Transcript The “Other” 1950s: - Dr. Sabrina Sanchez

The “Other” 1950s: Single Women,
Sexuality, & Unwed Mothers
I. 1950s Marriage Mania
• By 1951 = 69% of all US
women are married
• 1 in 3 wed by 19
• By 1957 = 14 million
girls engaged by 17
Single Women in the 1950s
• “Lone Female” studied by
writers & psychiatrists
• Hostility & suspicion
directed towards single
women & working women
• 1955 = Over 300 promarriage books published
for women
Home Economics Textbook, 1956
• Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before,
to have a delicious meal—on time. This is a way of
letting him know that you have been thinking about
him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are
hungry when they come home!
• Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate
all noise of washer, dryer dishwasher or vacuum. Try to
encourage the children to be quiet. Have them
properly dressed to give their greetings.
• Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a
comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the
bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
Arrange his pillow…speak in a low soothing and
pleasant voice.
Beauty Standards
• Products marketed to “keep
your husband”
• 1956 = Average weight for
women is 15 pounds lighter
than 1926 average weight
• 1956 = $1.3 billion spent on
cosmetics, $660 million on
beauty treatments, $400
million on soap and electric
grooming, $65 million on
“reducing”
Urban Hotels for Single Women
• High rise, all-girl hotels
& boarding houses
• NYC’s Barbizon Hotel for
Women used by movie
stars Grace Kelly, Liza
Minnelli, writers Gael
Greene, Sylvia Plath
• Gael Greene, New York
Post, 1958, claimed
hotels evoked fears of
spinsterhood
Portrayals of Single Women in Media
• Portrayed as Unfulfilled
background characters
• Doris Day: Working
Single Women in films
emphasized double
standards about dating
& sex
• Etiquette Books taught
girls how to avoid sex
II. Single Pregnancy: Abortion,
Adoption, & Race
• 1944 – 1955 = 80% increase in # of white babies
up for adoption
• All abortion illegal in 1950s: 800 – 1,000 women
died each year
• Hospital abortion committee required 2 letters
diagnosing a woman as psychologically impaired
• Options = Quick marriage, illegal/unsafe abortion,
“Home for Wayward Girls” before adoption
• Race determined options of a single mother
III. Sexuality in the
1950s
• Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s
Studies on Sex in
Marriage, 1948 & 1953
• Surveys uncovered premarital sex,
masturbation, affairs, &
homosexuality
• Attitudes towards
marital sex no longer
about procreation
• Promoted female
sexuality as normal
Giving Birth in the 1950s
• Ob/Gyn almost always
male
• No lamaze, few midwives
• Women had little
knowledge of anesthesia,
c-sections,
hysterectomies
• Ob/Gyns hostile to
breastfeeding; 25%
breastfeed from 1940 1970
Unhappiness of 1950s Housewives
• 51 – 56 hours of weekly
housekeeping (unpaid labor)
• Alcoholism, domestic violence
ignored by police
• “Mother’s Little Helper” used
for housework
• 1/4 - 1/3 of couples married in
1950s would eventually divorce
• Strict gender roles pressured
women to stay out of the
workforce
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan,
1963
• Exposed the plight of
housewives, “The
Problem With No
Name”
• Sold more than 1
million copies
• Re-launched Feminist
movement