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Nuclear Families For The Nuclear Age: Disney's Part In Creating Gender Roles In The 1950s, Carlee T. Litt
Nuclear Families For The Nuclear Age: Disney's Part In Creating Gender Roles In The 1950s, Carlee T. Litt
History
The 1950s was a revolutionary period for American youth culture. The Walt Disney Company played an important role in forming and conveying a new image and set of ideals associated with childhood. My paper examines the Disney Company’s messages about growing up, in particular, the gendered expectations surrounding love that revolutionized the way Americans viewed family life. For both ideological and business reasons, Disney promoted an idealized concept of the nuclear family to children. My paper pays close attention to the conversation occurring between Disney and the American public by analyzing both 1950s Disney storylines, disseminated in multiple mediums such …