Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Revised, Updated, Anniversary Edition

Other reviewers complained that this wasn't history. If by that they meant it wasn't the nostalgia-soaked 1950s as Leave It To Beaver and Happy Days, they're right. It is, however, a well-researched and cogently presented window into the hidden marriage life of the time. This is a difficult view to find but Dr. May is able to mine the data and arrive at a more well-developed and complex vision of family life of the 50s. In effect, she shows how the dream of security, a husband and children were presented as the prize to be won, but once won often created a sense of loss that even the women that lived it had a hard time understanding. She is equally able in presenting the conflict and confusion men experienced. Particularly interesting was how she was able to compare views of individual husbands and wives using a 300 person anonymous study.The only complaint I had was the clunky last chapter which had virtually nothing to do with the topic and instead was a polemic on 9/11. Fortunately, it was short and didn't wash out the positive experience of the other 90% of the book.

Elaine Tyler May opened her book, <i>Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era</i>, with a description of a 1959 publicity stunt. A young couple, recently married, chooses to spend their honeymoon in a bomb shelter. Surrounded by consumer goods, the couple enters the bomb shelter for two weeks and will have nothing more for entertainment than canned goods and each other. As May writes in the introduction, the couple epitomizes the image of the post-war family as “isolated, sexually charged, cushioned by abundance, and protected against impending doom.” (1)As the book progresses, May’s thesis is clear: the Cold War/anti-communism/domestic bliss of the 1950s may have been ideal for men and children, but was detrimental to women, their sexuality, and their personal fulfillment. She connects the Cold War and anti-communism to the oppression of women. A whole generation was inundated with propaganda describing the ideal domestic life and anything that deviated from the norm was “bad”. To support her conclusions, May draws from popular culture, Hollywood, politics, and the Kelly Longitudinal Survey. These examples show how messages infiltrated the American psyche and helped form the attitudes of a generation of men and women towards marriage, child bearing, and life in the suburbs.The 1950s was an era when, for the first time in decades, the birth and marriage rates increased, and the age of marriage and divorce rates decreased. Pundits, scientists, and so-called specialists advocated traditional gender roles and the submissiveness of women as a way to battle the spread of communism throughout the world. May shows how American domestic life mirrored the need for security with the boxy ranch-style home, fenced in back yard, and the family spending time indoors in front of the television – all protected from the evils of the outside world.May describes how the needs of 1950s women are suppressed and subservient to the needs of their husbands and children. May explains that this contradicted the previous gains women had made in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Women’s emancipation movements started in the 1920s with suffrage. In the 1930s women went to work during the depression to help support their families and continued working in war industries during the 1940s. At the time, even Hollywood contributed to the image of the strong, independent female with role models like Joan Crawford and Katherine Hepburn.One of the more fascinating sources May uses is the Kelly Longitudinal Study (KLS). The KLS is a long-term study interested in personality development as well as the subjects’ attitudes towards marriage, family life and social situations. Questions were answered in detail, often taking more room than allotted on the surveys. It is a window into the life and psyche of the “picture perfect” 1950s family, which shows that the picture wasn’t so perfect. Unfortunately, as May points out in her introduction, this study is limited to the affluent, white middle class and their experiences with marriage and family life. Her book is a great start to open further research into the KLS study as well as the lasting affects of the repression of women in the 1950s have had on later generations of women.

Beautifully written analysis of cold war families in America and the effects on feminism and women of that generation and those to follow. Very comprehensive and written in a clear point of view with dashes of humor and wit to keep the reader captivated. This was one for a school assignment that quickly became one of my favorites.

Original book written prior to 9/11 (2001). This is basically the same book with the addition of another chapter covering the 9/11 events and bringing the book more up yo date and is considered the 20th Anniversary issue. Book was well researched with Appendix as well as detailed NOTES section - I would highly recommend reading this bok for those who want a look behind the scenes of American Life, in detail, especially covering from WWII thru the 70's - eye opener. A lot a stats, lot of research, lot of analysis and well told (not boring!).

The author refers to the Kelly Longitudinal Study. Most of the study participants, men and women rated themselves as happy and gave high ratings to their marriages. But the author insists that the women were unhappy. She obviously has an agenda. She vastly overestimates the satisfaction that can come from a career for a man or a woman. I got through eight chapters.

Purchased for nephew as gift. He likes the book.

This is the go-to book for social and gender history during the Cold War. It is highly readable and full of well analyzed research. It is easy to read and provides so much interesting information. Highly recommend if you're interested in more recent American History!

So, apparently if I have seen something, then I still have to cite it from this era. Weird, because I saw all of this on television and read it in the magazines. If you have lived through this era, or even born in this era (like me), don't waste your money if you don't have to. However, if you don't know anything about this era, then this is the book for you.

This was great!