Not What They Seemed 1945 To Present Term paper
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Throughout history the media has played an important role by portraying societies image of what life should be like. The question still stands, did these dominant media images mirror what life was really like for the majority of people living in these time periods, or were they simply to set an example of life for others to live by? The early post war (1945-63), the true sixties (1964-74) and post-Watergate America (1975-present) are three time periods which the media has labeled with a particular image which may or may not hold to fit true.
The media image of the early post war was of a high standard of living in which many practiced a Protestant religion, were getting married and buying brand new houses with their wartime savings. Cars were now the in thing and all families had to have one. Women stayed at home and cared for the children while the men were the breadwinners. Few women had careers outside of the home. Blacks were denied the opportunity to move up in society and the cause of civil rights began to attract some attention. Sex was something that wasn t talked about in public and it was assumed that all marriages were perfect.
In nineteen forty-eight a professor by the name of Alfred Kinsey proved that not everything was what it seemed. He decided to study the sexual behavior of the American male to see if it really followed the media image of this time period. In his findings we learn that eight-five percent of males engage in premarital sex and thirty to forty-five percent of men have cheated on their wives. The overall point of this study was to show that male behavior and the law of society was widely different.
After these findings were published, a debate between admirers and critics of this report began to arise. The admirers felt that the information was surprising but they thought that it was time to end old taboos and face the realities of modern life. On the other hand, the critics questioned how reliable these scientific statistics were and whether or not everyone was doing it. The impact of this report had a large effect on the public because there was more open talk about sex, homosexuality and birth control. Simply put, this report was proof that the media image of the early post war period that the population s married life was perfect wasn t exactly what it seemed.
In July 1955, a fantasy land was created in California by a man named Walt Disney which was intended to portray this same media image of the time period. This imagery society was named Disneyland after its founder. Disney had four goals that he wanted to reach with this fantasy land. The first was to make money but also to let his guests receive an educational experience where they could not only have fun but learn at the same time. He also wanted people to get a patriotic feeling while walking his streets in this family oriented environment of his. Disney made strict rules about who he employed and the jobs they were expected to do. He didn t allow blacks to work there until 1963 and every employee always had to have a smile on their face. The presentation of Disneyland s features was important to Disney because he wanted his guests to get full value out of their trip. If a ride was supposed to last fifteen minutes, the employee would make it last for sixteen so you would feel as if you were getting more for your money.
The main street that ran through the center of Disneyland was a perfect example of what America should look like. There were no working class or colored people, shopping was the main activity there and there was no place to sit which kept everyone moving. The social message was that this fantasy land was a denial of the real world. There was poverty and danger in the real world yet it wasn t portrayed here at all. Disneyland pretty much fit the exact dominant media image of the early post war although people knew that life there was nothing compared to the real world; it seemed too perfect.
The civil rights movement also didn t fit the media image of the early post war. Blacks were allowed little opportunity to move up in social or economic standings within the United States. When the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. the Board of Education developed that whole idea started to fade. The courts ruling based on the 14th amendment was:
in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal (Norton,512).
This in turn started the slow process of desegregating schools. For African-Americans there was little change at first and many challenges left to overcome. One incident that stirred up much controversy was the Montgomery bus boycott. A black woman by the name of Rose Parks decided that she was fed up with the segregation of buses in which blacks were made to sit in the back and whites in the front. She refused to leave her seat at the front on the bus.
Her arrest led to a boycott by blacks of the bus company and the rise of black leaders like Martin Luther King. The effect was great because the bus company almost became bankrupt but more importantly, it showed the black people that if they stood up to injustice they could make a difference. This whole idea of blacks becoming more equal with whites was not a part of the dominant media image of the time.
In 1960 John F. Kennedy was elected President even though he didn t exactly fit the media image of a typical President. Before Kennedy, all other Presidents had been Protestant. He became the first Roman Catholic President, which was not part of the current media image. Although this was a change for the United States, Kennedy became hugely popular and was the first President to be able to use television effectively. He created a image which the American citizens fell in love with. He was a young, smart and attractive man who had a positive attitude along with high hopes for the future.
Another difference between him and previous Presidents was that he was the youngest man ever elected into office at the time. This was another reason why he didn t fit into media image of this time. Kennedy wanted his presidency to be similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt s because he was thought to have made a high point of American Imperialism and to create a high public spirit. He even started calling himself JFK in hopes of echoing FDR and make a connection between the two of them. Kennedy also was interested in the Camelot theme which was the golden era of peace, prosperity and national power. For the most part, JFK wanted to show leadership throughout his Presidency, along with an active image. In May 1961, Kennedy pledged to lead the race to the moon. The United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic had been competing with one another in many areas, from the development of nuclear weapons to trying to be the first country to develop the technology which would get them to the moon.
Some slow changes for women started to develop during JFK s Presidency. Women of the 1950 s had followed the media image of the early post war, which was staying home and taking care of the family and home. In 1961, a Presidential Commission on the Status of Women was created and headed by former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. By 1964 the Commission reported the job and pay discrimination of women. A year earlier, a woman by the name of Betty Friedman published a book called The Feminine Mystique , which answered her own question of why well-educated women were unhappy. As she saw it, society was to blame. Society imposed the rule that women should concern themselves only with the care of the home and children. Careers that took them out of the homes and left the care of their children to others were frowned upon. According to the current media image, women were supposed to conform to these ideals and that was that. For Betty Friedman and many other women, to go against this media image was another step forward for women s equality.
The true Sixties (1964-74) was another time period that had its own media image. This image was a change from the conformity of the 1950 s. Change doesn t always have to be for the better, it can also be for the worse. Most of the changes occurred in the younger generation of this time period. Like any generation, they rebelled against the rules of their parents and society, living life they way they wanted. The media image of this time period also had to do with Communism and how the United States tried to be looked upon as the good guys who were fighting against this evil thing, Communism. The US was thought to be this super power and no country could defeat it.
The true Sixties saw the development of a group of young adults that were considered hippies . ...
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