Teenage Years in the '40s
Elle Terrado, Rita Murphy, Stella Garland and Isabel Tragos
Conformity
Right out of the 1949 New Trier yearbook, these girls around our age sit in a row with their legs and arms crossed. The girls have short, curled hair; very different from the diversity we see today. They all seem very conservative, making the same simple poses and facials. As for the boys, they are all wearing a similar style shirt and resemble each other. There was a strong theme of conformity not only in school, but life, all throughout the 40's.
Family Life
In this beer advertisement, gender roles are strongly shown as the mother and daughter of this family prepare a fine meal for the husband and his other colleagues. In the 1940's, women played a housewife role almost 24/7, forced to be submissive to men at all times. In this ad, it seems to display almost all stereotypes concerning the roles of men, women, and children at this time. For a teenage girl, life was a mother role shadow, as they were forced to take on responsibilities boys didn't have. Family status was very different at this time then it was today.
Success
For a teenager, successes included being smart, popular, and good looking. Unfortunately some of these things are similar to priorities we have today. As teen during this time, they dealt with stresses from the war and other social aspects we don't face in this time. In the "popularity" video we watched, high school pressures include acting properly around boys and striving to get a boyfriend.
Thesis
Despite the difference in time and culture of the 1940's, some of the social pressures, family roles, and stress to be similar to everyone else is still valued in our society today.