The 1950s were such a controversial time period, especially looking back today. Shortly after the end of World War II, there was a drastic change from the Rosie the Riveter image to the sweet, helpless, housemother. The once popular show, "I love Lucy" was one of the many ploys to convince women to leave the paid workforce and to go back home, leaving their jobs for the men coming back home from the war.
This sitcom, along with so many others from this time period, has me screaming on the inside thinking that this is all wrong. I absolutely can not stand families that behave this way because I see it as being very fake and rehearsed per se. From the start of the day, women "ought" to have a schedule outlining all the housework, cooking, and cleaning they should do around the house and they go to extreme lengths to beat this into our minds. But what can you really expect from something in the 1950s?
Aside from portraying women merely as a subordinate to men, they are in a sense shown as something lesser. This clip from the show "I Love Lucy" is one of the many examples of this:
Although comical, in this scene Lucy is portrayed as not being quite as smart as her husband. He speaks Spanish very fluently to his friends from Cuba while Lucy is speaking to them as if they were deaf; it's clear they're not and her husband has to reaffirm otherwise. She struggles to communicate with them and appears rather silly in doing so, while her husband appears to be very intelligent in being able to speak a second language. With the changes between pre-WWII and post-WWII, the sudden distinction has women being encouraged to stay home and take care of their husband. With so many things influencing how they "ought" to behave, by men, it's no wonder they're given thse unrealistic and utterly ridiculous ideals.
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