American Odyssey

1. American Odyssey Chapter 18 The Postwar Era Section 2: Suburban Lifestyles

2. Daily Agenda • Current event presentation(s) • Check for binders • Section two in chapter eighteen in the American Odyssey • The Good Wife’s Guide

3. Growth of Suburbia • During the 1950’s, 85 percent of new home construction took place in the suburbs as the number of suburbanites doubled. • Reasons for moving to the suburbs: • Crime and congestion • Some people also moved because of prejudices against minorities

4. Growth of Suburbia • By and large, developers of the nation’s postwar suburbs refused to sell homes to minorities. • Despite having achieved a measure of financial success, America’s middle-class minorities were still denied equal access to the American Dream.

5. The American Dream • What is the American Dream? • Refer to list on the board from February 3, 2010

6. The American Dream • Millions of white, middle-class families enjoyed what they considered the American Dream: • Home ownership • Good schools • Safe communities • Economic security

7. The American Dream • Did everybody embrace this new idea of the idea of The American Dream? • No, some critics found fault with the cookie-cutter conformity of the suburbs. • The majority of Americans, however, craved the sense of belonging that came from cooperation and group participation.

8. The Baby Boom • The family enjoyed unprecedented growth in the postwar years. The emphasis on togetherness led people: • Marry at younger ages • Have more children • Ultimately, the baby boom increased our nation’s population, fueled the economy, and sustained prosperity.

9. The Baby Boom • Parents who suffered the hardships of the Depression and war wanted to give their children all the benefits of their new prosperity. • As a result, many baby-boom children enjoyed a lifestyle of unprecedented privilege.

10. The Baby Boom • Baby boomers were the nation’s first television generation. • Advertisers and toymakers jumped on the television bandwagon, pitching products aimed at five to fourteen years old. • Advances in medical science ensured that these children lead healthier lives. • Antibiotics and vaccine helped control diseases such as diphtheria, influenza, typhoid fever, and polio.

11. The Baby Boom • Dr. Benjamin Spock taught parents a new way of raising children, urging them to spare the rod and create a trusting environment instead.

12. A Woman’s Place • The emphasis on motherhood and the suburban lifestyle strengthened the distinctions between male and female roles: • Fathers commuted to work • Mothers assumed responsibility of child rearing • Educational systems encouraged schoolgirls to follow their mother’s footsteps. • Boys studied for vocations • Girls studied for home economics

13. A Woman’s Place • Some women felt something was missing from their lives. • Betty Friedman • Referred to this problem as “the problem with no name” • She argued that there was more to life than making beds and baking cookies. • She authored these thoughts in her landmark books The Feminine Mystique.

14. A Woman’s Place • The war had proved that woman could perform nontraditional jobs. • When the soldiers returned home from the war, the government asked women to relinquish there jobs. • After the war, the number of women working in the workplace increased, but their roles were diminished to clerical and secretarial positions.

15. A Woman’s Place • Stereotyped images of women’s roles erected barriers to equal treatment. After the war, salary gaps widened and studies concluded that women could not expect a professional career. Men simply would not take women seriously.