Changing the Norm (1960s Blog)

The 60s decade has always been one that intrigued me. I think I picture it as this bright time period where everyone lived happily in brightly colored hippie clothes and went to music festivals. Obviously this is a gross generalization, but I think this mental construct set the stage for my research in the magazine records section of the library.

As I found a silent corner in the back rows, I started thumbing through the September 1963 issue of “Seventeen.” In contrast to the cartoon-type ads I saw in the 1930s edition, this issue exploded with brightly colored pictures. My favorite picture was that of a few colorful rotary phones that you could buy; it made me wish that I could use that instead of my iPhone! A particular aspect that interested me was the clothing. An article called “Dressing like a Tween” showed girls how to dress ‘hip’ for their age, which consisted of furry jackets and penny loafers. I found myself wishing I could have seen everyone dressed up in those outfits back then with all the bright colors and patterns.

An interesting aspect was that the magazine included an article written by Eleanor Roosevelt. In one quote she stated that “Many of our young people are still going to school in their mid-twenties, a period when their creative process is at its peak, and they could be putting their energies to use in a job or profession instead.” Immediately following this article was one entitled “I’m Going to Get a Job”, which I found extremely well placed.

At the top, there was a picture of a young woman who had a baby on her hip. The article began by describing this woman’s situation: she told her husband that she was completely bored of the day to day tasks of a housewife, so she had decided to get a low-paying job as a typewriter. Her husband was appalled, and she described how emotionally and physically difficult she found it to be to take care of her family and have a job at the same time. The article then closed by describing how other women could go about getting a job if they feel that they ‘must’, but only after talking to a psychologist and deciding if the small pay would be worth the loss of freedom.

After reading this, I guess I should have been angry that the women in the 60s had to deal with this prejudice. But after looking through the rest of the magazine, I realized that that time period was one of massive change. Women were realizing that they could have a life outside of the home, and that they didn’t necessarily have to grow up, get married, and have children right away. Coming-of-age for them would have been so much more difficult because they would have had to choose if they wanted to go the traditional route and make everyone happy, or go against their culture and either go to college or get a job instead.

I’m not a feminist by any means, but it is cool to see that the young women in that time period were working to change the status quo. It’s especially good to know that my choice to go to school doesn’t have to be one that many people would question at all. I think that is all in thanks to those women who began to change the norm for everyone.