Suburbia by Chance Preshia

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Suburbia

Published on Nov 25, 2015

A Haiku Deck on Suburbia.

SUBURBS AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY

The return of American soldiers created a high demand for housing.
Will Levitt boughtthousands of acres of land to be used for the construction of towns of prefabricated houses
The first "Levittown communities" was located in Long Island. It became a national symbol of suburbia.
Other major factors influencing the growth of the suburbs included the highway system and the auto industry
They both grew in unison

Post WWII American life very similar
Suburban house, nice yard, white collar job, females were housewives, children went to school
Conformity was criticized as going too far
This originated because Americans wanted to stick to the traditional American life after the war

Was a period of time in which the amount of live births per one thousand people ratio was very high
There was a birth in America about every seven seconds
This resulted in 4,308,000 births that year, making it the largest generation in the nation's history
This resulted in 4,308,000 births that year, making it the largest generation in the nation's history

The baby boom came around the time when soldiers were returning home from World War II
There were many factors that contributed to the boom including: reunion of husbands and wives after the war
Decreased marriage age, desirability of families, continued economic prosperity, and medical advancements
Many advances were being made during this time period including the war on childhood diseases.
Drugs were invented to prevent typhoid fever & Jonah Salk created a vaccine to prevent polio

Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Benjamin Spock pioneeredin how parents raised their kids
He advised the parents to never spank their children and to hold regular family meetings in which the children could express themselves
He proposed that the government pay mothers to stay at home because he considered it so important

Role of homemaker & mother was glorified in popular culture & TV shows such as Father Knows Best
Time magazine described the homemaker as “the key figure in all suburbia…"
Contrasting what was displayed in media some women like Carol Freeman were unhappy in their roles
According to one survey in the 1950s, more than one-fifth of suburban wives were dissatisfied with their lives.

The nuclear family was the norm for white, middle class families during the 1950s
It consisted of a mother and father and their dependent children
The nuclear family was promoted by the use of the advertisement and television mediums
The epitome of television promotion of the nuclear family were shows like "Leave It To Beaver"
These shows were not however ethically diverse and consisted mostly of white families

The families of the 1950s were very conservative and materialistic
This was caused by World War II and people wanting to free themselves from their past
The American youth of the post-war period wanted to have longer lasting and better relations
The American household consisted of one breadwinner instead of two
This is because two breadwinners were a necessity during the failing economy of the 30s-40s