Equality In The 1950s

Equality is something Americans strive to provide and maintain. It has become an integral and necessary part of our mosaic culture. Even now to the point that when people think of America, they naturally think of freedom and equality. People of many different races, disabilities and creeds have come to the United States seeking the impartiality upon which this country was founded. The institutions of this country have relied upon it, just as it was the created by the events in the laying of moral foundations. The expression of America's citizens plays an extremely significant role in the history of equality in American society. In the pursuit of equality and the "American Dream," people have authored inspiring

The Great Depression caused woman to want to save money and not spend much on clothing. All over people were struggling to keep money in their pockets, so no one would spend big bucks on designer outfits. Women tended to make their own new clothes from other clothes they already had. “The life motto of many was to ‘Repair, reuse, make do, and don’t waste anything’; therefore, any creativity was apparently confined to those boundaries.(The Vintage News, 2016)” During this time no one wanted to out shine others so they dressed very conservative. Shoulder pads and butterfly sleeves were coming into trend.

The civil rights movement was time when racial equality was prominent in America. In this essay it will address the ways in which people challenged the ways of life to one day achieve racial equality. Jim crows laws and segregation was a dominant factor in the way that the courts ruled in favour of racial inequality.

With the overwhelming amount of Levittown houses, the obsession to obtain the perfect American “ideal family” as seen on TV and the unspoken agreement to fear any and all foreign ideas and values, the 1950s were revealed to be a decade of prosperity, conformity and consensus. Just ten years later the atmosphere in America was shockingly different; the 1960s were a decade of turbulence, protest and disillusionment due to the ongoing struggle for civil rights, arising feminism, and the Vietnam War.

During the 1950’s African Americans experienced inequality and discrimination. For these reasons Armstrong received many racist reviews in the newspapers, Armstrong refused to comment on political matters or on topics such as segregation and racism. This changed however in 1957, when Armstrong saw the Little Rock Central High School crisis or the “Little Rock nine” as it is also known. When Armstrong saw the crisis on television he was furious and told a reporter, Larry Lubenow, that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had "no guts" and stated, "The way they are treating my people in the South, the Government can go to hell.” When the eager reporter returned to his editor thinking he had a huge new cover story for their paper, the editor said there was no way Armstrong would have said something like that, and that they could only print the story if he had some form of proof. When the reporter returned to Armstrong he asked his permission to print the story.

Equality is the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity,degree, value, rank, or ability. Everyone, despite the color of your skin, age, religion, or gender should be considered equal. However, based on your background can debate how you see it. According to Anika Chaganti equality is “Equality is everyone having the same fundamental rights, no matter the circumstance. Equality is everyone having the same worth.”. Equality is a lofty goal our country still strives for. For African Americans, equality would simply be to be treated like every white person in America, treated fairly, given the same opportunities, and to be looked at like a regular human being, not as someone who is “different” or “strange”.

Due to the heightening tensions within the ideas of equality, a fire was ignited and a rebellion had begun. Many argued about the inequality of women and slaves. The arguments came from the disproportion in wealth, the beliefs from christianity and the changing ideas of republicanism. These ideas and thoughts have been spread through many public speakers and writers throughout the 1840’s-1860’s. These speakers included: Frederick Douglass, David Walker, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, the authors of Mechanics' Union Preamble and the Ten-Hour Circular. All of these authors ideas curved together at a crucial time in history.

If you take a look at modern fashion, you’ll be able to see hints of the 1920s. This is because many fashion designers and celebrities base there looks off of the 20s. “Many statement necklaces popular today are based on the bold styles worn by Coco Chanel.” (O'Donnell). Coco Chanel was a very popular French fashion designer in the 1920s that is still very well known to this day. Chanel, as well as other designers from the 20s, created fresh and unique looks that stuck through generations. What you wore in the 20s began to reflect who you are and your personality. In fact, what you wore in the 20s determined your social class and how people viewed you. If you look at today's fashion, everyone has their

The clashing of arms and fists are never a way to save yourself, it causes danger for someone else, with discrimination being a large role in the 1920s, it caused blacks and whites to have a new uproar of segregation ,and making the 1920s an even darker time. In the 1920s, racism was a major crime that thrived on throughout many areas, even though people thought it had subdued, it really never went away. With the riots ,and clans ,and unfair worthiness to citizens , many citizens of different races lost their lives because of it. The screeching and torture of citizens crying out for help was a dramatic time for people of opposing races.

By 1925, people were able to hear about the latest fashions on the radio and see them in the movies. This influenced them to buy what was considered “trendy”. Newspapers and magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue began printing ads and columns about fashion. What a person would wear would determine their place on the social ladder, even if they weren’t born into that position. A distinct look was known as the “flapper”.

The history of United State has shown many racial discriminations since colonists arrived America. African Americans have suffered unequal treatments and punishments in comparison to white people and European immigrants. Even when slavery was abolished in 1865, African Americans were still victims of many inequalities like employment, rights, housing, and transportation. However, due to these inequalities and mistreatments like the Jim Crow Laws, many African Americans started to make a change during the 1950’s, also called the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks, that was arrested for sitting in the front of a bus in Alabama. Rosa Parks case made the supreme court to ban segregation in public transportation. The social difference during the 1950’s was very notable and obvious, and voting was a big example of the huge discrimination suffered by African Americans and minorities. In the south, white people would take away minorities’ right to vote by making them take a test that would decide if they were or not capable to make a political decision. Fortunately, big characters like Martin Luther King vouched for the end of this inequalities. Martin Luther King played a big role in the 1960’s making everyone aware about the change that was about to come.

That means the 1910 's has been very important to modern day fashion. Throughout the 1920s, American women began to closely follow the clothing, hairstyles, and makeup worn by movie stars (Roberts, A. 2013). In short, as seen from the fashion designer 's desk, LaVine (1980) illustrated that newspapers, fashion magazines, and the movies themselves opened up certain avenues to view the apparel of their favorite stars, both on and off the screen. During the early years of the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, on the other hand, people were having a few options for clothing due to WWII, which caused a ration on fabric. However, there were two main styles for adolescents, greaser or preppie. In short, greaser had the rebellious look with denim jeans and black leather jackets. Preppies, on the other hand, wore poodle skirts, scoop neck blouses and cardigans.

With the economic boom in the 1950’s, glamor became fashionable once again. A-line and pencil skirts were very popular form-fitting fashions. Dresses in the decade would often feature stylish ruffles or lace accents and were usually knee-length or tea-length. After World War 2 ended, up until the mid-1950’s, trends in women’s fashion changed again. Round-neck styles on sleeveless shirts or long sleeve shirts were popular, as well as polo-necks. Dolman sleeves dominated fashionable tops in the fifties and sixties,

Dresses were lighter and brighter and had many different textures and patterns to them. Fashion for women became a necessity to have. Clothing Designers during this time period had much more freedom of expression while making the clothing and did not need to worry about bustles and corsets⁴. Colourful fabrics were much more appealing to women who bought clothing and women also coloured coordinated their clothing to match. Sophistication and elegance became optional to women and were free to wear whatever they desired and bathing suits were allowed to be worn out in public. Women always had long flowing beautiful hair, but in this time era women cut their hair short or either put it into a bob. A bob cut was when hair was cut typically straight around the head, but also having bangs or fringes in the front of the face. In fact it wasn’t until the 1920’s when actress Louise Brooks re-introduced “the bob” haircut to women all over the world³. Eye makeup and lipstick were also worn for the first time and was finally respected by the industry, was not frowned upon and also became very popular². The fashion industry redefined womanhood. New fashions and women had evolved and were embraced in the society. Without the change of style in the early and late 1920’s, fashion in the twenty-first century would never be seen or reflected upon by women who wore different types of fashion in the 1920’s.

Fashion, “A popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior”. Clothes change every year and stores are always trying to keep up with today's trends, as much as it changes fashion still keeps it roots in some areas. Through head of fashion events can change the style. The booming 1940s was a huge era for change in fashion. With supply shortages during the time a lot of clothes for both men and woman had to alter. As American was unable to get supplies from Europe at this time we had to develop more of our own clothing style. This gave America their chance to strike off on their own. From Woman’s, Men's, and children’s fashion this is an insight to the 1940s fashion.