The "Golden Ages" of Marriages

The 1950s are often referred to as the “Golden Age” of marriage. The stereotypical view of marriage in the 1950s consisted of a father with a good job, a mother who stays home and raises the children, and they live in a house in the suburbs. This may be true for most marriages in the 1950s, yet some did have a dark side. The political, economic, and cultural climate played a role in these marriages and did have effects on them.
It is an established fact that divorce rates in the 1950s and 1960s were relatively low and strikingly lower than they are 50 years later. In 1950, there were 2.6 divorces per 1,000 people. By 1960, it was actually lower and had a rate of 2.2 per thousand, the same as it was in 1957. Some nostalgia for the 1950s is understandable: Life looked pretty good in comparison with the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II. For the first time, a majority of men could support a family and buy a home without pooling their earnings with those of other family members. “A man didn’t have to delay marriage until he inherited land or took over a business from his father.” (The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love #357) Many Americans built a stable family life on these foundations. However, not all fathers during this time were fortunate enough to have the economy on their side. Some Fathers simply couldn’t provide for their families.
Leave It to Beaver is a 1950s and 1960s family-oriented American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (portrayed by Jerry Mathers) and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beaver 's parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver 's brother Wally. The show has attained an iconic status in the United States, with the Cleavers exemplifying the idealized suburban family of the mid-twentieth century. However, Leave It to Beaver did not reflect the real-life experience of most American families. While many moved into the middle class during the 1950s, poverty remained more widespread than in the worst of our last three recessions. More children went hungry, and poverty rates for the elderly were more than twice as high as today 's. Even in the white middle class, not every woman was as serenely happy with her lot as June Cleaver was on TV. Housewives of the 1950s may have been less rushed than today 's working mothers, but they were more likely to suffer anxiety and depression. In many states, women couldn 't serve on juries or get loans or credit cards in their own names “for she will always be in subjection to a man, or to man’s judgment, and she will never be free to set her own opinion above his.” (The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love #359) In this case, the political side of society was against women.
In the 1950s, most households had one television set and an AM radio. The cell phones and Internet didn’t come till much later on. Since there were none of these advanced communication devices marriages seemed much easier. Without a cell phone, there is no way to know exactly what the spouse is doing every hour of the day but there would be no miscommunication such as ignoring a phone call or text message. Also, the Internet helps keep people connected with programs such as e-mail, MySpace, and Facebook. Some marriages have divorced because their spouse is interacting, such as sending pictures or flirting, with another female/male on the Internet, which can be viewed as cheating. Back in the 1950s though, there was no Internet. Someone just simply couldn’t talk to another person a few states away in the blink of an eye.
“Today there is a general agreement on what it takes for a couple to live “happily ever after.” First, they must love each other deeply and choose each other unswayed by outside pressure. From then on, each must make the partner the top priority in life, putting that relationship above any and all competing ties. A husband and wife, we believe, owe their highest obligations and deepest loyalties to each other and the children they raise. Parents and in-laws should not be allowed to interfere in the marriage. Married couples should be best friends, sharing their most intimate feelings and secrets. They should express affection openly but also talk candidly about problems. And of course they should be sexually faithful to each other.” (The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love #353) If all couples, no matter which era of time, lived by this, the divorce rates would be very low.
In conclusion, there were unhealthy marriages that were not stable in the 1950s. Not all marriages were the equivalent to the TV show Leave It to Beaver, having a father with a good job and the stay at home mother who took care of the kids in their house in the suburbs. The political area of society was semi-against women in the 1950s whereas the economy could’ve been a set back for the men. The cultural and technological section of society goes both ways, both benefiting and damaging to a marriage.

Works Cited
Coontz, Stephanie. “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love.” Research and Composing in the Disciplines (2005): 350-60. Print.

Cited: Coontz, Stephanie. “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love.” Research and Composing in the Disciplines (2005): 350-60. Print.