1.The Cold War impacted American women in a few ways. First, it pushed women to stay at home and perform their motherly duties, housework and raising the children. This was due to the spreading promiscuity of women which included premarital sex and homosexual experimentation. It seems as though women took a step back in their quest for equality, because their experiments with their freedoms were looked down upon. Also, women became a much larger market for advertising firms, with women being the household keepers all household products were made to appeal to women.
2.Historians needed to rethink and revise Betty Friedan’s interpretation of the “feminine mystique” because they felt that Friedan had overlooked certain variables that would have definitely swayed the results of her research. According to the text, historians thought that Friedan overlooked the differences among class, race, and ethnicity as well as “neglecting the increasing number of women entering the workforce.” Their main argument however, was against Friedman herself. They claimed that she, “was not the simple housewife and unwitting victim of domestic confinement that she claimed to be.” Her involvement in radical politics and journalism career was proof of that.
3.In the 1950s most activist women were either part of the working class or were African American. The working force activists faced a lot of employment issues. One thing that contributed to their difficulties was the return of the men from war, who came back and tapped in to the work force. Not to mention the already established pressure on the women to return to the homes in order for them to tend to their household duties. African American women not only had to struggle with all of the same problems, but also they were fighting for the working rights that white women already had.
4.The concept of a “bridge” leader is helpful in understanding women in the civil rights movement because a bridge leader was not necessarily the leader of an organization but more of a spokesperson for a way of thinking or an effort to reach a common goal. These bridge leaders commanded a great deal of influence to steer things into the direction to achieve their goals.
1 comment:
Virginia Avunjian R#1
George very well write blog, nice job! I like the way you talked about the “bridge” leaders and mentions how they were not necessary the leader of a civil right movement or what not. But they were basically the ones that had a common interest in the majority of the population. They stood up for what a lot of people seemed to what. They were the voice of mean. Because they were speaking there mind and demanding for everything they wanted this caused a lot of commotions which pulled in media. Since media became a large part of this they were noticed across the nation because the media helped them spread the word to the other side of the nation.
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