Male Dominance in the 1960s Research Assignment Paper (Essay Sample)

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Male Dominance in the 1960s
Male dominance in the American society has been well defined since colonial times. The dominance became more defined after the end of the Second World War in 1945. (Fukuyama 74-169). The return of the veterans after the Second World War ushered in a new epoch in American history, creating a society that was focused on two fundamental elements; prosperity and the "ideal" family unit. Gender roles between women and men drove popular culture. Husbands were allowed to pursue their careers, buy homes, and start families while wives stayed at home full-time taking care of the children (McLaughlin). These distinct gender roles gave men the opportunity to dominate both politically and socially for the greater part of the 20th century.
Apart from dominating higher education, male also dominated the workforce. Before the start of the second World War, both men and women enjoyed relatively equal chances when it came to job opportunities. (England 43-87).Both earned reasonable salaries based on their level of work. Nevertheless, this changed in 1950s after the end of the WWW II. Male outnumbered females in the workforce by almost five times. The invention of television further hiked male dominance in the society. They helped to shape gender roles for both women and men.(Coontz 217-269).TV shows such as “Father Knows Best” highly depicted the role of men in the family setting. They were not only the breadwinners of the family but also had the sole mandate of controlling the affairs of the family.
Surprisingly, this happy and golden epoch didn’t last long. Both genders were operating at cross-purposes. Women started to sought their own autonomy and independence in the workplace.(Donaldson 238-279).These changes threatened men who wanted jobs to support their families. Although few changes were made in regard to job opportunities and salaries, still a larger percentage of high-paying jobs such as engineering were largely occupied by male. Therefore, in early 1960s, the American society was still under the dominance of male. Women were required to adhere to one path: marry in late twenties, quickly start a family and dedicate her life to homemaking. (McBride and Parry 97-185). Male were only supposed to provide for the family while women took care of the children and household chores. Averagely, women used to work 55 hours in a week. All these hours were devoted to domestic chores.
To ensure that male completely dominated the society, various legislations regarding issues relating to divorce were established. This made it more difficult for women, especially those who wanted independence, to abandon their marriages. (Lundberg and Pollak 29-50). Women were subject to their husbands through the “head and master rules.” They had no legal right to control the properties or earnings of their husbands. They were only required to provide limited support to them. On the other hand, men were allowed to manage and control the properties and earnings of their wives. Divorce was difficult to obtain in case the marriage deteriorated. Women were required to provide evidence for wrongdoing on their husbands’ part for them to get divorce. “No-fault” divorce was permitted. Women who were unhappy in their marriage were not allowed to get divorce due to pressure from the society.(Furstenberg 13-25).Regardless of how unhappy they were; they couldn’t let anyone know because they would be a laughing stock of the community. If a woman was not happy in her relationship, the society pressure characterized with male dominance compelled them to live a miserable life due to lack of happiness. All these was done because men wanted to feel superior and dominant.
In 1960s, women were limited to specific jobs such as secretary, nurse, or teacher. They were not allowed to join professional programs. Men were paid higher salaries than women even though they worked under same organization and job. (Lundberg and Pollak 29-50).Women were not allowed to advance their careers since the managers had opinion that soon they could become pregnant and quit their work. Low salaries to women were due to the notion that unlike men, women had no responsibilities such as family to take care of. However, this set of societal alignment didn’t last for long. Women demanded to be appreciated and be heard. They began to contravene gender rules to fight for the equality.
The rationale behind this fight was due to the fact that they were able to take care of their families while their husbands had gone to defend their country. (Spring 22-42). This means that whatever men could do, women could also do it. This gave women a leverage to achieve equality. On the other hand, men believed that they were only people who could cater for the family and women could not be able to manage the family better as they do. With change occurring and women resisting, the spirit of resentment started to prevail on both sides. (Spring 22-42).Not all women though were in for this change. Some of them were contented with the way the society was dominated by male. To them, as long as their needs and those of their children were taken care of, they could not ask for more. This social transformation later brought women from all walks of life with the agenda of achieving equality between men and women. (Goldscheider, Bernhardt, and Lappegård 207-239).
In 1966, the National Organization for Women was formed with objective of seeking workplace equality.(Donaldson 238-279).The organization led by Betty Friedan geared towards opening more opportunities especially in the national and political level for women. They were of the idea that lack of political equality to women had various key personal ramifications relating to their relationships, birth control, sexuality, abortion, body image and clothing, their roles in marriage and childcare. (Lindsey 207-312).With intense pressure from civil organizations, few demands of the movement was met. The success of the movement was highly contributed by various factors apart from pressure from the civil organizations. Economic boom which opened more job opportunities saw women occupying almost two-thirds of those jobs created. (Walsh). The society started to appreciate the role of women in the workforce.
With the inclusion of women in the workforce, several aspects especially lifestyle changed. (Berkin et al. 735-753). With two points ...