What We Really Miss About The 1950s - 1286 Words

Throughout history, people have looked towards past history to recognize the problems that society endured. Some might say certain time periods was the best time to live as others periods were full of failure and the mistakes and should not be repeated. The idea of a perfect time to live is known as â€Å"golden age thinking† which is ultimately defined as a certain time period is better than the one they live in today. This hasty generalization bases an entire era with very little evaluation and thought due to people lacking to realize there is no such thing as the best era. However certain times may have accompanied better economic stability or less social oppression such as Stephanie Coontz’s article â€Å"What We Really Miss About the 1950s.† The idea of making a golden age by force by structuring society in very detailed manners causes a loss of privacy, choice and ultimately a loss of freedom due to the deprivation of individuality. The loss of individualit y causes a loss in competition within a society causing people to lose interest in being more than what is just allowed like in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† Every era in history has had its setbacks but that is why every time period is run through trial and error. People of today’s society feel as if they are lacking something and entitled to do something new in their life. An era such as the 1950s is exemplifies golden age thinking. The United States was booming after the end of World War II due toShow MoreRelated1950s Nostalgia1298 Words   |  6 Pages1950s Nostalgia Real and Imagined Stephanie Coontz is a professor of Family History at the Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. She is a nationally recognized expert on the family and an award winning writer. In her 1997 book â€Å"The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America’s Changing Families†, Stephanie Coontz wrote an essay entitled â€Å"What We Really Miss about the 1950s†. In Stephanie Coontz’s â€Å"What We Really Miss about the 1950s†, she argues that we asRead MoreThe Perfect American Lifestyleof The 1950S. What Is The1489 Words   |  6 PagesThe Perfect American lifestyle of The 1950s What is the perfect American lifestyle, was there ever a perfect American lifestyle. This paper will analyze Stephanie Coontz’s â€Å"What We Really Miss About The 1950s† and the idea of the ideal America Lifestyle. The perfect American lifestyle of the 1950s started with the ability to earn money as Coontz notes â€Å"it’s easy to see why people might look back fondly to a decade when real wages grew more in any single year than in the entire ten years of theRead MoreModern Family Myth Essay1153 Words   |  5 PagesDebunking the Modern Family Myth According to Stephanie Coontz in â€Å"What We Really Miss About The 1950’s†, the 1950’s were symbolic in terms of the nuclear American family. The â€Å"typical† nuclear American family structure consisted of an unemployed stay-at-home mom, working dad, a child or two, and a suburban home. In her article, she refers to the 1950’s as being the optimal time period for family’s where the ideology in television shows such as â€Å"Father Knows Best† and â€Å"Leave It To Beaver† was notRead MoreMarriage And Family Play Essential Roles1567 Words   |  7 Pagesalthough some are convincible some are not. In â€Å"What We Really Miss About the 1950s†, Coontz explained why people have nostalgia for 1950s however not really want to go back. In â€Å"From Marriage Market: How Inequality is Remaking the American Family†, Cahn and Carbone how women in nowadays are more free than those in old days. Present years in facts are not better times for children to grow up in because of lackness of standards, rampant and materialism. In 1950s, there were rules to be followed. Men shouldRead MoreEssay on Television Today Versus the 1950s1182 Words   |  5 Pages How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontzs What We Really Miss about the 1950s, she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasnt the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as Leave itRead MoreIs Gender The Same Element As Sex? Essay1323 Words   |  6 PagesThere are several Cultural Myths about Gender and Sex. Gary Colombo, who wrote: â€Å"Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths† who explains that a cultural myth is a shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs, as well as a common language. In â€Å"Sisterhood is Complicated† by Ruth Padawer who is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, focusing on gender and social issues in â€Å"Sis terhood is Complicated† she shows various of the Stereotypes about Gender and Sex and how they areRead More William Faulkner Essay1215 Words   |  5 Pages William Faulkner nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;William Faulkner is one of Americas most talked about writers and his work should be included in any literary canon for several reasons. After reading a few of his short stories, it becomes clear that Faulkners works have uniqueness to them. One of the qualities that make William Faulkners writings different is his close connection with the South. Gwendolyn Charbnier states, Besides the sociological factors that influence Faulkners work, biographicalRead MoreThe Nuclear Family910 Words   |  4 PagesThe idea of the nuclear family was highly valued in the American culture during the 1950s, where romantic love was the central reason for marriage in America; however, love in modern America is not enough to make a marriage last. Likewise, the 1950s was the time for many American marriages to undergo many socioeconomic changes including the rise of the gender minority in the workplace. Due to these developments, marriage is under enormous socioeconomic pressure s have given the rise to family structuresRead MoreCultural Myths About Gender And Sex Essay1484 Words   |  6 Pagesdifferent concepts. There are several Cultural Myths about gender and sex. Gary Colombo, who wrote: â€Å"Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths† explains that a cultural myth is a â€Å"shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs, as well as a common language (3).† In â€Å"Sisterhood is Complicated† by Ruth Padawer, a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, she focuses on gender and social issues. Padawer shows various stereotypes about gender roles and sex, and how they form multiple culturalRead MoreEssay Rear Window, by Alfred Hitchcock626 Words   |  3 Pagessociety in the 1950’s. Hitchcock uses clever things from the way the apartments are being filmed to the dialogue between Jeffries, Lisa, and Stella to show societies interest in pain, tragedy, and discomfort, and in the end you see how tragedy is wh at makes everyone happy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the very beginning of Rear Window we encounter scenes where Hitchcock shows Stella being sadistic, but we come to realize later that it is not just Stella. Stella is just the only one who speaks out about it. You must