Sunday, December 10, 2017

What groups did not share in the general prosperity of Americans during the 1950s?

I think a
case can be made for the "marginalized" in American soceity as being the primary
targets of the social order's silence in the 1950s.  In this, I mean that the traditionally
silenced narratives did not find themselves a part of the post World War II prosperity of
America.  For example, those who were gay or lesbian found themselves having to live inside the
closet and "play the role" of a straight person.  The narrative of what it means to be
gay and how one comes out was silenced and totally discredited in the time period.  Women, in
general, were still seen as tools of objectification and the flickers and embers of a sexual
revolution faced stiff inertia within the time period.  Few women worked.  Those who did had to
take jobs where they were subservient to men.  The idea of "His Girl Friday" was a
pleasant way of revealing the truth that women in the workplace were second fiddles to men. 
People of color, as previously discussed, were outside of the realm of prosperity.  Immigrants
were seen as second class citizens and those who were of the Jewish persuasion faced outward
discrimination through attitudes and language.  These groups were not able to share in the
general prosperity of the 1950s, what some would term "the good old
days."

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