The media image of the early post war was of a high standard of living in which many practiced a Protestant religion, were getting married and buying brand new houses with their wartime savings. Cars were now the "in" thing and all families had to have one. Women stayed at home and cared for the children while the men were the breadwinners. Few women had careers outside of the home. Blacks were denied the opportunity to move up in society and the cause of civil rights began to attract some attention. Sex was something that wasn't talked about in public and it was assumed that all marriages were perfect.

In nineteen forty-eight a professor by the name of Alfred Kinsey proved that

In conclusion, every decade has it's own media image which people either try and live by or go against. The United States has gone through great social and economic changes throughout the past three time periods discussed in this paper. We went from a media image of affluence in the early post war period, to the "true" sixties where changes in civil rights for women and blacks appeared to be the dominant media image. In the post-Watergate America the media image changed drastically from the United States being a superpower, to a feeling of uncertainty about the control America actually had. These media images may show an overall idea of what the time period was like but as you can see, such an image cannot be guaranteed. Personally I have learned that not everything in the past is exactly what it seems to be.

The post-Watergate America (1975-present) media image was now about doubting America's strength and wondering if it was the superpower it was supposed to be. This was quite a change from the early post-war era where affluence and being number one was a main theme. The question was did we have any control at all?

Another topic that Nixon found important was the OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Act) which guaranteed American workplaces to be free of recognized safety and health hazards. As a result of all this legislation, pollution levels in the United States dropped drastically but there is still a long way to go. There was also the Title IX of Education Act. This helped to increase gender equality in college and opened up many classes to women that were previously unattainable. The media image also seemed to portray the idea that there are unlimited resources out there when that simply isn't true.

After these findings were published, a debate between admirers and critics of this report began to arise. The admirers felt that the information was surprising but they thought that it was time to end old taboos and face the realities of modern life. On the other hand, the critics questioned how reliable these "scientific" statistics were and whether or not everyone was "doing it." The impact of this report had a large effect on the public because there was more open talk about sex, homosexuality and birth control. Simply put, this report was proof that the media image of the early post war period that the population's married life was perfect wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Another difference between him and previous Presidents was that he was the youngest man ever elected into office at the time. This was another reason why he didn't fit into media image of this time. Kennedy wanted his presidency to be similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt's because he was thought to have made a high point of American Imperialism and to create a high public spirit. He even started calling himself JFK in hopes of echoing FDR and make a connection between the two of them. Kennedy also was interested in the Camelot theme which was the golden era of peace, prosperity and national power. For the most part, JFK wanted to show leadership throughout his Presidency, along with an active image. In May 1961, Kennedy pledged to lead the race to the moon. The United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic had been competing with one another in many areas, from the development of nuclear weapons to trying to be the first country to develop the technology which would get them to the moon.

The main street that ran through the center of Disneyland was a perfect example of what America should look like. There were no working class or colored people, shopping was the main activity there and there was no place to sit which kept everyone moving. The social message was that this fantasy land was a denial of the real world. There was poverty and danger in the real world yet it wasn't portrayed here at all. Disneyland pretty much fit the exact dominant media image of the early post war although people knew that life

Some common words found in the essay are:
Walt Disney, , Alfred Kinsey, Education Act, Massacre United, Communism United, Capital Records, York Stagflation, Board Education, Betty Friedman, media image, post war, true sixties, image post, media image post, image post war, dominant media, media image period, ground troops, conformity 1950's, image change, image period, dominant media image, civil rights, media image change,
Approximate Word count = 3226
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)