Going Against the Stereotype

In the twentieth century, women were becoming more of equals to men. Their presence in the work place was becoming more known, they were obtaining higher leveled jobs, and some even becoming CEOs. It wasn’t always like this for women. It took decades for them to show their capabilities and build up from the stereotype that was placed on women through the 18^th and 19^th centuries. In Betty Friedman’s piece “The Feminine Mystique”, she explains further of this stereotype that was placed on women called the “suburban housewife”.

During the time after World War II, the feminine mystique was placed on this image that women had to devote their lives to finding a husband and bearing children. She explains in her article: “Millions of women lived their lives in the image of those pretty pictures of the American suburban housewife, kissing their husbands goodbye in front of the picture window, depositing their stationwagonsful of children at school, and smiling as they ran the new electric waxer over the spotless kitchen floor” (18). In this quote, she is describing what one would see looking at a typical housewife and their daily tasks. Women were expected to be like this image and to devote their lives to this type of lifestyle and be okay with it.

                                                         

In this 1950s refrigerator ad to the left, it is shown what a typical suburban housewife looked like and dressed like. Her image is very clean, she has make up on and her hair done nicely and outfit put together. This is what was expected of women to look like in the 1950s and when a woman wasn’t put together like this, they received hate and resentment. In this ad, they have the housewife displaying the refrigerator to appeal to other women that they should get this to be like other women. When ads like this were posted around, this also added extra pressure that women should look and be like this. This added pressure was hard for some women to deal with because they felt like they had a larger purpose and wasn’t feeling fulfilled with their lives.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the rate of women joining the work force was very low. Many jobs that typical women did was secretarial work, retail, and housekeeping. According to Friedman, in 1958 only 35 percent of women were attending college. A main reason many were dropping out was because many were getting married, which the average age for a woman to get married was 20, and then slowly more women started getting married in their teens. A reason many women did this was because they were already told that this housewife lifestyle was what was in store for them so they didn’t hesitate to get married and start a family.

The problem with this was the “problem that has no name” Friedman refers to. This problem was the feeling that women felt unfulfilled with their life with this life their supposed to have. Many women looked for more to see what felt like was missing. According to Friedman, many felt like something was either wrong with her marriage or herself, and many thought the other women around her were satisfied with their lives. Friedman explains the different responses she receives from women about the "problem that has no name". Women felt "empty somehow...incomplete" or "I feel as if I don't exist" or they feel "A tired feeling...I get so angry with the children it scares me.. I feel like crying without any reason"(20). It was hard for women to cope with this feeling that didn't have purpose.

Jumping to the twentieth century, women grew out of this "suburban housewife" lifestyle and started becoming more focused on what they wanted to do. Women are now becoming more involved in the workplace, going after jobs that are mainly "men dominated", and starting to become independent bodies. They started becoming financially independent and strived to have a strong professional career.

A key example of this was Mary Barra, who is the current CEO of the automotive company General Motors. Her picture is on the left. Mary is the first female CEO of a major global automaker. Barra grew up in the 1960s where she had to experience this common stereotype along with the other women. She has worked with General Motors since she was 18 and studied at Kettering University for her undergrad and Stanford University for her Masters. General Motors is mainly a man-dominated field and is the automotive industry in general. Barra proved her abilities as a woman and moved up the chain, showing women are just as capable as men are to be working in the automotive industry. In 2015, she was named number one on Fortune's Most Powerful Women. Women have overcome this adversity in order to solve this "problem with no name" and finally put purpose back in their lives.

Personally it's hard for me to see this stereotype and I couldn't imagine having to abide to these rules. I could see why these women didn't have the strength to break out of this stereotypical bubble because that wasn't the "feminine" thing to do, being at home and a mother was their job. Mary Barra and other women in the work force inspire me to go after the dream profession that I want and become independent. I'm glad to see women have taken the steps forward to become something more than the "suburban housewife" and more of what they really want to be.

References:

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W Norton &, 1963. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.