Paper Example on Change in Women Roles and Notions of Divorce From the 1950S to the Present

Introduction

There were profound changes in the 1950s that make the era distinct from the adjacent ages and the present generation. The adults who existed in the 1950s carried with them the experiences of war and the Great Depression. During the great depression, families went through harsh economic times that weakened a high number of family units. At the end of the war, most of the adults had learned the importance of strong families during challenging times, and they saw the postwar era as an opportunity for them to actualize the traditional family ideals. The 1950s saw the acceptance of women as homemakers and marriage as the ultimate destiny for many women. The tradition of women domesticity was made stronger by the then notions about social security and having a large nuclear family. Female roles and assumptions changed with the advent of women liberation movements in the 1960s. Feminists support for women education contributed to the acceptance of women in previous men roles, and it added to the realization that women are equally good in politics and other non-domestic duties.

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The Roles of Women and Notions of Divorce in the 1950s

The 1950s was a period of conformity, and both men and women would observe gender roles that were in line with the social expectations. The experiences of the World War and The Great Depression encouraged conformity, and they helped individuals to work towards a prosperous and peaceful society. According to Sartorius (2010), 'the historians of unrest see the 1950s as an age of consensus, and traditional gender roles got interrupted only in the late 1960s' (p.5). The generation of the baby boomers of the 1950s valued the traditional roles of women as mothers and wives.

Female roles were focused at the homestead during the 1950s. During the war period, some of the women had defied the cultural norms by seeking employment in the industry. During the war era, women moved to replace the industrial vacancies left by men when they got recruited to the army. The post-war period was followed by critical demobilization changes. A high number of women who had earlier on joined the workforce had to leave the jobs for the returning militants (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). Media messages and other messages in the popular culture encouraged women to give up their industrial employment and to resume their domestic life quietly. A few women struggled to maintain their industrial jobs and women formed just a third of the industrial workers.

During the 1950s marriage was considered an ultimate destiny for the females. Marriage was given a higher priority compared to employment. Men were on the lookout for wives who did not have any education. Research affirms a trend in the 1950s that involved 'men getting attracted to women whom they would feel intellectually superior' (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). The school curriculum focused on preparing girls to undertake the roles of homemakers and mothers in the future. Domestic sciences including cooking and sewing were taught to girls preparing them to become influential caregivers to their children and husbands. The trends in the 1950s including the production of cars and suburbanization supported the homeownership dreams. Suburbanization provided a chance for young couples to spend time alone from parents, a trend that made most of the girls to achieve their family dreams.

The requirement for children to provide for their parents in old age made women to relate the number of children with increased social security at old age. Child labor was apparent, and children would start providing for their parents at an early age. During the middle of the twentieth century, women would have a large family, and they spent most of their youthful years in children bearing (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). The high number of children per household meant that women had a lot of work at the homestead and they would barely engage in productive activities outside the home.

During the 1950s, the norms of male dominance demanded that women should not participate in politics. The peacetime period of the 1950s saw the resurfacing of some of the earlier gender roles that seemed to be losing significance just before the world war. Some of the common ideas that resurfaced during the postwar era included those restraining women from getting an education and participating in politics. In the 1920s women accounted for 47.3 percent of the enrollments in university education, 'but by the mid-1950s the proportion decreased to a third of the student body' (Sartorius, 2010, p.6). Although women's suffrage commenced in the 1920s, few women participated in elections in the 1950s, and it hindered their ability to endorse fellow women politicians.

During the rise of capitalist ideals of the cold war, there was a high recognition of the role of women in shopping for the household. The period of the cold war saw a revolution in the exchange of goods in the marketplace. Consumer culture was a dominant feature of the cold war (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). Women were expected to participate in the market in the line of their dominant role in the homestead and especially in shopping for the household commodities.

Women were encouraged to support the stability of the nuclear family, and the instance of divorce was rare. The role of a woman became ensuring that a family is healthy and intact. Gender roles in the 1950s had an intimate connection with the ideals of the cold war. A nuclear family was essential in implementing the function of the family as a building block of a healthy society (Sartorius, 2010). To keep the family firm and intact, the role of a woman included remaining at home to take care of the children and the husband. The society required women to avoid pursuing a career and to value the household roles.

Widespread racism in the 1950s meant that the African American women did not receive equal recognition with as wives and mothers with their white counterparts. The popular culture did not include women of low social strata. Earlier, the African Americans were involved in the dominant culture, but patterns of social segregation became widespread in the 1950s (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). Since the economics of necessity led most of the African American women, most of them worked outside the home, and they did not participate in the postwar popular culture of domesticity.

Women Roles From the Late 1960S to the Present

The modern era began with high enrolment levels of women in higher education. The Liberation movements contributed to the acceptance of a higher status of women in society. The feminists' movement worked against the social pressures of the 1950s that forced women to get married and dedicate most of their time in homemaking. The '1950s witnessed an era of radical feminists,' and the movement saw the inclusion of higher numbers of women in higher education as the first step in women liberation (Sartorius, 2010, p.6). The aims of women in education also shifted from learning to become good wives to learning with the objective of acquiring a good job. The linkage between women education and their careers contributed to the increase in the number of women seeking higher education.

The advent of the feminist movements contributed to women involvement in politics. The feminist's changes added to the development of campus-based women education centers where women would perform all the roles played by men in the other campuses including leadership. The women leaders in college became vocal graduates who later took up leadership positions in the society. The advent of women studies provided an understanding of the difference between sex and constructed gender roles (Sartorius, 2010). Women studies provided a significant breakthrough by shunning the traditional gender roles that sought to demean the status of women. Women studies graduates became vocal mouthpieces in advocating for equality of men and women thus contributing to the acceptance of women as having equal leadership capability with men.

At present, women perform roles that were earlier on considered to be in the male domain. The trend started with the protests in the 1960s that were characterized by 'students resistance towards university administrations particularly the designed courses for men and women' (Sartorius, 2010, p.4). Higher education in the modern era contributes to the reduced acceptance of the notions that women education undermines their roles at the domestic level. There is a trend of increased recognition of the idea that women are not just destined to become homemakers. The admission patterns in colleges and universities have changed significantly. At present, more women are pursuing challenging careers in science, mathematics, and engineering.

The current social patterns and government policies in the United States support the ability of females to become breadwinners equally with men. The government has passed regulations reducing the wage gap. At the moment, a high number of women are holding executive positions. Similarly, a high number of families have a maximum of two children (Finn-Stevenson, 2018). Importantly, most of the children have a close age gap to each other, and therefore mothers commit just a few years in giving birth and taking care of young children. Increased awareness of sexual education prevents a high number of young girls from giving birth while they are still young.

From the 1980s to the present, women have shown a trend of postponing marriage. During the 1950s, about three-fourths of young women between the twenty to twenty-four years of age were married. Today, only a half of all women in the same age bracket are married. A high number of adult women are rejecting marriage. Research affirms that women have entered the twenty-first century with prior experiences of relationship changes 'characterized by delayed marriage and a dramatic rise in cohabitation' (Evans, 2015, p.13). The current social and economic factors favoring education and financial stability contribute to delayed marriages.

Mother lead household is a common feature in the present world. The complications related to high divorce rates push women to maintain their homes. The women in single-parent family support themselves and their children by playing both the maternal and paternal roles. The courts in different countries require divorced children to live with their mothers (Finn-Stevenson, 2018). Divorced women face a challenge of managing their work duties and household chores.

Today, women have to balance between household and workplace schedules, an act that has led to most of the women working with flexible work schedules. From the 1980s, there was an increased need for the workplace norms to comply with the realities of society. Family values gained increased recognition in the 1980s, and many institutions adopted workplace values 'surrounding the need for easily available and accessible childcare' (Leppert, 2017, p.67). The changes arose from labor movements' arguments that the employers must look into the child care needs of the workers by providing flexible employment and affordable day care services. Flexible working hours allow women to have a family and still engage in formal working hours. Even, some flexible working schedules enable women to work on a part-time basis.

The feminists' movements have made significant achievements in advocating for the involvement of women in the workplace. However, women tend to take up workplace roles that imitate their caregiving roles at household levels (Finn-Stevenson, 2018). There are a high number of women who are nurses, teachers, and secretaries.

Cohabiting is a common trend in the twenty-first centur...