Advertising
during the 1950s often depicted women as failures in the
kitchen and other house chores. For example, housewives were portrayed
as being too stupid to even handle the basics of making a cup of coffee. Not
only did ads depict women as being inferior to men but some of the most popular
shows in the 1950s like the sitcom, I Love Lucy, were “built around the struggles of a housewife whose
stupidity keeps getting her into scraps, which resulted in lectures and yes, even
spankings from her husband , who basically treated her like an
overgrown child” as mentioned by Amanda Marcotte in the article, Housewives didn’t
Gender
roles of the 1950s played a huge role in I
Love Lucy as the main character, Lucy Ricardo, a typical 1950s housewife,
who cooks, cleans, and takes care of her child. Lucy is also financially
dependent of her husband. However, Lucy also has ambitions for fame and living
a glamorous life in which leads her to seek ways where she could earn some
money, but unfortunately fails every time she tries because she is
portrayed as incompetent and inferior to men. Therefore, I Love Lucy intends to show
the housewives viewers at home that they are better off not pursuing any hidden
dreams or ambitions in which would lure them away from their traditional
societal roles as housewives.
Below I have attached a video I found on YouTube portraying the societal
norms in the 1950s from I
love Lucy.
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