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The US in the 1950s American Dream or American Dystopia?
THE 1950s “Affluence and Anxiety”
1950s Historical Context • World War II (1939-1945) had just ended; the US had dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki • The electronics industry became the 5th largest industry. Television had a widespread impact in American homes • The US became an “automobile culture” in the 1950s. • The increase in prosperity after the war led to an increased passivity and conformity. Jobs were plentiful and the common adage of the time period was: “follow orders, you will succeed”.
African Americans and Civil Rights • The Fair Employment Practice Commission was established in 1942 to ensure that African Americans could receive jobs in war industries • 1 million African Americans moved to northern states during the war for better employment
“White Flight” to Suburbs • While millions of white families obtained GI or FHA loans for suburban homes, blacks were often “screened out” of the process • Local banks generally refused loans to blacks if they wished to live a new suburban neighborhood • Homes in urban centers were cheaply bought, divided into smaller units and rented to black families at 10-25% higher rents
Segregation • By the early 1950s, the US military had been desegregated • Segregated facilities had ceased to exist in most states that had not been part of the Civil War-era Confederacy • Segregation in the “Old South” was well-entrenched; even though national public opinion favored desegregation, this would not occur peacefully
By 1949, communism had spread to Eastern Europe and China • After World War II, Europe & US versus Soviet Union in COLD WAR. The threat of nuclear war increased. • By mid-1950s, nearly 60% of Americans were members of the middle class; More $$$ to buy. Consumerism = Success
Women and the Work Force • From 1940 to 1945, women had come to make up 36% of the work force • Nearly 5 million worked in industrial jobs • Three million left those jobs in 1945-46, and the numbers dropped further in 1947-48 • By late 1950s, 75% of working women had “female jobs” – secretarial, nursing, etc.
WOMEN AT WORK • Those women who did work were finding job opportunities limited to fields such as nursing, teaching and office support • Women earned far less than man for comparable jobs
Fifties era of McCarthyism • Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s hearings which investigated spread of communism through government infiltrators led to an atmosphere of fear and distrust in the US. • In the early years of filmmaking, censorship was allowed on the grounds that movies were entertainment and not an expression of free speech. • Sen. McCarthy’s hearings into the political background of artists led to the “blackballing” of several prominent Hollywood writers during the 1950s
DISSENT AND DISCONTENT • by 1962, nearly one out of every four Americans was living below the poverty level • Most of these poor were the elderly, single women and their children, and/or minorities • These people lived in the Inner City.
“OTHER AMERICANS” • Puerto Ricans: clustered together in the poorest neighborhoods, little help from government and low end jobs. • Mexicans: came in as Braceros (work program). Exploited by government. • Native Americans: termination policy (end tribal government and relocate to nation’s cities)
Progress Through Science 1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer 1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test 1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered 1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio 1957 -- First Commercial U. S. Nuclear Power Plant 1958 -- NASA Created 1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7 American Astronauts
1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I 1958 National Defense Education Act
UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s. War of the Worlds Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for the Cold War Enemy – the USSR
Atomic Anxieties: • “Duck-and-Cover Generation” Atomic Testing: • 1946-1962 U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over the Pacific and in Nevada.
The "dystopia motif” is popular in science fiction. It is the recurring theme of a dysfunctional society. In which society demands order at the expense of individual rights.
Dystopia Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
Dystopian science fiction conveys the message that oppressive government, left unchecked, can damage society by restricting the creativity and freedom of its people.
American Dream or American Dystopia? The postwar era witnessed tremendous economic growth and rising social contentment and conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing affluence and comfortable domesticity, there was a growing sense of unease with American culture in the 1950s.
Questions • Discuss examples of growing affluence and prosperity after the Second World War • What caused anxiety among Americans after WWII? What made people fearful? • As many became part of the expanding middle class, who was left out? Which people in the 1950s might not have felt part of the American Dream? • How was the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war reflected in 1950s Science Fiction films?
