Barbie

By Sara P.

Think Barbie. Think blonde voluminous hair, a teensy-tiny waste, the latest fashion sense, the hottest convertible, the ideal boyfriend, and the most respected professions. The Barbie doll or, further, the Barbie “idea” was launched into society in 1959 and immediately became a revolution for girls and teens everywhere.

During a time when a woman’s presence was mostly in the home and profession was more often than not a full-time cook, chauffeur and nanny, Barbie introduced something entirely different. She was really the first toy that came with an idea. Modeled after a male pornographic image, Barbie’s creators worked hard to create a doll with an adult body aimed at teenagers and children. A great deal of Barbie’s appeal can be credited to her physique. She was unique because other popular dolls during the time such as Betsy Wetsy and Chatty Cathy were not nearly as attractive as she. Being introduced as a sexy teenager in a black and white striped bathing suit, Barbie’s appeal skyrocketed over other dolls significantly because of her appearance. However, not only was her beauty admired but also her possessions and accomplishments. Barbie pranced around in petite designer clothing and cruised around in her corvette. Her job titles ranged anywhere from police officer to fashion model. “Barbie truly projected every little girl's dream of the future” (Weiss “Toys Were Us”).

With much needed praise and thanks to the media, Barbie’s popularity flourished during the 1950s. Without the technological advancement of the television, the Barbie revolution would not be made possible. Various infomercials featured Barbie having a ball on the beach with her companion, Ken. Also, magazines and comic books featured Barbie and Ken as an inseparable duo. “Ken and Barbie had coordinating outfits for the ‘beach, fraternity dances, after-school sodas, etc’ (BillyBoy 41).” This kind of behavior was new for young girls and considered very positive by critics today. However, as much as critics hailed this time for girls to realize they can be more than a wife and mother when they grow up, some of Barbie’s image held negative aspects.

Barbie was not entirely perfect; She still possessed some qualities evident in the women of the 1950s. In one television advertisement, Barbie was featured on the arm of a Ken doll, bearing an apron and even being praised as having a bendable waist in order to serve Ken lemonade. Despite these imperfections, the Barbie doll was really a break through for the women of the 1950s. Only with the introduction of this doll to society could young girls realize that they possessed more potential than just that of a mother and housewife. For the last fifty years, Barbie has been deemed as and will continue to be considered “the most popular fashion doll ever created” (“The Barbie Doll Story”).

Works Cited

*The Barbie Doll Story. 1999. (29 Feb. 2000)

*Weiss, Michael. Toys Were Us. (7 March 2000)

*Barbie: The Early History (2000)

*BillyBoy. Barbie Her Life and Times. New York: Crown Publishers, 1987.

I Love Lucy

by Nicole D.

“I Love Lucy” began its more that fifty-year run on television on October 15, 1951. From that moment forward, television history would be forever changed. That was the day that the scatter-brained, but loveable redhead and the struggling Cuban musician entered the scene with a phrase that will never be forgotten – “Honey I’m home”!

“I Love Lucy” was a pioneer in the sitcom genre that paved the way for future series’, such as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and had a great impact on viewers in the 1950’s and that impact continues today. However, in order to fully understand the impact that the series had on society, it is important to have a bit of background knowledge. “I Love Lucy” was based on a radio sitcom that Lucille Ball, who had already made a name for herself in Hollywood, starred in called “My Favorite Husband” with actor Richard Denning. CBS, realizing how popular the radio show had become, asked her if she would consider making the move to television. She agreed – but only if her real husband, musician Desi Arnaz, could play her TV husband. After much debate over whether or not Arnaz’s thick Cuban accent would have a negative effect on viewers, a contract was negotiated between CBS, sponsor Phillip Morris and Lucy and Desi’s production company Desilu. Only one more thing stood in the way of their dream, which was the issue of where filming would take place. Since the setting for the show would take place in New York, CBS thought it was only natural to film the show live from that location. However, Lucy and Desi wanted production to stay in Hollywood while still capturing the show on film in order to ensure its long viewing life. Finally CBS and their sponsors gave in, but asked them to pay the additional costs of production in exchange for them gaining one hundred percent ownership of the series. Little did they know that when they made that deal that “I Love Lucy” would be one of the top grossing sitcoms of all time, earning them the title of the first millionaire TV stars.

While the series was very popular, it addressed many issues that hardly anyone was addressing at that time. In the 1950’s, most television series were very domestic in nature, meaning that they focused mainly on marriage and family life. “I Love Lucy” conformed to this ideal with the premise of two newlyweds attempting to live the American Dream – Ricky as a struggling Cuban immigrant trying to make it big in show business and Lucy as a housewife and later a mother. However, the similarities between “I Love Lucy” and other 1950’s sitcoms end there. Apparently, the American Dream that Lucy had in mind didn’t exactly involve housework. In the reality of the sitcom, Lucy was “a frustrated housewife who longs to escape the confinement of her domestic role and participate in a larger public world, preferably to join Ricky in show business.” The series was the first to show an independent woman, who was not content being a mere housewife living in her husband’s shadow.

Lucy’s determination to pull away from her role as housewife created most of the tension and conflict that was the primary source of entertainment for the show, primarily because of Ricky’s traditional beliefs for how a woman should act – mainly that it is impossible for a woman to be anything other than a wife and mother. However, Lucy continued to rebel against the roles that were placed upon her by society. “Her acts of rebellion… are meant to expose the absurd restrictions placed on women in a male-dominated society. Yet her rebellion is forever thwarted. By entering the public sphere she inevitably makes a spectacular mess of things and is almost inevitably forced to retreat, to return to the status quo of domestic life that will begin the next episode.” However, even though Lucy was inevitably forced to resign to her lifestyle as a housewife, the fact that she challenged society’s norms for how a woman should act, not only in the show but in her real life as well, gave women viewers hope for their own liberation from the status quo.

“I Love Lucy” helped bring to the forefront the issues that were plaguing women in the 1950’s, issues like conformity and repression, and the feelings surrounding them. For this reason, “I Love Lucy” helped shape a generation and will continue to shape many more to come.

Sources:

Anderson, Christopher. I Love Lucy: U.S. Situation Comedy. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 20 October 2006

tvland 20 October 2006

MAD America

by Matthew B.

The 1950s was a period in America’s history that was dominated by multi-media entertainment. While many forms of entertainment stood at the the forefront of this rise in multi-media, comic books and graphic novels quickly grew to become one of the most important outlets for personal entertainment and creativity. There were many comic books distributed during this era. One comic in particular created a whole legacy of its own: it was MAD magazine. Created by Harvey Kurtzman and produced by William Gaines, the inheritor of Entertainment Comics, MAD magazine hit the shelves of stores nationwide in early October of 1952 (Comics as Culture, 117). The issues covered by MAD magazine drew upon many aspects of American culture. The topics covered in the magazine included local and global politics, as well as a major focus on the entertainment industry.

During the early years of its publication, MAD magazine nearly fell victim to the mass censorship that washed over American culture. This restriction on American media was largely due to the “Red Scare.” An investigation by one of Joe McCarthy’s notable counterparts, Estes Kefauver, (who is considered to be the “Joe McCarthy of comics”), attacked the comic industry with the notion that comic books had a direct correlation with the juvenile delinquency in America. In light of these allegations, Gaines decided to take his comic book in a new direction, creating the century’s, “most influential humor magazine” (Comic as culture, 117-8).

In the following years, the magazine’s reader base grew, not from advertisement but by word of mouth. The magazine did not accept advertising, nor did it advertise itself. It simply relied on support from other facets of the media, such as Morley Safer at 60 Minutes (Good Days and MAD days, 106). Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford also showed the new issue each month on their morning television show (Good Days and MAD days, 108).

Although MAD magazine’s success continued to grow, Kurtzman left the comic book after only 23 issues, due to an altercation with Gaines. Kurtzman did not come back until 1985, thirty one years later. Once he decided to return, he worked only as an artist and never returned to editing the magazine. He passed on in early 1993. In his wake he left behind hundreds of inspired artists and writers (Visual Celebration 22-27).

Forty-three years after Mad’s conception, Fox Television and Entertainment created the late night Saturday comedy sketch, MAD TV. As the offspring of such an influential and entertaining part of America’s literary history, MAD TV has been running strong for eleven seasons. It is well known around the globe for its, “sharp parodies of film, TV and music”. The show has been nominated for many Emmy Awards and has won several times (Madtv.com).
Through its use of political satire and parodies of subjects not considered proper for young readers, MAD magazine created a whole new genre. It has enchanted its readers world-wide, with clever, offbeat and comical means of literary entertainment. Mad has stood the test of time, it has fought the good fight, and through absurdity and outlandish humor has created a place for itself in America’s history.

Sources:

1.)Inge, Thomas. Comics as Culture. University Press of Mississippi: Jackson And London, 1990.

2.)Evanier, Mark. A Visual Celebration of the Art of MAD Magazine and the Idiots Who Create It. Watson-Guptill Publications/ New York, 2002.

3.)DeBartolo, Dick. Good Days and Mad Days. Thunder’s Mouth Press/ New York, 1994.

4.) www.madtv.com

Who and What was Barbie?

by Kim H.

February 1959 at the American Toy Fair in New York City, Ruth and Elliot Hander, founders of Mattel Toys, introduced the first adult female doll. Her full name was Barbie Millicent Roberts; she was from Willows, Wisconsin, went to Willows High School, and her first career was teenage fashion model. She stood 11 _ inches tall and weighed 11 ounces. At the time the country had already gone through two wars and a depression, and the fifties represented a coming of age for lost young adults. So when Ruth’s daughter Barbara started to grow older and imitate adult conversations and the senses around her; she thought that young girls should have a three-dimensional representation of themselves. But was America ready for a risky female doll that had a woman’s figure? Not according to the all male members of Mattel Company. When Ruth first shared her idea with them, she was turned down because Mattel claimed it would have been too expensive to produce and the average consumer was not going to pay the price to cover the cost. However Ruth approached Mattel when she came back from Europe with a Lilli doll, a German doll that was replicated from a comic strip and she was not the typical innocent doll that American children were used to playing with due to of her “woman” figure that had large breasts and sexy clothing. So in order for Mattel to keep up with Europe, it was forced to accept the new Barbie (named after her daughter Barbara) and thus the new American doll cult was born.

At first, Americans across the country were not so easily seduced by the innocent charms of Barbie, who at the time had heavy facial make-up and was wearing a black and white swimsuit with high heeled shoes. Also her eyes held a side-glance that was often seen from she wolves at bars. So mixed reviews condemned her as “sleazy, scary, and spellbinding.” Barbie who became such an American icon had her own fashion designer Charlotte Johnson that designed accessories such as bridal wear, tennis wear, ballerina wear, and something to wear for football games, however those were only the basics. Not bad for someone who started out with just a one-piece bathing suit and high-heels? She was even nicknamed “daddy dolls,” I’m not sure what that meant except it might have been a response to “Slumber Barbie.” Imagine women figure dolls carrying around teddy bears and wearing teddies. Makes you think whom were these dolls created for? But you have to love the young girls favorites, which were Barbie as homemaker and hygiene-influenced designs. What does that mean “hygiene-influenced” designs? Does that mean with every Barbie came a tube of toothpaste and dental floss? In the 1950s two important skills a young American girl was taught in school was hygiene and homemaking. And why? To get a husband.

Mattel seized on the new American consumers children and teenagers. In the 1950s TV became a part of the American households so the birth of capitalism through advertising ads reached almost everyone. At the time the only dolls available were Betsy Wetsy and Chatty Cathy. So Barbie was not just a doll but represented dreams and hopes for all young American girls. The marketers of Mattel studied the trends and cultural patterns especially among the suburban teenagers. So all little girls started screaming, “Barbie Barbie.” And moms around the United States did not have to teach their little girls what was expected of them because Barbie created and formed an identity with a degree of respectability. For example, Barbie could wear a glamorous gown and be a homemaker. Doesn’t that appeal to you? Doesn’t that make you want to run to the first toy store and buy one? Another aspect of Barbie taught pre-teens about undergarments; such as, strapless bras, girdles, and slips. This was probably the inspiration for Victoria Secrets. But this was acceptable for moms because grown up questions about puberty was often embarrassing to talk about and thus answered by Barbie. Although Ken was introduced in 1961, he played a very important role in Barbie’s image. Ken was named after Ruth’s other child. Which would make him technically Barbie’s brother. Because Barbie was a homemaker and needed a man in order to not be viewed by the American public as a failure. To this day Barbie has held American Society hostage to her 1 billion fashions and accessories that have been created since 1959. The first Barbie in 1959 sold for $3.00 and now on eBay, it can be purchased in mint condition for up to $10,000.

Although Barbie during the 1950s projected the image of manners and a balanced life, there was another image that was not portrayed by mainstream. Betty Friedan called the trouble among American women “the problem that had no name” and asserts that it has no name because women were told by ads and TV that the problem doesn’t really exist. I have created some images of under represented Barbie’s, whose voices were not heard during the 1950s. So it really doesn’t matter if you are for or against Barbie. She’s here to stay.

Barbie Fun Facts.

Bellis, Mary. The History of Barbie Dolls.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1963

Inventing Barbie.

Wolf, Erica. Barbie: The Early History.


Domestic violence Barbie: 1950s Housewife.
“No really I fell down the stairs.”
Book and sling sold separately.


Depression Barbie: 1950s housewife
Suffered from “the problem that has no name”
Pills and necklace not included.



Single Mom Barbie: Under represented 1950s.
“Don’t worry children, in 1964 I’ll go to college and have 80 more careers to choose from”



Bulimia Barbie: 1950s Suburban Housewife.
“I’m in a major crisis. I won’t be able to fit in that dress I saw in McCall’s magazine.”



AA Barbie: 1950s Housewife.
“Hubby won’t care if I sneak a drink before he gets home. As long as dinner is on the table.”

Elvis Presley

by Ralph P. & Chris C.

Few men from any time period have become as successful, as well liked, or as representative of an era than Elvis Presley. Dubbed the “King of Rock-n-roll,” Presley became a pioneer in music by mixing country, blues, and gospel into a genre that was completely new to most of America.

In January 1956, Elvis released his first single, “heartbreak hotel,” and the response was overwhelming. The single would become his first to sell over 1 million copies, but definitely not the last. “The King” would eventually produce 52 singles and 81 albums that became either gold or platinum selling records.

What made the incredible popularity of the music even more astonishing however, was that a white boy from Tennessee was making music of a style that had previously only been performed by black artists. At the height of the civil rights movement, while the government and various school systems were attempting to merge racial cultures, Presley succeeded in this merger. His fusion of white and black music not only introduced the white mainstream to aspects of black culture, but also paved the way for black artists to reach audiences not limited to their own race. People who liked Elvis and wanted to hear similar music had to racially broaden their tastes since no other white artist was doing what he was doing at the time.

The young, white, good-looking package that that music was wrapped in however, made it much more accessible to mainstream, middle-class America, especially teenage girls. At first glance, Elvis Presley was the ideal American boy; he was handsome, had made a name for himself despite humble beginnings, and even served his country in the United States Navy (1958-1959). A viewing of one of his live shows however, revealed a much racier and rebellious side of the young star. Presley’s stage presence was as revolutionary as his music, but not as widely accepted due to its somewhat graphic nature. The way he moved his legs and gyrated his hips drove girls wild, infuriated censors, and helped define the rock and roll attitude that has lasted for more than 50 years. “Elvis the Pelvis” single-handedly introduced sex to rock music, and the two have been inextricably linked ever since.

While most of his live audiences went crazy for his on-stage antics, Presley encountered some resistance from others already in the entertainment business. After a performance on the “Milton Berle Show” that caused a media frenzy over its overt sensuality, Ed Sullivan swore that Elvis would never be on his TV show. He later changed his mind, and Presley was allowed to appear on the “Ed Sullivan Show” but was only filmed from the waist up.

Elvis left an undeniable mark on music and pop culture in the 1950’s and beyond. As the first real “Rock star,” he set the stage for the musical and sexual revolutions that occurred in the following decade. “Before Elvis, there was nothing.”(John Lennon). Although Presley’s career and fame continued long after the 50’s, it was his vision and accomplishments during that time that will forever make him a legend. “His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture.” (President Jimmy Carter, 1977).




Source:

1. The Official Website of Elvis Presley. 23 October 2006.

Medicine in the 1950’s

by Tyler B.

There were many important advances in medicine during the 1950’s including the first human aorta transplant, the discovery of Hepatitis A, as well as the synthesis of the world’s first wonder drug, Penicillin. (1) All of these discoveries happened in 1950 alone. Truly, 1950 was a turning point in modern medicine. The following is an overview of some of the most important advances in medicine during the 1950’s.

The synthesis of the Penicillin sparked the golden era of antibiotics. In fact, most of the antibiotics that we have available today were discovered in the 1950s and use the same method of action against infections; “namely by interfering with the formation of a bacterium's walls, proteins or DNA, so that it cannot reproduce and spread.” (2) However, researchers were quickly finding that penicillin and other early antibiotics could not kill every illness causing bacteria. Thus, the term “superbug” was coined. A superbug, is an organism which readily adapts to the treatment of antibiotics and passes down its resistant traits to its offspring. Staphylococcus Aureus, or staff bacteria as it is commonly called, was the first of these superbugs, taking only 4 years to develop resistance to penicillin. (3) Science pushed very hard during the 50’s for the research and development of new antibiotics to win the race against resistant strains of bacteria.

In 1951, the first pharmaceutical to combat alcoholism was marketed under the brand name, Antabus. Antabus worked by inhibiting the enzyme needed to process alcohol, making 1 drink feel more like 5 or 6. (4) This quickly proved dangerous and was later removed from the market. In other news in 1951, a report was underway which ultimately proved that some cancers are caused by viruses, a vaccine for yellow fever was discovered, and neurologists were the highest paid physicians in the country with an average income of over $28,000. (5) The average American income at that time was a mere $3,400! (6)

In 1952, much research was being done to combat cardiovascular failures. For example, the first heart-lung machine is used on a 15 month old girl with a failing heart (7), electric shock was successfully used to revive a patient who had suffered a cardiac arrest, an artificial heart valve is inserted in a human heart, holes in the heart are surgically fixed, and the world’s first pacemaker is invented! (8) Other noteworthy medical achievements include the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Rutgers’s University for discovering Streptomycin, a powerful antibiotic that combated Tuberculosis. (9) With Tuberculosis well on its way to becoming extinct, another epidemic is at its height. By 1952, the Polio epidemic had reached an all-time high of over 58,000 reported cases. (10) The race for the Polio vaccine was now hot and heavy and a cure seemed only moments away.

1953 marks the first successful Polio vaccination for both monkeys and humans by Dr. Dr. Jonas Salk. (11) By 1954, the trials began to test the vaccine for efficacy. It was also in 1954 that the first open heart surgery had occurred, a huge step in cardiology. Yet, with all of the advancements in cardiology, President Eisenhower suffers a heart attack in September of 1955.

Sadly, in 1955, a mere 5 percent of medical school students are women and less than 3 percent are African American, even though the American Medical Association opened its doors to African Americans back in 1950. (12) Also noteworthy in 1955 and early 56, the first kidney transplant occurred and shortly thereafter, the first kidney dialysis machine is used to effectively filter blood. (13) Also in 1955, A birth control pill called Enovid, is tested on more than 15,000 Puerto-Rican and Haitian women under the supervision of Harvard University physician Gregory Pincus. (14) Although there were serious side effects, they were downplayed and it went on to become the first widely distributed birth control pill. Smoking was also becoming a known health risk in 1956. It took them a while, but finally in 1956, the American Cancer Society links the smoking of cigarettes to lung cancer. Despite this warning, it was estimated that 48% of Americans above the age of 14, smoked cigarettes in 1958. (16)

The early to mid 1950’s was a booming time for medical advancements. There were not too many medical discoveries in 1957, 1958 and 1959, but I will briefly list the most important ones. In 1958 ultrasound was employed for prenatal care, greatly decreasing the rates of prenatal complications. (17) Americans during this time were also very concerned with the growing problem of pollution caused by the sheer amount of auto traffic in urban areas such as Los Angeles and New York. (18) The very first national conference on air pollution occurred in 1958. In 1959, a cure-all vaccine for diphtheria, polio, and whooping cough was released. (19)

These are, in a nutshell, the medical advances from 1950-1959. Clearly, some of the most important discoveries in medicine were accomplished during this era. It is important to note that this was the golden era for synthetic pharmaceuticals. Before the 1950’s it was still common to see herbal medicines marketed by large pharmaceutical companies. However, patents could not be placed on naturally occurring products, meaning that companies could note exclusively own the rights to market and sell their products. This all changed with the introduction of synthetic medicines, since they could be discovered, synthesized, patented, and hugely profited from. I feel as though this topic could be as long as a PhD dissertation and still not be adequately covered, but hey, I tried my best. I hope you all enjoyed the information contained in this blog, I certainly did not realize the importance of the medical advancements during the 1950’s until I researched and wrote this.

1. "1950's Medicine and Health: Important Events in Medicine and Health, 1950–1959." American Decades. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli and Richard Layman. Thomson Gale, 1994. eNotes.com. 2006. 29 Oct, 2006
2. “Merck produces first-in-class antibiotic to fight MRSA” Wai Lang Chu. 05/19/2006 Drugreasercher.com 29 Oct, 2006
3. ‘How Penicillin Kills Bacteria” Cells Alive.com 29 Oct, 2006
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. “Fifty Years of Open-Heart Surgery” Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. American Heart Association, Inc. 2003 American Heart Association Webpage. 29 October 2006.
8. Ibid.
9. “The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952” Presentation Speech. Nobelprize.org 29 October 2006
10. “Celebrating The 50th Anniversary of the Salk Polio Vaccine.” Remembering Polio. University of Pittsburg. 29 October 2006.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. “THE STORY OF THE PILL” Kenneth S. Davis American Heritage Magazine Online August/September 1978 Volume 29, Issue 5. 29 October 2006.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.

The Liberation Pill

By Stephanie T.

Margaret Sanger’s mission for women’s health rights began in her own home as a young girl growing up in a working class Irish family. Eighteen pregnancies and eleven live births finally took its toll on Sangers’s mother as her body slowly passed on. Shortly after her mother’s death, Sanger began working as an obstetrical nurse and midwife in New York’s lower East Side. During this time, Sanger repeatedly saw and aided women “deprived of the health, sexuality, and ability to care for children already born”. American women were deeply excluded from major decisions pertaining to their own bodies and lifestyles.

Between the 1920’s to the 1950’s inducing abortion was quite common among American women, yet was not something much talked about openly. With the economic boom and advancements of the Cold War, women simply did not have the time and energy to bear and rear more children. Only the educated had access to contraceptives and those contraceptives were obtained outside of the United States from France.

Buying a single condom in thirty states was considered to be a crime. It became an understood secret that women could resort to black-market diaphragms. However, if women were caught or suspected of using any forms of contraceptives, not only did they face serious criminal charges, but it was common for priests to tell young women that they would be gravely “haunted by their unborn children”.

Margaret Sanger became highly popularized as the “women’s champion” when she made it a point to “teach the world to look at the women as if they mattered”. In hopes of finding a voice for women, thousands of desperate women wrote to Margaret Sanger for the freedom to options. Though Sanger’s actual birth control pill and foundation, Planned Parenthood, made their first appearances in 1916, it was the need for some solutions to the Feminine Mystique of the 1950’s that introduced the pill as a breakthrough for women’s rights.

Despite the inventions of the airplane, atomic bomb, or the internet, it is said that the tiny birth control pill transformed 20th century society. Power was “redistributed in the bedroom, the classroom, and the workplace”. Women finally gained the sense of freedom and ability to determine “when, how, and if they wanted to have children, careers, or marriages”. Sanger educated women of their right to their own bodies through numerous and highly regarded articles “What Every Girl Should Know”.

The 1950’s was a repression for women and they felt as if they were forced to submissively oblige to their “second class roles”. As Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique clearly points out, women were isolated from the world after maintaining society during the war. There was no way that these women were going to graciously step aside from their working roles as independent women back into the aproned subordinate housewife. The Pill liberated many American women in the sense that they no longer had to live under such social and personal scrutiny. The Feminine Mystique was finally being broken and lifted off women.



Sources

Conlin, Michelle. Birth Control of a Nation. September 13, 2004.

Steinem, Goria. Margaret Sanger. April 13, 1998. Time.

The Pharmaceutical Company: The Decades of Drug Discovery.

The Pill Timeline.

The Need for New Interstates

by Ben R.

The need for highway expansion was proposed shortly after World War One and continually proposed through the Second World War until the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The 1956 highway act was known as the greatest public works project in history. The format was called “a system of direct interregional highways, with all necessary connections through and around cities, designed to meet the requirements of the national defense in time of war and the needs of a growing peacetime traffic of longer range” (Weingroff, 1). Defense was a key factor in the collaboration of minds planning the new freeway system, during the First World War when president Eisenhower took a two-month journey from Washington to San Francisco on a military convoy. (Weingroff, 2) Eisenhower examined his experience overseas in the war and traveling across the US in military convoys and concluded, “ the old convoy had stared me thinking about good, two lane, highways, but Germany made me see the wisdom of broader ribbon across the land” he learned that Germanys style of the superstructure of the Reichautobahnen would be a more efficient system to use in America; “the name of the Interstate System was changed to reflect its importance to national defense: The National System of Interstate and Defense Highways”(Weingroff,3) Americans of the time were more enthusiastic toward military actions and more trusting of government. Most people do not realize that our freeway system was borrowed from now ally Germany, during the time when Americans were looking to expand American engineers were quite jealous of the autobahn. (Weingroff, 2)

Eisenhower believed that a new freeway way system was essential for creating unity among Americans, by joining states and borders. With the legislation of the Interstate act of 1956 25 billion dollars was allotted from 1957 to 1969 to complete over 40000 miles of highway, the increase from a little over 2000 miles of highway to 40000 miles of highway would be able to accommodate traffic estimates for 1975 when all of the highways were to be finished. (Weingroff, 3) While the construction was taking place government officials were trying to figure out a way to apply a numbering plan and designs for signposts. Eventually it was decided that lowest odd numbered routes were labeled north and south and even numbers would run east to west, later a three number system was brought into place for urban areas. (Weingroff, 5) the system was carried out and placed in effect. Another issue to deal with was which roads would be toll roads vs. free roads. It was decided that toll roads would on be used in areas that were urbanized, the idea was reverse suburbanization, and it was thought that tolls would replace certain other taxes. (Weingroff, 7)

One thing often overlooked by most people is that before we had freeways the suburbs were not very convenient. It was the invention and fascination of the Americans and their cars that made the suburbs great. “Congress had approved the 1956 Act based on a study of highways, “not a study of real problems” It had been jammed through Congress so blithely and lightly because of Americas preference for anything that gave “added attraction to the second mistress that exist in every household right along side the wife- the motor car” (Weingroff, 7) the government never took into account the impact of freeways on the motor industry and the want to drive of Americans inside the home. While the thought of freeways is taken for granted by Americans today it is essential to remember a time when it took months to travel only a few hundred miles.


Citation:

Weingroff, Richard F. : The Greatest Decade 1956-1969 Part 1 Essential to the National Interest

U.S. Highways

by Shaneel P.

The United Highway system was born on June 29, 1956 because of efforts made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Inspired by the German Autobahn and experiences traveling the country as a soldier, Eisenhower’s highway system would serve two purposes. One of those was that it would support automobiles and large trucks, and secondly that it would support military and defense operations such as troop movement. The immediate impacts on the people could be felt, for it helped the American economy, saved lives, caused population expansion, stimulated development, while also creating negative aspects such as increased driving violations and a nationwide network of organized crime.

The stimulation of development throughout the U.S. is largely attributed to the highway system since almost every commodity we enjoy today is made available to us because of the highways. The highways improved economic efficiency and productivity by making deliveries arrive faster and connecting shoppers and consumers to their favorite stores in a more effective way. This made people more likely to go out and shop more often, for it was no longer a long drive and it became less of a hassle to go shopping. The highways also greatly increased the amount of suburban growth, for people could see they could live further away from big cities and in more peaceful neighborhoods. Known as “sprawl,” the growing amount of suburban neighborhoods grew because people had greater options in choosing where to live. The amount of time people saved by traveling at great speeds on open highways also prompted people to move outside of the big cities because they could see that they would be able to eliminate the distance it took to travel between work and home.

Not only did the highway system improve lives in the 50’s, but it also saved a great deal of them as well. It is estimated that nearly 187,000 lives have been saved and 12 million injuries prevented due to safety lessons learned and because of the improved roadways making it less dangerous for American drivers. Lives were not only prevented from being lost on the highway, but also helped save those in need of immediate health care. People could now be transported to hospitals much faster and over greater distances while also making doctors and medical equipment arrive on the scene where patients were.

The 50’s also saw an increase in leisure activities and vacations due to the increase in mobility since people could now take longer trips to places they could not go before the highways. With the time saved on travel, people could do more of the activities the enjoyed. People were more likely to go out than before because not only could they go places they might not have thought possible, but also because the time it took to get there was not very long.

Another important service the highways provided the people in the 50’s was national security. Americans at the time were very concerned about their national safety while the Cold War raged onwards, and having the highways made them feel a greater sense of security knowing that their troops could easily move throughout the country and protect America’s borders if necessary. A mental effect of connectedness as a nation and security relieved some of the anxiety Americans felt. This does not go without saying some of the negative aspects of the highways, the increase in traffic, driving under the influence, and promotion of organized nationwide crime. Criminals were now able to move freely throughout the country and expand their corrupt ways while avoiding the law. Overall however, the highways greatly improved the lives of the people during the 1950’s and still continues to this day.

Sources:

40 Years of the US Interstate Highway System: An Analysis: The Best Investment A Nation Ever Made.

The 1950’s Birth of the Interstate Highway System.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/sillan.htm

http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Introduction/History/1950's/

Golden News to Rock and Roll

by Jeff K.



Call it that really old kind of rock n roll. Coming out of WWII, it’s estimated that around 95 percent of all households in America had functioning radios. The radio waves were more than just the primary source for people’s news as the major networks we have come to love for doses of “Friends” and “CSI” originally started off on the radio. It was common for families to huddle around the sitting table in the living room for evenings of entertainment; as entertaining as starring at a box can be. On any given night it could be Bob Hope, Abbott and Costello or Jack Benny coming through the airwaves. Radio featured comedy, drama, sports and even had soap opera-styled programming, the earliest of which took the format of 15 minute daily clips, through the early 50s. Many of the programs were performed live, often to an in-studio audience. These components were a part of American reality for sometime until television began to gain popularity and the networks lost interest. Executives soon realized these sketches that were hugely popular on the radio could be enjoyed to a greater extent visually. When money started getting funneled into television development, radio programmers had to fill the airways with something cheap.

Out was the “Golden Age” of radio with this redirecting of funds. What emerged was a loud mixture of music that worried many parents, pleased the youth and brought forth the music format that we still have today. Stations quickly realized that having a DJ spin records was comparatively cheap as the music production didn’t cost the radio stations anything. More than the budget benefit, the idea of having continuous music available in the home was a big plus for the cash-heavy audience — teenagers. Advertisers soon flocked to the airwaves with commercials, trying to persuade listeners to spend a little dough. The move is said to have paid off as the value of teenage spending power steadily increased through the decade and well into the 60s.

The music that was being played varied as much as the amount of stations. It was this change in radio landscape that brought rock and roll to the masses. Now known by many, rock music was originally popular among black communities in the south. Once DJs assumed control of programming, some jocks decided to bring this unorthodox style of music to the suburbs and cities, despite opposition from many. Wolfman Jack and Dewey Lewis are often credited with bringing rock into the mainstream. “Top 40” radio was also born out of this period, as disc jockeys largely shaped their playlists around the top 40 rated songs by the Billboard charts. So what were the young’ns of the generation rocking out to in the 50s? A little of “Memories Are Made of This” by Dean Martin, “Rock & Roll Waltz” by Kay Starr, “Too Much” by Elvis and “Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price.

What is interesting now are the possible changes in radio with the gaining popularity of satellite. The radio industry relies on advertising dollars to keep the songs on the air, but with more and more listeners switch to Sirus and the like, listeners are turning off the FM and companies are losing buyers. Almost coming full circle, many stations are finding themselves in similar situations like the 1950’s, where budgets are being stretched thin and there is a new technological advancement keeping everyone’s attention.

Sources:

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

America 1950-1959: Media

The Radio History Society

www.billboard.com

Lolita

by Amila K.

Brief Summary: Lolita is a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov and published in 1955. The storyteller is thirty something year old Humbert, a recent immigrant to the United States. Humbert moves in with Charlotte Haze and her 12 year old daughter Dolores aka Lolita (only called that by Humbert). Humbert basically starts having an obsession with nymphets (the pre-pubescent girl Lolita) and tries to seduce Lolita. In order for Humbert to live with Mrs. Haze, he marries her but behind her back constantly thinks of Lolita. After the mother finds a diary and letters of Humberts desires for Lolita, she tries to leave him but ends up dead in a car accident. After that Humber takes Lolita, they flee together and have a “sexual-relationship”………


Lolita

While many were cynical of Vladimir Nabakov’s Lolita in the 1950’s due to its shocking sexual content and controversial subject, many suggested the novel was portraying American mass culture. The novel possessed a “satiric portraiture of American manners and morals”, in an era when sexuality and gender roles ruled the country (Lodge 618). In "Lolita Misrepresented, Lolita Misclaimed: Disclosing the Doubles" by Elizabeth Patnoe we gain a better perspective as to why Humbert was often not regarded as a pedophile by many and how some even believed he was the victim in the novel.

According to Elizabeth Patnoe, the novel purveys the notion that “femaleness, femininity, and female sexuality are desirable but dangerous –even deadly “(Patnoe 83). This is evident in the images of Lolita in the film and the description of her in the novel. Nabakov himself describes nymphets as being "Deadly little demons” and as having a “demonic ability to attract men at least ten years older than themselves” (Patnoe 82). In other words, it is Lolita, the seductive adolescent girl that lures Humbert to fall for her. In Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan we learn that femininity was imposed on girls at a young age by the sex-directed educators. As Patnoe describes the novel, we come to learn that many readers believed Lolita asked to be in a sexual relationship with Humbert, however while reading Friedan's work, we come to realize that living in the 1950’s meant if you were female you had to conform to the feminine role. In other words, Lolita was the product of her culture and she was acting out a part imposed on her.

After Lolita’s mother passes away, Humbert takes Lolita with him and has sex with her. Although Humbert is clearly a pedophile, Lolita is portrayed as a seductress and it is she who wanted to leave her childhood and become part of the "adult" world. As Friedan suggests however, girls had to “less consciously stop their own growth to play the feminine role” (Friedan 176). While Lolita's actions might have been considered as sexual implications by Humbert, Lolita was still a child that assumed a role and had to play along. In the novel Lolita tells Humbert of a “childs game”, that which is “foreign to him “, clearly referring that Lolita is still a pre-pubescent girl that does not choose to live and engage in sexual relations with Humbert but is forced because she like many other girls of her age “were arrested in their mental growth, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, by conformity to the feminine image” (Patnoe 89 and Friedan 175).

In the end Lolita finally escapes from Humbert, however only by joining another elderly “accomplished” man Quincy. In the novel the male figure is often rewarded for assuming the masculine role, such as Humbert, he is educated, employed and in the end received his reward; Lolita. Quincy on the other hand is a playwright, also a provider and he too conquers Lolita in the end. However, Lolita for assuming the feminine role in the end gets punished. Humbert has destroyed her “joy for living he has induced in her cynicism alien to the world of childhood” (Levine 472).

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique, New York, 1997

Levine, Robert T., “My Ultraviolet Darling”: The Loss of Lolita’s Childhood, Modern Fiction Studies, 25:3 (1979: Autumn) p. 471

Lodge, Davis, Carl R. Proffer, “Keys to ‘Lolita’” (Book Review), Modern Language Review, 65:3 (1970:July) p.618

Patnoe, Elizabeth, Lolita Misrepresented, Lolita Reclaimed: Disclosing the Doubles, College Literature, 22:2 (1995: June) p.81

Sordid Temptations

by Harlie D.

Lo-li-ta. A name that seems to embody a dark sensuality and evokes a sense of inappropriate playfulness. Exactly what author Vladimir Nabokov had in mind for his main character in the 1955 novel Lolita. The novel, later made in to a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, explores a middle-aged, college professor’s perverse infatuation with a young girl, who eventually comes to be his step-daughter. While the novel was originally written in 1955 it was banned in Paris from 1956-58, and was not published in its full form in the US until 1958, where Lolita’s age was raised from 12 to 14 or 15 for the American publication. The story lacks overt sexual content, yet it is full of subtle, yet inappropriate references and double entendres.

The story begins as Humbert Humbert, the professor, seeks housing while awaiting the commencement of his appointment at a university. Humbert is introduced as a European seeking “haven,” (from what, it is unclear) in the United States. What better place to seek refuge than American suburbia! In an excerpt from a summary of the film, the neighborhood is described as follows: “We're really very fortunate here in West Ramsdale. Culturally, we're a very advanced group with lots of good Anglo-Dutch and Anglo-Scotch stock. And, uh, we're very progressive - intellectually” (Dirks, Lolita (1962)). Not only does this reference seek to point out the societal prejudices of the time, but it also slightly revels the dark undertones of the story, giving a sense of uneasiness as to what ‘progressive’ actually refers to in this case.

Lucky for Humbert, an Ohio housewife, widowed for seven years, is all too eager to rent a room to such a successful bachelor. The persona of the weak, sexually starved, and desperate 1950s housewife boldly emerges early in Nabokov’s novel. Synopses of both the novel and movie versions of Lolita are void of details regarding Charlotte Haze’s life outside her emotional longing to become Humbert’s partner. She is described a “wealthy widow” and her role in the novel is to model the deep seeded angst and sexual frustration felt by so many women in the 1950s. Humbert, put off by Charlotte’s pushy demeanor, hesitates to take up residence with her, until he lays eyes on her unusually seductive, “nymphet” daughter- Lolita. A juxtaposition of characters is immediately evident- Charlotte seems to represent the housewife of the past, content in her lot, happy to be subservient even to her late husband and eager to live in the shadow of her next love interest, seeking only to love him and accept his love in return. Such lines like, “Ohh, I'm lonesome...I think it's healthy for me to be jealous. It means that I love you. You know how happy I can make you” (Dirks), epitomize the housewife image of the time. In contrast, Nabokov’s Lolita is perhaps his symbol for the woman of the future- a product of a demanding etiquette which requires a woman to suppress her libido and deny lust and even instinct. Lolita commands her sexuality, it exudes from her every action, and Humbert is immediately enraptured by her intensity. A very sordid love affair ensues between the professor and his young lust interest; in fact Humbert marries the vapid Charlotte just so he can later be with Lolita. But the whole affair eventually turns into a disaster when Humbert’s hunger for Lolita consumes him and feeling dominated by him, Lolita rebels and ultimately gets taken advantage of by another older man and ends up in a lower-class slum, pregnant and without money. Humbert goes on to murder the man who stole Lolita away from him and dies in prison while awaiting his trial. The tragic ending to the story only reinforces the pertinence of Nabokov’s social commentary.

That Lolita’s modern promiscuity ends perilously for all those involved might serve as a warning to the people of the 1950s. Not a warning that says, ‘Don’t be like Lolita!’ But rather a warning about a dangerous trend in 1950s society- perhaps such staunch resistance to human nature and sexuality causes a very unsettling dynamic within a culture, a dynamic which could result in an unhealthy eruption of emotional detachment and rage even. While considered very risqué for the time, I believe Lolita brought about a much needed social awareness and piqued an interest in people’s subdued cravings for something edgy, off-beat, and disturbing even.


WORKS CITED

Dirks, Tim. Lolita (1962). Greatest Films: 1996-2006.,/a> Online. 18 October 2006.

Disneyland’s Influence on the 1950s

by Helen M. and Michelle J.

This week we have been talking about grids, housing, subdivisions, housing, developments, leisure, and marketability all based around families in the 1950s that have attained the ‘American Dream’. These developments followed the unspoken rules of conformity each urbanite faced. Yet, the rules were the cause of stress among men as they worried about the growth of crabgrass in their front lawns, as well as the source of female depression. But by 1954 these men and women, suffering from their perfect lives, found escape on ABC’s Disneyland show. The show presented the continuous progress of Anaheim’s seventeen million dollar Disneyland. The show was hosted by Walt Disney, later being referred to as Uncle Walt. He brought many popular television personalities to popularize and promote the opening of the park. Disneyland opened July 17, 1955 to not only admission paying guests, but to the millions of fans watching the nationwide broadcast at home as well. Disneyland opened at the height of suburban living. With improvements in transportation involving vehicles and the creation of highways, the park became easily accessible to the public.

The building of the park is like the uprising of the suburbs, a true fantasy land, built up from the orange groves of California. Every aspect of the immediate environment of Disneyland is controlled-just as each part of the suburban development is. The park was designed for white middle-class families and to keep this target market, Disneyland created high admission prices to keep out lower-class families. Also, Disneyland targeted the whole family, not just the children, as a place of fun and excitement. Disneyland provided entertainment for the family and liberated people from the demands of their everyday lives. It also let people escape the obligation of maintaining mundane behavior. With high walls surrounding the whole park, it became a place for families to go to escape reality. These walls protected the guests from seeing the outside world, giving the park an out of sight, out of mind feel.

The theme park also became a hyperreality for the public, which is the domination of simulation over reality. Carrying the slogan of being the “Happiest Place on Earth”, Disneyland became an ultimate reality-with America just being an imitation of it. After watching the construction of Disneyland in Anaheim’s grid, American families began to look at Disneyland as a Mecca. It was a ‘pilgrimage for visitors’, and the important factor being that they have been to and experienced the world of Disneyland. The housing developments, with a corner market, failed to be what everyone expected. Since suburban living was not the perfect life people expected, they turned, like the rest of the country to Disney’s fantasy land of the past, present, and tomorrow.

Works Cited

1. Berger, Arthur. Deconstructing Travel: Cultural Perspectives on Tourism. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2004.

2. Bryman, Alan. Disney and His Worlds. London; New York: Routledge, 1995.

3. Bryman, Alan. Disneyization of Society. London; Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE, 2004.

4. Mannheim, Steve. Walt Disney and the Quest for Community. Aldershot Hants, England; Durlington, VT: Ashgate, c2002.

The Way the Female Image has Been Shaped by Playboy Since the 1950s

by Hailey Y.





Through our readings in class, especially that of Feminine Mystique, we have learned about the stringent guidelines attached to the female identity in the 1950s. According to Friedan’s piece, women were expected to adhere to a certain lifestyle, and many simply accepted their role as active mother and doting wife as the only way to live (Friedan 15). The way a woman was expected to look during this time period was highly reflective of those values, which suggested that if a woman could successfully balance her life, her appearance should mirror such success.

The way women were portrayed in the media correlated directly with such beliefs.
In advertisements, whether intending to sell mouthwash, dishwashers or automobiles, women were portrayed as coifed, manicured, and polished at all times. This, in the 1950s, was the image of a woman— an image that included a certain “preferable” body type, and even hair color—an image directly represented by one of the new and revolutionary magazines of the day: Playboy.

Playboy magazine, the brainchild of Hugh Hefner that snowballed into an empire, showed the 1950s woman as a voluptuous, goddess-like figure with an hourglass shape. The British Medical Association found that women of the time period weighed about eight-and-a-half stone, had a 24-inch waist, and ideal measurements of approximately 37-23-36 (CNN 1). Perhaps the epitome of this body type, Marilyn Monroe helped in inspiring women to embrace their curves, and also to embrace her trademark: blonde hair.

Marilyn Monroe starred in films of the time like “Gentleman Prefer Blondes,” and frequently advertised “blondes have more fun.” Hair color, which experts feel is “an important yet largely ignored aspect of physical appearance,” can be viewed as equally important as body type “because it is a body part that can be readily manipulated by changing its length, color, or style. It also provides an aesthetic frame for the face that can alter social perceptions of facial attractiveness” (Sex Roles 1). Historically, the length or removal of hair has been a sign of status, age appropriateness, and gender distinctiveness, and is greatly represented in major literature as marks of innocence, or sexuality as in Paradise Lost (Sex Roles 2). The proportion of blondes in Playboy already surpassed the amount of blondes in the norm group (blondes in proportion to brunettes), but following technological advances in hair coloring and the emergence of blonde film stars like Jean Harlow, Veronica Lake, Jayne Mansfield, and Marilyn Monroe the proportion of blondes in magazines like Playboy increased (Sex Roles 3).

Playboy magazine, a literal showcase of feminine allure and beauty, perpetuated a certain image of woman that men grew to accept, and in turn women learned to adopt. In this way, Playboy has helped to shape the appearance of 1950s women, and still continues to shape women today.


Sources:

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Norton & Co., 1974.

“Study: Playboy Models Losing Hourglass Figures.” 20 Dec. 2002.
CNN. 15 Oct. 2006

Rich, Melissa K. and Thomas F. Cash. “The American image of beauty: media representations of hair color for four decades.”,/a> Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. 15 Oct. 2006

Marilyn Monroe

by Gabriela P.

Thinking of important figures from the 1950’s one person stands out from all the rest Marilyn Monroe. She was the symbol of what sex, glamour, and success in that decade. Not only was she incredibly beautiful, but she also had the attitude and sage that would bring her a long way in the entertainment industry. Analyzing the texts and readings one asks why was she so popular? What made her stand out from all the rest of the actresses at that time? Marilyn Monroe made an enormous impact in the entertainment world, but the most interesting part was how she did it.

Monroe’s first claim to fame was when she started modeling at the age of twenty years. Unfortunately, it was a fluke she was never offered any real acting jobs. Eventually, here contracts with Fox were canceled and it seemed to be the end of Marilyn Monroe. As luck would have it, something miraculous happened; photographs of Monroe started to appear from a point in her career where she was desperate for money. Marilyn saw this opportunity and used it to her advantage and fully admitted to taking these pictures. Hugh Hefner who purchased the prints was starting a nude magazine title “Play Boy”. He saw her potential and used them for his small magazine. She was the first woman to grace the magazine, and would become an icon to the legendary magazine. She was as Hugh Hefner called her a “a dirty blonde bombshell”. Her pictures in the magazine only sky rocketed her career and success in film. This gave Marilyn the needed exposure for other agencies to give her the opportunity.

She was coined the dumb blonde that producers and critiques were all intrigued by her attitude. Many of the films that she made she was portrayed a comical gold digging promiscuous woman. Some of the popular titles that she starred in were How To Marry A Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, and There’s No Business Like Show Business. All of these films demonstrated that she had sex appeal and that she could add the element of comedy into a film without it looking too forced. Her most successful attribute was that she knew exactly what to say. Whenever she was being interviewed she always had some of the cleverest responses. Betty Friedan noted in The Feminine Mystique that Monroe commented, “It does not matter that this is a man’s world as long as I can live in it”. She gave the New York Times a famous quote, when asked what she wears every night she wittedly responded, “Channel No.5”. This quote was coined as a classic line that embodied an image of what Monroe represented.

Looking at different articles and images why is Marilyn Monroe still to this day so popular? She was one of the first women to use her physical features to her advantage. In essence she was the entire package beautiful, blonde, and charming. Using her roles as the ditzy blonde shot her up to stardom and her a legendary image in popular culture. She was far from the typical suburban house wife that would stay at home and please their family. She led a more independent lifestyle than the average woman. Every day life in the 1950’s was far from glamorous and exciting. She is essentially the escape from every day life that people would lean too.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. W.W. Norton & Company
Williams. The New York Times. Actress Mariyln Monroe. 1957
www.playboy.com/magazine/

The Kinsey Reports (The Blog)

by Matt W.

Taboos are, above all else, a line of defense drawn against the unknown, misunderstood, and different. They create and maintian an undeniable moral code by which society must adhere. Even stronger than this code is the fear of violating these unspoken guidelines, a fear so strong that the taboos themselves become secrets and shadows within society.

Such was sex during the 1950s. Obviously, this very human act had been occuring since the first birth. Sexuality, sensuality, love, passion, and lust remained some of the most prevelant topics in art and literatuire throughout history. However, some of America's first classic pieces of literature (CHARLOTTE TEMPLE and THE SCARLET LETTER) create a portrait of sensuality that invites noth8ing buat pain and suffering. By the 1950s, this thought had rooted itself so deep in the American subconsious that sex was so taboo, so unspeakable, that it had become a complete secret.

And then that tightly guarded closet door was blown open by a professor/scientist who's primary research almost aggressively glorified the genetic history of the gall wasp. This man was Alfred Kinsey, and his daring study in to the sexual habits of Americans not only became one of the greatest selling pieces of non-fiction, but also reshaped the way that the culture addresses those three dangerous letters known as SEX.

A brief history: Kinsey grew up within a strongly religious family, as well as a family that valued it's high education. He natrually entered the sceinces and began studying the biological characteristics of animals (specifically the gall wasp, an winged insect unable to fly - therefore allowing you to trace their geneology step by step by step). While teaching at the Unniversity of Indiana, Kinsey (or ProK as his students called him -- short for Professor Kinsey) became fascinated with the lack of information and study regarding one of the most basic, primary biological functions: sexual reproduction. His first class in the matter (it was a MARRIAGE class, open only to engaged or married underclassmen and any graduate students) quickly became one of the most popular on campus (much in the same way that UCD's Human Sexuality course is often the first one to fill up with undergrads).

His research for this course led to a nation wide study of one of society's largest taboos. Along with a team of well-trained interviewers, Alfred Kinsey conducted what remains the largest study of human sexual behavior in history. Face-to-face, average Americans ("most of which were white, middle-class, college-educated Americans under the age of 35" (Greene) responded to a series of up to 500 questions detailing their sexual experiences from the start of their life.

Kinsey looked at the way their parents interacted, the way their religion viewed sex, the first time they felt sexual desire, the first time they had physical contact, kissed, were seen n aked, etc... etc... etc... These findings were published in the steamy 1948 Best Seller: SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN THE HUMAN MALE. It would be followed in 1953 with SEXAUAL BEHAVIOR IN THE HUMAN FEMALE (which would prove to be less well received than the MALE study). Through the entire experience, Kinsey's team gained an awkward reputation for their promiscuity, wife swapping, sexual exploration, and other early forms of free love conducted all in the name of scientific research. Today, the Kinsey Institute remains the nations leading group for the study of sex, gender, and reproduction.

So...let's look at some of the shocking findings. Most sex occurs alone (at least 90% of men masturbate on a regular basis, 62% of women). At least 10% of men are homosexuals (Kinsey created an infamous six point scale rating sexuality - 0 is complete heterosexual, 6 is complete homosexual...most Americans hit a 2 or 3). Most men cheat on their wives. Most people don't save themselves for marriage. Most men lose their virginity at 16, most women at 19. Most men can only last two minutes (during their first marriage). And most men prefer to do it with the lights on. And, overwhelmingly, it is easier for men and women to achieve orgasm while masturbating than when with a partner.

SHOCKING!

And did we mention that people have sex for fun? Not for procreation! Sex was no longer the sacred bond between a man and woman bound in holy matrimony and intended for the purpose of creating another child to grow up and make this country great. No! People enjoyed sex! People were in an uproar - but they still had to secretly agree with the book (after all, you can't fight science).

But no one had ever talked about any of this. Suddenly men were able to address the fact that YES, maybe they had experimented at boy scout camp or in the locker room. YES, they cheated on their wives. YES, they masturbated. YES, they got a little bit more turned on by some things they shouldn't. The sexual taboo had been broken down, and suddenly healthy conversation was taking place. Sex was pushed in to the forefront of American culture and the national debate regarding it, however turbulant, allowed America to become a little less of a prude.

But there still was a fear of those people who did not fit inside the box. Kinsey's report created a guideline of normality. It was ok to do behave in certain ways (after all, 90% of men do it) but not in other ways (only 10& are Sodomite perverts). Herbert Hoover demanded that Kinsey create a list of possible homosexuals within this government. Religious leaders demanded that Kinsey never publish his female findings.

The female findings of 1953 received a much similar craze of excitement. However, in stead of creating a positive movement and discussion, it created a backlash against Alfred Kinsey. People did not want to hear that their wives, mothers, and daughters masturbated, cheated, fantasized, were not sexually satisfied, and sleeping with one another (Kinsey reported that almost no female had goe without female/female sexaul stimulation). This once again proved that it is still a man's world.

sources:
The Kinsey Institue

Greene, Jack. "What Was the Kinsey Report?" (Jackin Library)

KINSEY. film. 2004. Bill Condon (writer/director)

The Sexual Tensions of Playboy in 1950s America

by Emily S.

Hugh Hefner has been said to have “as much sense of [sex’s] history in America as another man might have of his own hand” (Colin 1). As the creator, editor, and publisher of Playboy magazine, the man has single-handedly created an empire from the ground up and in the process stimulated controversy and interest on the once “taboo” subject of sexuality.

Playboy, which now includes nightclubs, hotels, casinos, a modeling agency, record label, and limousine service, was launched by Hefner in 1953 with a mere $8,000 he had borrowed from friends and family. To this day it continues to outsell all other men’s magazines. The Playboy Empire sprang from the imagination of a high school senior. Then Hugh Marston, Hefner created a persona for himself after having been turned down by a girl named Betty Conklin. This persona, “Hef” had a different wardrobe, hip expressions, and his own cartoon autobiography. As Hefner himself describes, “I was creating my own world in which I was center stage” (Adler 1).

At a 1953 high school reunion, Marston was reminded of “Hef” and became determined to create a men’s magazine. Hefner longed for the liberation of the 1920s, feeling as though he had “missed the party,” by growing up in the 1930s and 40s. He was against the conservative repression of the 1950s and was thrilled when the Kinsey Report came out in 1948 while he was in college. Before the release of the report, the general consensus was “any sexual behavior not for procreation was immoral and illegal” (Adler 1). Kinsey’s findings “confirmed the hypocrisy of the gap between what we said and what we actually did” (Colin 3). This was a revelation for Hefner and helped to further influence his aim to promote a kind of sexual liberation.

In 1953 the first issue of Playboy was introduced to the public, featuring Marilyn Monroe on the cover, and selling over approximately 52,000 copies nationwide, despite national conservatism. The next issue sold even more copies, making Playboy the “first successful magazine for young, single men” (Adler 2). The first issue also displayed the infamous bunny logo, sporting a tuxedo, as a symbol for the magazine’s “fun, frisky, sexy, and sophisticated” outlook (Adler 1). The symbol still remains on the magazine’s cover in some form or another.

Hefner’s magazine also featured the new concept of “the centerfold.” An idea he had borrowed from the pin-ups popular in the war barracks, Hefner’s “Playmate of the Month” centerfold specifically targeted the sexual repression of women. Although women’s rights activists might argue that the centerfold and magazine depicted women as objects, Hefner’s artistic images of “the girl nextdoor” in natural settings with the “suggestion of a male presence” were meant to send the message that “nice girls like sex, too” (Adler 2). He believed that women as well as men should embrace their sexuality, instead of hiding from it—a revolutionary idea at the time.

The repressed culture of the 1950s produced mixed responses to Hefner’s vision of a “mainstream magazine that included sex” (Colin 3). The magazine grew increasingly successful, surpassing Esquire’s popularity with over a million copies in circulation in the 1950s. Others reacted with disgust toward the sexually provocative magazine. Hefner was particularly bothered by the response of many in the women’s movement who opposed Playboy, calling their reaction “counter-revolutionary and unfortunate” (Colin 3).

Although controversial in its time and still today, Playboy magazine changed both social and sexual values by calling much needed attention to the sexual repression and conservatism plaguing the country in the 1950s, and remains the “most imitated magazine in the world” (Adler 2).


Works Cited

Adler, Carlye and Hugh Hefner. "Hugh Hefner Playboy Enterprises." CNN Money. 1 Sept. 2003. 17 Oct. 2006.

Colin, Chris. "A Conversation with Huge Hefner." Salon. 28 Dec. 1999. 17 Oct. 2006.

Total Control

by Jenny C.

During a time in American history when government technology was advancing quickly, the fear of Communism kept people from doing anything out of the ordinary and the strict social order of American culture drove many to insanity, Ray Bradbury wrote a futuristic story about the ultimate destruction of a society such as this. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a fireman named Guy Montag whose job is to start fires by burning books. The government had come to the decision that books were useless and it was illegal to read or own them anymore. People who lived in this society watched television on screens that covered the entire wall and didn’t talk or think about anything that wasn’t on TV. Housewives lived their lives through the families and programs they watched on the giant screen. Montag begins to thinking for himself after he meets some odd characters and becomes an exile and the story ends in the destruction of civilization.

The numerous themes running throughout the story are closely related to some of the issues of the 1950’s. In the novel, Montag’s wife stays at home all day and watches TV. She gets together with other women and they discuss only what they’ve seen, not how they feel about it. Many housewives in the 50’s stayed at home and read women’s magazines that did not cover any real issues outside the home. This theme suggests media control of what women were expected to know and be interested in. The Book, The Feminine Mystique describes a condition of housewives in the 50’s that led them to be depressed and even insane. They wanted more out of life than to just raise their children and maintain the home. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s wife attempts to kill herself by taking a bottle of sleeping pills because she cannot handle the monotony of her dull life. She lived her life through the people in the show she watched on television. In both situations, it seemed as though the women led happy simple lives, void of any complications brought on by excessive knowledge. However this oppression could only last for so long in both the novel and in the 1950’s.

Bradbury’s prediction of what the future could hold for a society under a governmental stronghold is very similar to another novel called 1984 by George Orwell. Both books are set in a “negative utopia” setting in which the government has total control over its citizens and in theory, the society functions smoothly, however the mind control takes a toll and the people basically go crazy. The novels are exaggerated examples of what could come to be from a society like America in the 1950’s. In 1984 there was always a war going on. People could never remember who their country was fighting against or why they were fighting, just that there was a war happening and Big Brother was always watching to make sure that no one was out of line. Similarly, in the 1950’s the government and U.S. citizens were afraid that the Communism happening in Eastern Europe and other places in the world would spread to America. This led to a craze of speculation and arrests of people who were thought to be or accused of being Communists. Of course, American history did not lead to the destruction of civilization even though many political and science-fiction novels written during the time, such as Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 described a situation in which it could.

American Bandstand: The Creation of a New Generation

by Kingsley G.

What started out as a musical television show quickly turned into a cultural phenomenon with the creation of the teenager.

American Bandstand debuted nationally on August 5, 1957. Since October 7, 1952 it had been a local show broadcast in Philadelphia. The show in its idea was centered on the popular music at the time. All of the top artists would come and perform their music while also performing the latest dance steps on stage. For many people at home this was the first time that they could listen to music and see the artists at the same time.

In 1956 Dick Clark took over as the show’s host and brought with him a charismatic personality. Clark’s personality gave the show a face Americans could identify with. He made Americans feel comfortable and created a relationship with them. This relationship drew them into Bandstand and made them regular viewers. This relationship made the show last thirty-three years.

But to all the viewers at home, mostly teenagers and preteens, it was the Regulars that made the show worth watching. The Regulars were the teenagers who appeared on the show on a regular basis, hence the name. They would have dance competitions to show off the latest dance steps. They would also do interviews with Dick Clark, answering questions about whether they liked a new song. Many of the responses determined whether or not a disc jockey at a radio station would play the song. A new generation suddenly appeared; the teenager. No longer did children make the leap directly to adulthood. American pop culture had made room for adjustment. Teenagers were now being seen as valid members of society. The culture had things uniquely direction towards them.

The culture was making a subdivision specifically for those people ranging in age from 13 to 25. Every week the teenager would tune into American Bandstand and was suddenly drawn into a new world of their own. They could dream about being musicians or dancers on the show. Watching the show, they would mimic the singers and practice the hottest dance moves.
The broadcast was a new form of mass media attention. All of a sudden the latest dance steps, songs, and fashion styles were being widely distributed to these teenagers who were glued to the television. This helped the teenagers develop their sense of style and their taste in music. They were having all these different choices thrown in front of them each week.

American Bandstand controlled the form of expression. The Regulars were told what to wear and how to dance. But it gave teenagers at home something to aspire to. Parents could rest assured that the television show would not show anything too racy or controversial.

The music itself was becoming much more powerful. Especially in the early sixties towards the Vietnam War, music was becoming more a form of expression rather than merely an art. Music had the new amazing way of influencing people to think and believe things.

American Bandstand was a revolutionary show that not only had an impact on the 1950’s, but it also changed American pop culture forever. It challenged the way American adults looked at children and the way children thought about themselves growing up.

Sources:
“American Bandstand.” Classic TV Shows. 12 October 2006.

The Organization Man

by Paige H.

A macrocosmic view of family life in the 50’s might reveal prosperity, happiness, and stability. However, as we now have the ability to look back and dissect family life in the suburbs, our understanding has drastically changed. In reading books such as Holy Land and Feminine Mystique, we come away with a much darker version of what life was really like. We now know that housewives were really not as happy as they appeared and this lifestyle was not as liberating as it had been made out to be. However, what about her counterpart, could life of been just as dull for the husband as it was for her?

In order to answer this question we have to understand the pressures and duties that faced men of this decade. Life in the 50’s was a culmination of the then current Cold War situation and the Great Depression which preceded it. According to Elaine May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, the Great Depression played a huge role in the obligations and responsibilities of men in the 50’s. “Advertisers during the depression years played on the men’s guilt at a time when many men felt responsible for placing the security of their families in jeopardy” (May, 41). May talks about how the advertisements were geared at men, especially fathers, and urged them to make sure the same fate would not befall their sons (May, 41). So here we can see that the sons who would grow up to be husbands in the 50’s were already instilled with the notion that they must fill the role of the breadwinner in order to be successful. These young boys saw how harsh the Depression was, and understood it as their duty to prevent this from happening again. These notions created two very distinct roles which should not overlap, that of the housewife and the husband. It was very quickly established that the wife should remain in the home as the homemaker while the husband should work outside of home in order to provide for his family. A couple that could achieve this quintessential lifestyle was presumably happy. We know, however, that it wasn’t as cut and dry as this.

Women began to sink into a pool of loneliness and boredom, and it became apparent that life wasn’t as great for them as it seemed. The women’s liberation movement would act as an outlet for many women to vent their unhappiness. However, the same means of expression was not available for men. Instead many men took upon the role of what William H. Whyte coined “The Organization Man.” As we’ve touched upon this idea a little, we know that the organization man was both dedicated and loyal to his company in a way that mirrored the behavior of a robot. In Whyte’s book titled The Organization Man any man has potential to fall into this category. From the man at seminary who will someday find himself caught up in the politics of church, to the trainee about to join Du Pont, whatever it may be, working class men have fallen victim to the machine (Whyte, 3). With such pressure to provide for the family, the rise of corporate culture, and the demise of traditional protestant work ethic, it was no wonder men were forced into mundane and seemingly monotonous jobs.

David Riesman, author of The Lonely Crowd mentions the shift of society from being ruled by the inner to being ruled by the outer (Bennett, 86). Meaning, people were looking to their peers and society around them for reassurance of their successfulness. I see this as taking a huge toll on men because in what was already a patriarchal society, men were constantly in the spotlight and thus the outer became the means to defining who they were. In turn, men lost the ability to become individuals and instead were forced to conform to the role of breadwinner, just as women were forced to conform to the role of the housewife.

Edward Hopper’s painting known as “Night Wonderers” depicts very clearly the solitude a man of this decade would be confronted with. The painting embodies the idea of male conformity and the loneliness that came from it. In the painting we can see the two men dressed exactly alike reinforcing the ideal of the organization man while at the same time the dark and dreary setting plays on the deep depression many of these men were faced with. So while we tend to be very familiar with the oppression of women we must not cut ourselves short at that. Men too were facing identity issues and the societal pressures were just as strong on men as they were on women.

Sources:

May, Elaine. Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. Basic Books, 1988.

Whyte, William. The Organization Man. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.

Bennett, Amanda. The Death of the Organization Man. New York: William Morrow and Company inc, 1990.

Hostesses by Trade

by Stevie J.


(image source)

If you asked most Americans today about Tupperware, they'd probably say "Yeah, it's a plastic container." To people like us, "Tupperware" can mean anything from a genuine Tupperware brand product to an old yogurt container. The same vocabulary is used to describe cheaper containers by Rubbermaid and disposable Ziploc merchandise.

To a 1950s housewife, however, "Tupperware" was much more than a generic, common household device. It was quite a novel product that sparked a very specific cultural phenomenon.

Tupperware began in 1942, introduced by Earl Silas Tupper (PBS). Despite praise and plenty of advertising, it actually didn't sell very well at first (Clarke, 2). This changed when Brownie Wise, a single mother in need of money, began selling Tupper's product from her home (PBS). Brownie's "Tupperware parties" were so successful that in 1950, Earl Tupper withdrew Tupperware from retail and department stores (Clarke, 2).

This growing trend of Tupperware sales in the home blurred the boundary between housewife and "working girl." In some ways, it allowed women to contribute to their households monetarily without fear of judgment. In other ways, it reinforced the domestic constraints on 1950s American women.

As the Tupperware party gained popularity, Brownie Wise climbed the corporate ladder. She was vice president of Earl Tupper's company and the first woman ever to be pictured on the cover or Business Week (PBS). At a time when women were highly discouraged from entering the business world, such recognition seems out of place. When scrutinized more closely, however, Brownie Wise's success was perfectly congruent with the ideals of the time.

Brownie Wise earned her way by exploiting one of the roles of a traditional housewife: the hostess. The demand for Tupperware and Tupperware parties, then, fueled a demand for hostesses with respectable families and well-kept homes. This also reinforced the idea that women could find fulfillment, even business and financial, through their domestic feminine role.

Interestingly, Tupperware parties worked very well with the suburban dynamic. The fact that neighbors lived so close together made it easy to gather party guests. This closely oriented layout also made neighborhood appearances and domestic competition a concern for many housewives, driving their consumption of household items. The same factors facilitated recruitment of new hostesses and Tupperware distributors.

Even the party games and activities seemed to interact with beliefs about women and their tendencies. Games entitled "Clothes Pin" and "Waist Measurement" encouraged women to compare the size of their waists. The "Game of Gossip" and "Chatterbox" validated the female stereotypes of excessive talking, nosiness, and interest in scandal (Clarke, 108).

Undoubtedly, these games were planned because these were the types of things that women were thought to enjoy. Hostesses must have believed that gossip and competition would help them sell Tupperware; otherwise they wouldn't have played the games.

Additionally, Tupperware products presented a fascinating dichotomy between thrift and excess (Clarke, 115). On one hand, Tupperware products were made to conserve space and maximize food usage. They were good quality and built to last, making them a good value. They were practical. On the other hand, decorative products like place mats and useless items like salt and pepper shaker holders were the mark of extravagance and overindulgence. It's as if Tupperware snuck these impostors in with their practical counterparts to trick consumers. If a housewife needs a Tupperware container, she must need a salt and pepper shaker holder, too.

The false sense of need that extravagant Tupperware products seemed to instill is oddly reminiscent of the false sense of purpose proposed by Betty Freidan's Feminine Mystique. Women were supposed to feel complete in the domestic setting, but they remained unsatisfied. Perhaps they tried to satisfy their unfulfilled lives with Tupperware products.

It seems that American women in the 1950s were trapped in their own homes and domestic roles. Tupperware parties brought them economic, occupational, and social opportunities independent of their husbands. Women may have embraced the product because of the potential fulfillment afforded them by these parties, but in the end, the parties did not seem to quench "the problem with no name." Why? The parties provided only a false sense of independence because the hostesses were still confined to their own houses, performing domestic tasks in servitude of another entity (Earl Tupper's company). Party guests were guests in homes more or less the same as their own, leaving them to draw comparisons between themselves and their neighbors. When everyone has the same house, the same "domestic destiny," and virtually the same life, one can distinguish herself only by the tidiness of her house, the height of her children, and the amount of Tupperware that she owns.


Sources:

Clarke, Alison J. Tupperware: the Promise of Plastic in 1950s America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution P, 1999.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.

"Tupperware!" PBS. 28 Nov. 2005. 10 Oct. 2006.

Interview paper

For this assignment, you will select a topic, conduct an interview, craft an argument, and support that argument in a 5-7 page paper. Your paper’s topic should concern the period between August 1945 (the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan) and 1962 (when The Feminine Mystique was published) and relate in some way to the themes of this course.

The core of this assignment is an interview you will conduct with someone who lived through the 1950s and who can remember that decade. You can interview your subject in person, by phone, or by using internet technologies such as IM and e-mail.

We will talk in class about how to select a topic and conduct an interview.

Please note:

This is an essay. You will need to have an introduction, a thesis, several well-organized paragraphs, and a conclusion.

You must integrate class sources and/or conduct library research. Library research is required only if you do not use a significant amount of course material.

You have considerable freedom with this project, and thus an opportunity to make this paper a truly excellent piece of your own critical and creative work. If done well, it could function as a writing sample for graduate school or for job applications. Accordingly, pick a topic and interview subject that interest you and about which you believe you can make a compelling argument.

If you need assistance, I’m here to help. I will not read entire paper drafts, but I am happy to discuss your paper’s argument, an outline, or a particularly troublesome paragraph or two.

Other requirements:
• 5-7 pages, double-spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman

Due date: You may write this paper as either your first or second assignment for this class. If it’s your first assignment, turn it in no later than Friday, November 3. If it’s your second assignment, it is due on Monday, November 27.