Being a Woman in The 50s

The 1950s: a perfect decade, filled with Leave it to Beaver, Jell-O, and a nice suburban homes. But it wasn't as squeaky clean as it seems. Read on to see what it was like for your typical woman living during the 50s.

Luka Pichler
Created by Luka Pichler(User Generated Content*)User Generated Content is not posted by anyone affiliated with, or on behalf of, Playbuzz.com.
On Apr 19, 2018
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1

Your job: Housewife!

A woman during the 50s was expected to stay at home and cook, clean, and be a faithful slave-er, wife. If you were really lucky, you could become a secretary in an office and be treated as an idiot and be constantly making coffee for your boss.

2

If you don't look perfect, you mind as well be dead

In the 50s, you were expected to constantly look perfect, no matter what. Just woke up? You better get that mascara on. Your house just blew up? Your eyeliner better not be smudged. This beauty craze also extended to your hair, clothes, shoes, etc.

3

No college for you.

A woman in the 50s often did not go to college. They were expected to marry early (often to their high school sweetheart) and stay at home and cook and clean. If you were lucky enough to get into college, you could study some fairly useless subject like English or Greek literature. Then you would meet a man and get married and become a housewife. And even if you studied something you wanted to, by the time you got out of college with a good degree it would be "too late" to get married and you would be socially shunned. It was really a lose-lose situation.

4

Really horrible hobbies.

Yep, you read that right. In the 50s, you were expected to think that household chores were hobbies. But wait! There's more! There's knitting, sewing, and painting to do as well. Back then women were thought to be too dumb and/or fragile for "real" sports.

5

Dinner! Yum...?

I honestly feel bad for whoever made this. She put so much effort into making the fish Jell-O thing, with olive eyes and everything, but it's gonna end out disgusting anyway. You were pressured to always make the newest and most extravagant foods for your family, foods that would most likely take up a huge chunk of your day to make, and also end up tasting mediocre.

6

Quick! Have kids!

In the 50s, you were expected to have kids really, really early. The average age for a first child was 22! It was expected that you would then stay home and raise the kid yourselves, as this stroller ad suggests.

7

Women are weak? Apparently.

And lastly, women were expected to be weak, both physically and mentally. As this ketchup ad suggests, it would be nigh impossible for a woman to open a bottle. No, no, you'd better get your husband to do that for you. They were also thought to be too dumb to drive, let alone getting a job in STEM or anything like that.

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