Were the 1950s an era of conformity and consensus?

Question

How true is that statement and why? I am thinking that it wasn't really an era of conformity considering that the Cold War sorta made it chaotic in a way.

Answer 1

The 1950s were sort of oxymorphic, self-contradicting when it comes to how uniform they were. While a great many people today point to the conformity of fashion, one need only watch the movie "Rebel Without a Cause" to see how uniform it was, and the initial concepts of suburbs and their 'tiny boxes' all made of tickey-tackey as the song suggests, still there was an under-current of rebellion that was quite pronounced.

Do not forget that the 1950s were also the age of the beginnings of teenage rebellion, of teenage isolation and mobility due to the increase of car ownership, There were also the beatniks, check on those with people such as Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. It was also the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, with the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott.

So below the surface of conformity there was a huge area of discontent and rebellion against that established order and uniformity.

Answer 2

It was very conformist in dress. Every year the "fashion gestapo" would decree the length that skirts should be and most the young women would immediately shorten or lengthen their skirts. Jeans and tee shirts were not permitted is school for boys and girls had to wear dresses. Woman had to wear heels at work, even if they were on their feet all day like teachers and nurses. The gender rolls were well defined. Jobs were advertised help wanted women and help wanted men. Women where discouraged from seeking a career, particularly in "male professions", but not prevented from doing so. There was a lot of social pressure to marry and have children.
On the political side, it was the time of the House American Activities Committee headed by McCarthy. Writers and directors in Hollywood were blacklisted, government employees were fired, and political opposition intimidated. The decency code for movies was such that when Audry Hepburn said the word virgin in "The Moon is Blue" it shocked critics. Lenny Bruce was harassed and arrested for saying "come is a verb" in a night club act.
This was the time of silent generation coming of age who were the parents of the boomers. They were not part of the rebellion of the 60's, they disapproved of it.

Answer 3

Yes. The Cold War didn't make it "chaotic;" if anything, it increased conformity. Often, any person who even hinted at being different from the norm was labeled a communist and ended up in jail or dead.

Answer 4

Grew up in the 50's.
Postwar america was a cookie cutter existence where it seemed everyone just wanted to get on with their lives.
The postwar boom made people complacent & unwilling to make waves.
The communist threat & ensuing cold war served to create
a "us v. them" polarisation with our way conformist as it was.
was at odds with the communist system , as conformist as it was.
There was great potential for chaos, but lines were clearly drawn then.
Then came the 60's & conformity went out the window.
Popular concensus became a force of it's own.
OK very abbreviated , but on track.
Skip to the present....now there's Chaos.

Answer 5

People were sooo much more like sheep then. To see how easy it was to lead people, er..ahhh..have them conform see these:

http://www.j-walk.com/other/goodwife/images/goodwifeguide.gif - think stepford wives

http://www.archive.org/details/AsOthers1953


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Answer 6

in a way yes it was. you pretty much had to like your government no matter what. you couldn't really speak out against anything like people can now. ....from my understanding anyway