Transcript: The 1950's. Known for its greaser styles, doo-wop music, and breakthrough advertising techniques, the 50's have remained memorable decades after its passing. Its styles and morals have continued to be an inspiration and find admiration even in today's life. The 2000's. Technicolor, Technological, Techno-you-name-it. The 2000s completely re-mastered modern living. iPhones, emails, Jason Derulo - With such drastic differences, how could the 1950s and the 2000s be even remotely the same? Taking a closer look into gender roles, familial structures, and social norms, we discover the similarities and differences between these two eras. We like to call the 50's "The Simpler Times." Romanticizing the past is fun and all, but if you look at some ideas of the time, the 50s may be better of referred to as the simple-minded times. Gender roles, for example, were extremely limiting. Men were claimed as the alphas - they made the decisions, they went to college, they ran the businesses, they brought home the bacon. Meanwhile, women were handed the submissive end of the stick, being expected to stay home, cook, clean, and watch the children. Their highest option for education was attending finishing school, and even then, marriage was still pushed onto them to be their one true aspiration. Women who wanted more for themselves were claimed to be crazy. Perhaps not the wisest thing to say to those who handle the household knives. Jumping to today's time, women have more options than ever. College is not only available for everyone now, it's insisted upon. Women can hold jobs of high power, and can have further aspirations than motherhood or wifely duties. In fact, many households are now dual-income as women branch out into the workforce. However, as much progress as the 2000's have made, the 50's sexism has still found a way to stick around. Though women have more options for jobs, their pay is still 23% less than that of men's, even when they perform the same amount of work for the same amount of hours. Furthermore, women only are 15% of the fortune 500 CEOS. So while many accomplishments have been made for women in the workforce, we still have ways to go. The 1950's family life was white picket fence perfection. It consisted of a daily routine of dad leaving for work while mom got the kids ready for school, cleaned the house, and began dinner. By the time dad came home, dinner was on the table and the family would sit down and enjoy conversation with each other. Men, again, were the alphas, and were seen as the head of the household. They ran the family checkbook, and made decisions for the family. Though women basically kept the house afloat, they were seen as substandard to their husbands. Sons were expected to follow in their father's footsteps of one day being successful businessmen with a lovely doting wife, while daughters were brought up learning how to one day be the perfect wife and mother. Today, families can be incredibly diverse. Instead of just finding heterosexual couples, you can find single parents, step-parents, and gay couples all living their lives as families. More interracial couples are prevalent now, something that was once taboo in the 50's. Income provider role isn't set on one person, with many different variations available, and children of either sex are taught to want success in life, not just a marriage. Family lives overall these days lead to more open-minded, ambitious generations. The 50's are probably most idealized for how they ran their social lives. The 50's are known for their time of drive-in-movie-dates, and their swell way of speaking. Physical affection during this time is always portrayed as very conservative - most couples even slept in separate beds. For high schoolers then, with communication means not quite so vast yet, speaking to friends meant meeting down at soda parlors or dancing while the jukebox played. These dances have become a trademark style of the era. Insert the selfie generation. With iPhones and the Internet kicking off in the new millennium, new ways to communicate were invented faster than you could post a selfie. No longer limited to just phone calls, new forms of communication included, texting, instant messaging, social media sites, and web calls. Now, reaching your friends was just a send button away. New slang was developed among these times as well, including with a variety of -cough cough- interesting new acronyms and phrases. We've come a long way since the 50's, and many things have improved for the better. Gender roles have opened up, familial settings have become more diverse, and social norms are adapting to this crazy, technology-driven life. Hmm. Just think what'll have changed in the next 60 years.

• published: 26 Sep 2014
• views: 56617