The Not-So-Golden Fifties[1]

Bonus Option

 

harrington
Michael Harrington

friedan
Betty Friedan

 

Overview:

Both Betty Freidan and Michael Harrington were college educated and among the white middle class of Americans.  Yet, as each observed the Golden Years of the 1950s, they determined that the American dream did not extent to everyone.  Friedan in a survey of women like herself, discovered that they were very dissatisfied with their lives in the new suburbs and a consumer culture that seemed designed for them.  Harrington studied the demographics and economic indicators to validate that not all Americans shared equally in the postwar economic boom --- and what divided the “haves” and “have-nots” was race, ethnicity and gender.  For example, the text tells us that  “In the 1950s, women faced tremendous pressure to conform to accepted prewar gender patterns, even though, paradoxically, more women entered the workforce than ever before.” (Nash, p. 787)  It is that pressure “to conform” that became a central assumption of Friedan’s work.  Further, the text refers directly to Harrington’s work, stating that “the poor … were everywhere.” (Nash, p. 792).

 

As critics of the 1950s Friedan and Harrington also provided evaluations that became the basis for social reform measures in the 1960s.  In the case of Freidan, her work becomes the first step toward the woman’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s (Second Wave Feminism).  Harrington’s work became fundamental to the thought process and policy design of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.

 

Since the critiques of these two individuals became so important to social reform, we will read excerpts from their writings.  From this reading, we will discuss the central ideas put forth by each, and compare/contrast their ideas.  Finally, we will consider if their expressed ideas continue to have relevance today.

 

 

Assignment: Be sure to complete and write the answers to the following questions. Submit these answers along with Section Two.
 

Process:

 

Questions:  

Section One: Assigned Documents - Answer the following questions for each reading.

 

  1. What is the author’s criticism of American society in the 1950s?
  2. How has the author reached these conclusions?  
  3. Provide one quotation that reflects the central critique of the author.

 

 

Section Two: Answer for either or both documents.  This is your opinion, based on (1) your understanding of the reading and (2) your own experiences/observations of today’s society.  

 

1.    Do you believe that the points of view of Freidan and Harrington still have relevance today?  If so, how?  If not, why not?  Provide specific examples to support your point of view.

 

Sources:

 

Michael Harrington

 

Betty Freidan


[1] Created: 10/23/2004; updated: 7/31/2009