Ch. 10 – The Cold War, Domestic Containment, and The Feminine Mystique, 1945-1965

History 37Summer 2014

Questions to Consider:

• What was “domestic containment” and how did it impact American women?

• What was the impact of Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique? Does Friedan speak for all American women living in the post WWII era?

• How did women participate in social/political movements, such as the civil rights movement?

The Cold War, 1945-1991

• The U.S. emerges as the only unscathed superpower post WWII.

• Communism vs. Capitalism = ideological conflicts

• Creates massive tension and anxiety; shapes U.S. foreign policy until 1991!

Domestic Policies/Trends influenced by Cold War• Post WWII prosperity =

highest standard of living Americans had ever experienced.– Rise of the Middle

Class– Baby Boom– GI Bill– Rise of

Suburbia/highways (pictured at left)

• Domestic containment emerges as the social policy best used to help MC families fight communism in their homes/everyday life

Gender Roles and Domestic Containment

• Women are to be feminine but not excessively sexual

• Sphere of influence is in the home – child rearing, housework, etc. are markers of a true “American” woman

• Women are dependents of their husbands

• Men are to be the breadwinners, financially responsible for their families

• Masculinity and dominance prized

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGxHDK_D0UE

Challenges to Domestic Containment• Alfred Kinsey and Sexual

Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953)

• Gay and Lesbian community particularly scrutinized; LGBTQ activity forced mostly underground.

• Playboy magazine founded in 1955

The Feminine Mystique, 1963• Friedan and the “problem

with no name”• Friedan criticizes

magazines and TV for disseminating the “feminine mystique” and forcing women to limit their interests and talents to domestic responsibilities.

• Doesn’t acknowledge the experiences of women of color or poor women.

The “Little Rock Nine”, 1957

S.N.C.C. VS S.C.L.C.Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

• Bottom up approach• Mostly students (18 – 29),

black and white, men and women

• Leadership opportunities for women (somewhat)

• System is broken; need to start over

• Non-violent

Southern Christian Leadership Coalition

• Top down approach • Christian leaders, all men.

“Men led, women organized”

• Work within existing system to create change

• Non-violent; civil disobedience