Missokyst
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Joined: 9/9/2006
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My mother did not work outside of the home until the mid 60's. She couldn't get a credit card in her own name without my father's signature on the contract before the mid 1970's. My dad worked to support her, we four children before that point. He never showed her his paycheck, but did give her a weekly allowance of 100-200 bucks to pay bills, buy food and clothing, and anything left over was hers to keep. She did not drive but she did vote.
Her job was to keep a nice house (ours was never perfection). Raise quiet, respectful children, she finally got that down by being a control freak to the youngest one (me). My siblings were wild, loud, and self serving much like all normal kids. My eldest sister got pregnant at 12 because she wanted to escape. The next girl used to slip out of the house every night to date the teams, then the navy. My brother was in jeuvy on and off since he was 13 and punched out the principal (sometime in the 1960's)
My mom rarely smiled. There was not much reason for smiling. My dad worked hard and felt he needed to compensate by drinking. He drank every night often came home having driven drunk and would fall on the pavement when he got out of the car. His hard drinking either perserved him (he never got sick a day as I can remember), or it contributed to his death. He died of a stroke in 1986. The deep furrows in my mothers temples and cheeks stayed long past my fathers death. When he died she got a chance to look over the finances. He may have given her between 100-200 a week for house payments and such.. but his take home pay was 800 bucks a week. Unless he had another family I would say a lot of any left over money was either used for drink, or to give to his drinking pals.
My grandmother who was on her own during those years and had her own restaurant bar, was a happy smiley woman, though very much a control freak. When my mom started working in the mid 60's she seemed happier. By that time my oldest sister was married with 4 kids, and dating a younger man. My second sister was still slipping out of the house but she got better at hiding it. And my brother started hanging out with the neighbors and semi-adopted them as the family he cared about.
In the meantime.. TV went on, portraying the idealised families, the suburban perfection, the "normal" american family where the man was always in control.
50's households.. yeah, I miss those days.
Kyst
quote:
ORIGINAL: kuriousreturns
Please do not respond by deferring me to old TV shows that i haven't watched in ages.
i want to know what common life was like for those who lived in the 50's generation. How was it different in comparison to the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today? Are we talking about the dutiful wife and mother who stays home to cook, clean, and take care of the children while the father goes out and works to support the family? Or does it also include non-equal rights between men and women; women not allowed to work or vote; women and children should be seen and not heard; women should stay out of men's business? What responsibilities were designated between men and women back then; just exactly how tight of a reign did men have on their wives during that era? What were the consequences of a woman opposing or rebelling against her husband, society, or government? What types of work were acceptable for a woman to help provide financial support to her family?
_____________________________
pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding ~Gibran, Kahlil
“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”
― Bob Marley
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