In the United States, a lot changed after the world wars and especially after World War 2. Two historians, Elaine Tyler May and Joanne Meyerowitz, explain, in their book and article, respectively, how much of change occurred concerning gender and family. They recorded the changes to have been revolving around the economic stability, increased population due to child births and a significant change in many statuses to being married during a short period. Their research is mainly based on finding out the basic results of the post-World War era which was marked by the elements of economic prosperity and population boom.
Elaine Tyler May's “Homeward Bound” aims to ascertain why post-war Americans turned to marriage and parenthood with so much enthusiasm that had not been seen by their parents, or their children. She discovered that postwar Americans needed to feel liberated from the past and secure in the future. Especially after the atomic bombs, the home became a bomb shelter for most; where they would feel secure and assured. Elaine May describes how the house became the site at which such risky and destabilizing social forces as atomic power and female gender would be tamed. May says, "The home contained not only sex, consumer goods, children, and intimacy, but enormous discontent, especially for women.” This discontent remained in the home for there was nowhere else for it to go; any viable alternatives were out of reach. May concludes, in the end, that it "is clear that in recent decades, the domestic ideology and cold war militancy have risen and fallen collectivelyjust after World War II, firm family life seemed an important thing to sustain national security, civil defense, and the struggle for supremacy over the Soviet Union. One thing is certain: the post-war cultural change has amalgamated gender, family, and national politics issues continuing saga of postwar cultural change.
Women played a critical role throughout world war two as males had been dispatched to various fronts there were so many opportunities available, so women worked in factories, manufactured airplanes and worked at shipyards. This didn’t last long after the war was over. The men returned and assumed their pre-war occupations that some women were occupying. This drove women away from job opportunities, pushing them back into the roles of motherhood and homemakers while the husband went to work to financially support the family. Family life drastically changed after the Second World War. People married at younger ages than previous and later generations. These married couples stayed together extraordinarily. More children were conceived and born and at faster rates than before or after. The result is referred to as “the baby boom”, with 75 million babies born from 1946 to 1964. With this boom came the invention of the "traditional family," with the father as the provider, the mother as the homemaker, and children creating the family.
This only worsened with the baby boom. Many women felt disenfranchised with this domesticity and hence the discontent described in Elaine May’s book “Homeward Bound.” The 1950s marked the pinnacle of gender inequality as women were viewed as stupid, submissive and only domestic. They, therefore, formed organizations like the Woman’s Club of Winter Park where they could associate with each other as feminists. Even though feminist movements did not hit till the 60s and 70s, it is clear that womanism began to penetrate in the post-war years. From the perspective of gender, the war opened up possibilities for women and men.
On the other hand, historian Joanne Meyerowitz argues, in her article, “Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A Reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, 1946-1958," Journal of American History 79, March 1993,that contemporary magazines and articles of the postwar period did not only place women in the household as a homemaker but rather were in support of the full or part- time jobs for women who were interested in careers instead of being housewives. This was in contradiction to what another historian, Betty Friedan, had stated in her book, “The Feminine Mystique” and hence the name of Joanne’s article. She insisted that even though these magazines and articles still emphasized the importance of maintaining the traditional feminine image of stay-at-home mothers, they were all for a career- focused womanhood and femininity that was beyond the traditional ways.
Japan Surrendering marked the Conclusion of the Second World War in 1945. However, many people had feared what the post world war would bring to their countries and their economies. Some countries also feared that the conditions of the Great Depression would return since the economic boom which was initiated by the war had ended. The American society at large built on the economic bases after the world war making the Americans very affluent in the post-war era. Public policies were passed during this time which gave the government the mandate to repay the veterans for their hard work in the world war. The veterans were given the chance to rebuild themselves as some others decided to attend colleges, purchase homes and some of them got their chances to start workable families. What was the greatest comeback strategy for the Americans after the world war II
In this article, “The Post War United States” the author narrates the benefits, which America as a country, had realized after the war. The war brought most Americans economy-building opportunities. However, not all American citizens took part in building the economy. The image of reality and prosperity in America was mainly related to the white Americans. They were the ones who got the better shares in the economy, and they are the ones who got a good command of it. Most white families during this time, especially the white families, were doing well economically. However, the black families who at this time were still going through racial segregation issues had not much of an economy to command. They were secluded in the job markets and the only jobs at this time they could be offered the low paying jobs which at times proved so much unreliable to sustain them as the whites would.
Although the Americans enjoyed a great time celebrating their economic victory against the other countries such as Germany and Japan, the Americans did not enjoy the economic victory for so long. In spite of the confidence they had in themselves, there emerged a new challenge of the cold war which shuttered and shook their confidence level. During this period, with the sudden boom in the American economy, there were many families who started most of them were being those stated by the veterans of war which had left the war. Most of the marriages during this period were of people at the young ages and as a result, the number of children during this period also increased greatly.
The families during this time were set up in the most basic lifestyle where the father of the house was the sole breadwinner of the family, and the mother the house maker and the children stayed with the family to complete the household setting. Most of the people who were having families during this time were doing so as to compensate the lost times during the war. Many people took advantage of the economic bloom in the US to set up their well-established families during this time. As a result, there was a high birthrate during this time showing that during this period there was a high fertility rate among the Americans.
In conclusion, the post-war era brought a lot good things to the Americans and the veterans. However, there was also a great loss to them because of the veterans that they had lost during the war. The war brought Americans a long period of economic prosperity which made the citizens stable for a long period.
Bibliography
Cott, Nancy F. History of Women in the United States: Historical Articles on Women's Lives and Activities. Munich: K.G. Saur, 1992.
Fass, Paula S., and Michael Grossberg. Reinventing Childhood After World War II. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
Russell, Jan Jarboe. The Train to Crystal City: FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II. 2015.
