Role of Women in the 1950s Writing Assignment

Role of Women in the 1950s
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Role of Women in the 1950s
Women have struggled a lot to be where they are today. The society was designed to make sure that men were not only glorified but took center stage. Women were from a long time ago inferior to the men and were thus expected to submit to them. It mattered little whether one had special skills or could do just as much work as the men could. The rule was that women came second, and this meant they were not expected to be perfect than the men in anything. Women were limited in kitchen affairs. Their work was to ensure the children were well taken care of and that they grew to understand and adopt the societal ways of life. However, this way of life limited women and subjected them to ordinariness. They could not explore, and nothing much was expected of them. In Canada and the entire world, the fate of women was not any different. Most developments and new assessments were the work of men. A quick look at the history books and the past scientists reveals a sad truth. The ideas that women could not be or do anything was embraced and shared worldwide. The situation was bad to a point where even the women themselves agreed with the men. Their spirits was crushed, and few wanted to challenge the status quo. However, in Canada and specifically in the 1950s, something changed. Almost all of a sudden, women got fed up and started to stand up for themselves. They wanted their status upgraded and were tired of being slaves to the wishes of their husbands and children. Women wanted a life of their own outside the precincts of marriage. This meant a job, an office, a salary, and a voice to say that which was left not said for a long time. While it is indeed true that this spark came in the 1950s, much of the 50s was marred by instances of meekness and normalcy for the women. Something did eventually stir up the revolution that came after, but this period was dull as the others albeit with an ending to be envied.
One thing that happened in the 1950s was that the number of women in the labor market increased. Initially, it had been unusual for women to work. Finding and keeping a job was considered to be a man’s activity. Men were naturally breadwinners thus it was their obligation to look for jobs. However, more women got into the labor market in the early 20th century in many developed nations. But, Goldberg and Kremen (1990) add that “this is especially true for Canadian women whose rate were comparatively low at the beginning of the period.” Rashid (1993) seconded the above statement noting that “the number of female wage-earners increased by 48% between 1950 and 1960.” With this move, many changes were made which created a spark hence making women to realized that they have more to offer. In his book, Quinlan notes that women were driven into the employment sector, especially the education sector, because of the shortage of teachers. The 1930s Depression greatly affected the education sector as there were no young men to take up the teaching jobs which had opened up in the 1950s. So, wo...