Essay 3: Social ideals for Women of the '50s (final)

Jordan Ackerman
05-18-09
Literature 223
Essay 3
By the early 1950s, American women, particularly housewives, had begun to see a rather notable decline in their working numbers in industrial labor. This, however, had begun even before the fifties with the end of World War II in 1945. This was brought about, mainly, due to the return of the veteran soldiers to America and their assimilation back into the workforce, now that the war is over. With the return of the veterans eventually came a public image of women returning to becoming housewives and homemakers once again instead of the short lived Rosie the Riveter image that had reigned prominently over the home front during the war. Because of this, a new popular ideal of the socialite stay-at-home-wife emerged and became more engrained in the American mindset and can be seen in shows like I Love Lucy and even in movies from the time and shortly afterward as well. Let us explore a few of these examples to see how each of the different characters reacts to such ideals in their own situations.
In the 1960s film, Splendor in the Grass, a film based on the story written by William Inge from his own experiences from the 1920s, the main character Wilma Dean Loomis, more commonly referred to as ‘Deanie’ in the story and the film, is a stereotypical good girl of the time, a beautiful young woman in love with Bud Stamper, a fellow classmate in high school and the angst-ridden son of a wealthy owner of an oil mining company. In the movie, Deanie seems to have a typical teenage social life inside the realm of high school that includes her circle of girl friends and a few guy friends with whom she is not romantically related at the time of the movie. This, however, changes, if only briefly, when one of them asks her out to a dance. Deanie’s social network seems to collapse when word gets around the school that Bud is secretly seeing another girl in her class, and this, indirectly gets her sent to the nuthouse for a couple of years, during which bud marries another woman, thusly robbing Deanie of her chance with him. Her social ties with some friends seem to last, however, when she is released from the correctional facility as shown when she’s picked up by a couple of friends and taken to see Bud one last time.
In the 1950s science fiction film, Attack of the 50 ft Woman, the main protagonist, Nancy Fowler Archer is a rich and well-to-do wife of Harry Archer who has been cheating on her for what is implied to be some time at the time of the film. The reason for his infidelity, as alluded to by both Harry and his love interest, Honey Parker, is Nancy’s alleged mental instability for which she’s been sent to a mental institution several times for extended periods of time. It is this condition of hers that, as the film insinuates rather blatantly, has somewhat stigmatized around town as someone who’s mentally unstable with a mean drinking streak. Because of this, Nancy doesn’t seem to have many friends outside of her butler, Jess Stout, and the doctor, Dr. Isaac Cushing. This is mainly due to the fact that they have both been by her side for most of her life since she was little, lending them a more personal relationship and a deeper understanding of her and why she does what she does.
In one of Hitchcock’s classics, Rear Window, Lisa Carol Fremont, Jeff Jefferies’ love interest, is interested in Jeff, though he seems distant to her as he spends most of his time staring out his rear window watching the lives of his neighbors across the lawn since he’s a temporarily unemployed photographer out with a broken, brought about by his last shoot as alluded to by a phone call in the beginning of the film. Lisa by contrast is quite well-to-do and has a thriving social life outside of her apartment as alluded to in the film by both Jeff and his house keeper, Stella, in the film early on. We do not, however, get any clues or hints that tell us anything about Stella’s own social life in the film or at all, for that matter. Across the lawn in the other building Jeff watches almost day and night, lives a very young and beautiful dancer whom Jeff refers to as Mr. Torso. Though she is not one of the main characters in the film, we do get a good look at her rather exciting social life as some would call it, including many late nights with multiple suitors and lots of champagne. It is revealed, at the end of the movie, that she has a boyfriend in the armed forces to whom she eventually remains faithful until his equally wild return. A young aspiring musician in an adjacent building seems to have an equally avid social life, also having merry parties just about every other night with multiple friends and lots of champagne as well. In sharp contrast, is Ms. Lonelyhearts in a floor level apartment in the same building as Ms. Torso, who, though she seems to keep well with the latest fashions of the time, seems to be more enveloped in her nonexistent love life, many times sitting down to dinner alone at night, pretending to be wooing an equally nonexistent young gentleman coming over for a date, with said would-be date ending in her drinking her loneliness away. Occasionally, she does manage to get a suitor to come to her apartment and will seem to be making progress with him, but will then, unintentionally do something to turn him off and thus leave her alone, in her apartment, yet again. One instance of this tragic scenario plays out mid-way through the film and ends with the young man stalking out of her apartment, leaving her to weep alone as Jeff and his two female companions look on. In the end, however, it is insinuated that she does finally manage to keep it together long enough to bag a handsome young man in the end, thus leaving a happy ending all around at the end of the film.
The stay-at-home socialite was the typical stereotype of women in the 1950s as shown predominantly in film and print media of the time. Whether or not this is or was an accurate representation of all women of the time is probably up to the historians, but this particular stereotype set a standard for American women in the ‘50s and has since, more or less. Those women with healthy social lives eventually ended up alright in the end for the most part and those with stigmas attached to their names were bound for the crazy house. The other idea that seemed to resonate during the time and in these particular films is that those who went to the nuthouse would never end up completely happy because of the permanent stigma attached to their name as a result. That, at least, seems to be the general consensus, anyway.