There has been a lot of talk about going back to the “good old days” of America.\u00a0 Most of the time these folks are referring to the 1950s.\u00a0 TV and movies have helped romanticize this era as the peak of civilization.<\/p>\n
But was it really that great?\u00a0 Or are we just looking through rose colored glasses?<\/p>\n
Sure, in some ways the 50s was pretty great.\u00a0 \u00a0Housing was affordable for most people.\u00a0 The fashion was amazing.\u00a0 People knew their neighbors.\u00a0 The economy was booming.\u00a0 The music scene was epic.\u00a0 \u00a0One income could support an entire family.<\/p>\n
Of course, many of these things were only true if you looked a certain way.\u00a0 \u00a0If you didn’t look the part of a white male Protestant there were few career options available to you.\u00a0 In many states interracial marriage was illegal and Jim Crow laws were in full effect.\u00a0 Women were expected to leave the workforce as soon as they got married and the ones who didn’t could be fired for getting pregnant.\u00a0 Women could not get back accounts in their own names without explicit permission of their husbands or fathers.\u00a0 Sexual harassment was acceptable anywhere, anytime.\u00a0 Men were free to “sow their wild oats” but women were expected to be virgins on their wedding night.\u00a0 Domestic violence was whispered about but generally swept under the rug and in some cases almost encouraged.\u00a0 Being openly gay could be a death sentence.<\/p>\n
And then there are the things that were bad for everyone in the 50s.\u00a0 McCarthyism.\u00a0 The constant threats from the Cold War.\u00a0 \u00a0Mental health was not taken at all seriously and in the rare exception when it was treatments options were very limited.\u00a0 People who lived below the poverty line were ignored.\u00a0 Complete conformance was expected.\u00a0 You were expected to look, worship, and live just like everyone else and if you didn’t you had to try like hell to hide it.\u00a0 It was social death to admit you weren’t happy in your 3 bedroom ranch house with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids.<\/p>\n
So no, I’m not interested in going back to a time where Effexor doesn’t exist, where I am nothing more than the wife or daughter of a man, when diversity was frowned upon and \/ or activity opposed.\u00a0 That doesn’t sound like the good old days to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There has been a lot of talk about going back to the “good old days” of America.\u00a0 Most of the time these folks are referring to the 1950s.\u00a0 TV and movies have helped romanticize this era as the peak of civilization. But was it really that great?\u00a0 Or are we just looking through rose colored glasses? Sure, in some ways… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issues","category-things-that-make-you-go-huh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t