The Catcher in the Rye
By Seth Alexander
Conformity
Teenage girls in this time period unanimously dress relatively nicely with skirts to their knees, button down shirts and they all have short hair. They should sit up straight with their legs crossed while taking pictures.
Family
In a 1950 family, the child should play football, making his clothes dirty with mud, the mother should be knitting, the father and grandfather, dressed in buisness attire, should relax while the grandmother cleans the house.
Success
A successful man in 1950, should live in a big, neatly decorated house, dress in a casual suit while drinking custom wiskey and he should have a dog that is well trained. Successful men are happy while acting very casual and sitting on his furniture.
Teenagers living from 1946-52, facing the constant barrage of expectations and values from society, feel very concious about their appearance. Those who do not fit the mold feel like an outcast, and that they need to change themselves. The teenagers feel that the only way to conform to the images in magazines is to buy their product and that they have to behave the same way as those in the images.