As a society, we hear that women belong in the kitchen and at home a lot. Women tend to be underpaid compared to men that work in the same field and even in the same position. Has sexism progressed through time, and has it gotten better? Yeah, some. Today, there are still many who still believe and live by the stereotype that women belong in the kitchen and in the home. Lets look at where this stereotype comes from. During the Cold War the idea of a Nuclear Family became a personal goal for many people. A married couple moves into a home, has kids, the father goes to work everyday while the mother stays at home to take care of the house and the children. This is also called domestic containment.
During the 50s communism was a great fear throughout the United states, but by this point this isn’t news to us. If someone is a communist then it means different things depending on if they are male or female. If a female is communist then they are seen as masculine and out of place, they would be leaving all femininity they had. But if a male was communist then they are weak and turn into a girly-girl. Many people did not want to see women having a substantial amount of power.
During this time period many women were working in the senate or in prominent roles within the government, like Anna Pauker, Muriel Draper, Jean Kerr, Margaret Chase Smith, and Doloris Bridges. Many men didn’t to see women as positions higher to them or as equals. Some women are labeled as secretaries even though they have no idea how to do the tasks that secretaries do on a daily basis.
Women are to be these soft, go with the flow people that many believed should stay in the home. Anna Pauker showed the complete opposite of this. As a Rumania office holder, she watched as many people starved as she bathed in food, she was a greedy, cruel women. She was ambition, loyal and stuck to her beliefs, and intelligent, something women that stayed at home did not show. Muriel Draper was a Soviet supporter who was serious and a hardworking mother who fought for many women throughout the world. She tried to pave the way for communism to take over the United States. These two women who were communists showed that if a women is communist they are turned into manly, unfeminine women.
Doloris Bridges was one of the first women to attempt to take office, she was the wife of a senator to begin with. She was bever afraid to speak her mind. Which was the opposite of what her husband did, he never spoke what he thought as he let Doloris do it for him. Bridges was someone who went after Kennedy at being a soft communist. These three women, the same but different, with more included are examples of women who broke the idea of women belonging in the household. Some did not listen to them, but now they are seen as prominent characters breaking the nuclear family aspect.
Will Wright 