Women’s Roles in the 1950s

While Death of a Salesman was first performed in 1949, the stringent gender norms and expectations placed on Linda Loman were reflective of a post-war sensibility that saw the U.S. focusing on the nuclear family and women as the heart of a happy home.

Propaganda, Patriotism, and Progeny

One of the main themes of Cold War propaganda was the wholesome American nuclear family as opposed to the sad and destitute Communist families in the U.S.S.R. American women were shown as lovely and maintaining beautiful families, while Russian women were shown in rags working in factories with their children. Having a family was considered a patriotic and personal duty.

Getting Her M.R.S.

Women in the 1950s felt tremendous pressure to get married and much of the cultural stereotype of college women was that they went not to further their education, but to secure a husband. Marriage rates were at an all-time high and couples were marrying younger, right out of high school or during college. While employment rates for women also grew during the decade, the media and pop culture tended to focus on marriage and family life.

Bouncing Babies . . . But Only if You’re Married!

Having children was expected for married couples and a majority of young wives were pregnant less than a year from their wedding day. Between the years of 1940 and 1960, the number of families with three or four children doubled and quadrupled, respectively.

Contrary to the push for motherhood within a marriage, pregnancy outside of wedlock was considered incredibly shameful. Single pregnant women and girls often found themselves “sent away” to have their babies and were shunned for their sexual choices. There was no viable birth control option at the time, so many young women found themselves with unwanted pregnancies.

Happy Homemakers

The ideal of a stay-at-home mother, tending to her husband and children’s every need, was a pervasive image in the media of the time. Many women felt pressured to maintain a beautiful domestic life and women who took on employment outside the home for fulfillment instead of financial need were thought to be selfish and putting themselves above their family.