Women On Television
From around the 1950¹s to the present, the views on women have changed drastically. Women have gone from being thought of as homemakers to career women. Women have obviously climbed the scale of society. The best way to see the different views on females is to watch television. The different roles of women in the 1950¹s and the 1990¹s are reflected in America¹s television programs in their roles as wives and mothers, women on the career path, and women in public life. In the 1950¹s, marriage was the epiphany of a young girl¹s life. All aspects of life and happiness were based on marriage. Girls in college between 1945 through 1960 learned not to get interested in anything besides getting married and having children (Oakley, p.295). The female population in America was not expected, or wanted, to succeed or progress. Women were shunned who entered the work force; they were given female jobs (i.e. secretary, teacher) and were paid unjustly low. American girls were simply supposed to become a suburban housewife; it was the ideal image. By the mid-fifties, more than half of all females attending American universities were dropping out in order to marry (Lewis, p.42). The thought was that women should be educated as wo
On television in the 1950¹s, women played roles as people who would not amount to much, just as they were viewed in society. Shows such as ³I Love Lucy² simply disarmed potentially strong women, making them incompetent to do simple tasks (Miller, p.366). On the common soap opera, men were authority figures, while the women were the incompetent window-dressing (Miller, pg.365). The sitcoms always featured the ideal woman. On shows such as ³Leave It To Beaver² and ³The Patty Duke Show,² the mother would stay home and cook and clean; but, all wearing high-heels, a dress, and a beautiful smile. The highlight of their day was when their children and/or husband got home. An example of this would be ³I Love Lucy;² when Ricki would get home, he would yell, ³Lucy, I¹m home!² On television, no female was allowed to be of importance; and those who tried to do or be anything, failed. men should be, in courses such as home economics, ceramics, flower arranging, and other crafts suited for their lives as homemakers. Women were not viewed as women, but as wives and mothers. And the only way a women did any good in society was to stay at home and raise a family. Watching television programs from the 1950¹s and the 1990¹s, back to back, shows the s
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lucy² Ricki, , Love Lucy², Duke Show², wife mother, wives mothers, television programs, wives mothers women, ³i love lucy², hold titles, set earth, getting married, stay home, ³i love, love lucy², ideal woman,
Approximate Word count = 840
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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