Society and Culture in Change

• The 19th Amendment


  American women had long campaigned for the right to vote. In the late-nineteenth century several states had given women the vote. The female suffrage movement sprung back to life after 1912.

  In 1918, the House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the vote in all US elections.

  The 19th Amendment was finally ratified in 1920.
• Women's employment

  The sharp increase in the number of women in the workforce during the First World War declined after 1919. Nevertheless, the USA's booming economy in the 1920s ensured that there was a steady increase in the number of employed women. This was more evolution than revolution. By 1900, women already had at least a token foothold in most occupations.

  In 1920, some 8.2 million found work outside the home. By 1930, this had risen to 10.4 million.
• Social

  By 1930s traditional attitudes towards marriage were changing. Patriarchy made the husband head and master of the family, while limiting the wife's sphere to the care of the home and children. However, by the 1930s love and companionship as the basis of marriage had gained ascendancy.
• Gender inequality

  Gender inequality was enshrined in law and practice.

  • 18 states refused to allow female jurors.
  • 6 states did not allow women to enter financial agreements without a male co-signatory.
  • Many schools expelled pregnant students and fired pregnant teachers.
• The impact of suburban life, 1945-60

  After 1945, women's role changed. The return of servicemen had 2 main consequences.

  • Women were encouraged - sometimes forced - to turn over their jobs for wartime veterans.
  • There was a baby boom. The birth rate per 1,000 of total population grew from 19.4 in 1940 to over 24 per annum by 1946.
• Impact of Betty Friedan

  In 1963, Betty Friedan published 'The Feminine Mystique'. Friedan claimed that a propaganda campaign, engineered by advertisers and women's magazines, had created the 'feminine mystique' of blissful domesticity, which had stifled women's potential. In Friedan's view, the middle-class home had become a 'comfortable concentration camp'. The book launched a new phase of female protest.
• Women's liberation

  In the late 1960s, a women's liberation movement arose. Radical feminists opposed sexual oppression and cultural practices (like beauty contests) that objectified women. Women's 'lib' activists sought support through newsletters and consciousness raising meetings aimed at raising awareness of gender inequalities and encouraging women to combat it. By 1974, 2/3 of women felt discriminated against (compared to 1/4 in 1960)
• Black migration

  African Americans, in what is now usually called the 'Great Migration', made up of a sizeable portion of people on the move to cities in the 1920s. One and a half million black people moved from the South, doubling the black population of New York, Chicago, Detroit and Houston in this decade. In most cities however, racial discrimination blocked opportunity. Forced by low wages to seek the cheapest housing, black newcomers were forced into ghettos, like Chicago's South Side and New York's Harlem.
• Hispanic migration

  In the 1920s, Mexican migrants crowded into the low-rent districts in the Southwestern cities like Denver and Los Angeles where they had poor sanitation, poor police protection and poor schools. The 1920s saw an influx of Puerto Ricans. Most moved to New York, attracted by contracts from employers seeking cheap labour. In the cities, they created barrios and found jobs in factories, hotels and domestic service.
• Hollywood

  By 1917, Hollywood had become synonymous with the film industry - an industry which was still 'silent'. During the 1920s a few major companies controlled production, distribution and exhibition. Producing around 600 films per year, the movie industry organised its output around genres like westerns, romance or comedy. Stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Rudolph Valentino became world famous.
• Impact of the radio

  Despite the Great Depression, radio prospered. By the 1930s, popular formats were well established. They included situation comedies, variety and music programmes, newscasts, daytime serial dramas and evening dramas of many kinds. Radio stars ranked in public appeal with those of film and stage. FDR used radio 'fireside chats' in the 1930s to 'sell' his New Deal measures. By 1945, there were over 1,000 radio stations.
• The TV boom

  In 1948, only 172,000 homes had TVs. Few Americans could afford a set. The boom came as prices fell. By 1952, 15.3 million homes had TVs. By 1955, there were 32 million sets - 75% of all households. By 1960, 90% of households had black and white sets. Colour sets became affordable in the 1960s. By 1970, 38% of homes had colour TVs. By 1980, the vast majority of homes had colour. They also had a score of channels to watch.
• The impact of TV

  Debates over the cultural influence of TV, which began in the 1950s, continued for many more decades. Those who argued that TV's power was large - and harmful - claimed that TV:

  • Strengthened violent tendencies in people
  • Sabotaged the reading habit
  • Stifled conversation
  • Induced a general passivity of mind
  • Harmed radio, newspapers, magazines and cinema
  • Gave enormous boosts to the advertising industry