but to conform to their parents way of life. One of the best
night in with the family. This film entitled A Date with Your Family
situations that happens on within the household after the children get
depicted that the children should keep your emotions to yourself when
the father comes home because he does not want to come home to a
miserable family. When you sit down at the dinner table it is the
therefore obeying the parents, not causing any problems and not
showing emotion at the diner table for this was to be a pleasant time
and that of mother and daughter, had different bonds between them.
Outlined in the film and other bodies of work, the son would be
diligently doing his homework after school and bond with dad before
helping mom with dinner. For the daughter this is normal and natural
behavior because she belongs to the same sex as the mother that
before her eyes.12 For the son the relationship between him and his
father is very different. Boys were expected to be the proper sex; the
dream and the traditional house rules. The relationship with their
fathers in the 1950s is not only stressful, but also one of continuing
strained at times, the family unit in the 1950s remained normal to the
like the perfect family. Fashion was huge in the 1950s with it
inside the home dress was an important for different times of the day.
Children would have their school clothes, while mom and dad wear
their perspective work clothes, and when they would get together for
would entail basically the same outfits but more designed for home
American nuclear family does not stop nor help the feelings of wanting
to break out of this routine and conformity amongst the youths in the
household.
With fashion and traditional rules running the lives of the 1950s youth,
the surface, stating that in this decade, the youths began to develop a
generation that included the youths who believed that there was more
to life then just conforming to the traditional American rules and values
that their parents have opposed on them. These factors were the
rebellions against the rules. There were many ways where the youths
cultural rebellion. Teens decided that it is time for the American dream
era to have a twist. Parents however, where not thrilled with the idea
that their children are different, but it was the fact that their children
were openly rejecting the rules that they have set in place for them.
and attractions that their children were becoming apart of.17 There are
two ways in particular that would be the indicators that certain youths
would be apart of the new Beat culture: rock n roll and fashion. First,
rock n roll music was making major strides the latter part of the
1950s, and had become the Beats music of choice. With the advances
became the ultimate notion of the Beat generation. In the way one
dresses tells the public which group they belonged too, either
teens were now able to not only act the part but also look the part of a
styles and behaviors which set them off from previous adolescents: for
were just the beginning of social and cultural change amongst the
1950s teenagers and as they came to age in the 1960s. These turned
For Americans in the 1950s, the idea of the American dream was
who blasted the materialism and stifling conformity.22 For the youth of
the 1950s, this was their time to discover who they were and wanted
to be, and for most of the youths it was continuing of the legacy of the
traditional rules passed down from their parents. For others like the
fact, rebels without a cause, alienated youths who perceive the adult
1950s and the counterculture in the 1960s where the youths found
sanctuary from the strict rules and traditions that were opposed on
them.
21 May, Homeward, 6.
22 Richard B. Stolley, Turbulent Years: The 60s (Alexandria, Virginia:
Time-Life Books, 1998): 137.
23 Carosso, Cold War, 156.