Wife to Woman.

      Through out American history the roles of women have changed drastically. This past week or so I have been researching American women's roles and how their roles affect how they present themselves to society. The research I have done stretches from the early 50s to the late 80s. The scale of change that women's fashion in America has gone through amazes me. The trends and styles are always changing, as well as the roles women play in society.

Women were made pressured into
  being the perfect housewife.

I Love Lucy

      The 50s were all about the woman's role in the home. After the war subsided American families felt it was very important to maintain the rise in the economy and live a mainly wealthy lifestyle. The decade of the 50s nourished and prospered under the influence of the "American Dream". In my research for information about the 50s, I came across a helpful PBS website. The website discussed mainly how American society was centered around having and maintaing a healthy family. During the 50s it was "more important" for a woman to have a husband than a formal education. The expected role of women in the 50s led to a certain body image that a woman was expected to maintain. Fashion in the 50s revolved around femininity and refinement, according to a really awesome book I picked up at my school library called Decades of Beauty (the majority of my fashion knowledge came from its glorious pages). An example of this was the short bangs look that heavily trended in the 50s, they were perfectly polished and feminine. Small simple hats were also very popular in the 50s, as well as earrings which were worn more commonly on those who had shorter hair. Women in the 50s were influenced by the media, especially by Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. Marilyn Monroe was the idolized sex symbol of the 50s and Lucille Ball was the model housewife on her show "I Love Lucy"- which portrayed her as caring yet also independent. American society during the 50s led women to adapt their style to the idea of being the perfect housewife.  Side note: can we please acknowledge the fact that Elvis gave birth to Rock & Roll during the 50s? Thank you.    

Twiggy, rocking the "big eyes"

      Oh, the 60s. In my search for information about the lovely 60s, I came across a rather helpful U.S. News website. The 60s was all about change for women. Women were thirsty for power and the feminism movement began to take off in full throttle. Unlike the 50s, women wanted to have rights equal to men's, they wanted power. The list of things women were trying to change is a mile long, but the most important were equal pay, end of domestic violence, & help bringing up their children. All of this power women wanted was channeled into how they expressed themselves. Skirts and dresses got shorter as a an act of rebellion and manipulation, false hair was more popular than ever; different hairstyles were said to "change a woman's personality". Of course when we think 60s we all think "hippies", but one of the main goals women had in the 60s was to look childlike. Bigger eyes, frosted pastels, and pale lips were ever more popular. The body style popular in the 50s and early 60s was sporty, but as the 60s progressed gangly limbs, big eyes, and child-like features gained the upper hand in efforts to look more feminine.

Feminists

      I am afraid that for the 70s I had to resort to using Wikipedia. Although the 70s were significant, I couldn't anything very useful - or interesting for that matter. In all honestly, the role of women didn't change very much from the 60s, although the style and fashion movement did progress. As feminism great stronger and more successful, women's wardrobe grew brighter, crazier, and more colorful. At the beginning of the decade layers and frumpy clothes were popular, but as a revolt to the lack of skin shown with these popular looks, slink, sexy clothes took over at the end of the decade as well as disco. In the 70s highlights were introduced, as well as bright hair and make up colors. I personally find the trends in the 70s a little boring, to tell you the truth - not that the trend themselves are boring, but that there wasn't as much change between this decade and the previous one. (My dad disagrees with me after reading my blog, he says that bell bottoms and platform shoes were a hit, I sort of agree.)

Farrah Fawcett

Power dressing

      80s! Women are in it to win it. Work rates for women in the work force increased to above 60 percent in some cases, according to The Atlantic. The 80s was all about the rise of corporate America, including women. This newly found independence in women's lives led to trends such as "power dressing". Power dressing was the idea that you flaunt money and prosperity with the clothes you choose to wear. Suits and tailoring were a big deal, which also included shoulder pads (helped to accentuate narrow waist & hips). Hair was high maintenance in the 80s, it had to look perfected and salon quality everyday. With woman on the rise, this was also the era of the "trophy wife", women tried their hardest to make themselves look more successful than other other women in order to catch a spouse!  Glasses were also a popular fashion in the 80s, even if you didn't need them (the idea was too look intelligent and brainy).

Cyndi Lauper

     The definition of beauty is always changing, and it is something hard to define. But, it is inevitable that trends will always be changing along with women's roles in society.

Research Project #3!

In US History this week we are doing research projects, here are our instructions and our contract! I am doing my project on different hairstyles & body images that were popular in the 50s, 60s, 70s, & 80s!

Dorothea Lange

Migratory Mexican field worker's home on the edge of a frozen pea field, Imperial Valley, CA - Dorothea Lange (1937)

     In this photograph, taken by Dorothea Lange, a photographer famous for her ability to capture life from the Great Depression on film, a Mexican migrant is standing by his car holding a baby, in front of a run down shack/house/hut/thing. One of the first things that jumped out at me was that it is a man holding the baby. Obviously something is missing from this picture, a woman. To me, this suggests that Lange was trying to capture the absence of the mother, showing just another hardship this family could have faced during the Great Depression. The way this photo is set up also seems to suggest that the car and the baby are the most important possessions the man has left. One, it is the only two things he's touching other than the ground, and two he is standing with these things off to the right side of the picture. Obviously the house displays a lack of wealth and an abundance of poverty just by its appearance. My most favorite part about this picture is the man's stance. I think Lange did a great job in capturing his attitude in this photo. To me his stance says "try me", as if he's acting like the situation he's in can't bring him down. Sort of like he is taking on life. A real "self-made man".

John Singer Sargent

"Gassed"

          In US History this past week, we were assigned different topics to research, each topic being related to WWI. My assignment was an artist named John Singer Sargent, who was made famous during WWI for his painting "Gassed", a depiction of the aftermath of a gassing on several soldiers on the Western Front in August 1918. At first my research was actually quite difficult, I knew there was more out there than Wikipedia, and things that were probably more reliable as well. After struggling for a while, aided by the help of my wonderful US History teacher, Mrs. Lawson, I was pushed in the right direction. That direction being looking at the "Notes", or sources, at the bottom of Wikipedia's Gas Article. Luckily, my first hit was the jack pot. The Imperial War Museum's archive was absolutely wonderful, it was here that I learned a billion helpful things about Sargent and his paintings.

A photograph of something similar to what Sargent may have seen that inspired "Gassed"

     Sargent's reason for being in France to witness the aftermath of a Mustard Gas attack was that he was traveling with fellow artist Henry Tonks. In a letter that Henry Tonks writes to an Alfred Yockeny in March of 1920, he explains how the two men came about seeing the tragic number of gas cases:
                    
                               "After tea we heard that on the Doullens Road at the Corps dressing station at le Bac-du-sud there were a good many gassed cases, so we went there. The dressing station was situated on the road and consisted of a number of huts and a few tents. Gassed cases kept coming in, lead along in parties of about six just as Sargent has depicted them, by an orderly. They sat or lay down on the grass, there must have been several hundred, evidently suffering a great deal, chiefly I fancy from their eyes which were covered up by a piece of lint... Sargent wasvery struck by the scene and immediately made a lot of notes."


        Not only was Sargent very intrigued by the scene, but he had also been commissioned by the British Government to contribute a painting for the Hall of Remembrance for World War One. On the Imperial War Museum website I found a photo taken in May of 1921 of the painting hanging in the IWM's Crystal Palace.

"Gassed" haning in the Crystal Palace, 1921

       An interesting fact about Sargent's "Gassed" is that there are soldiers playing futbol in the background of the massive oil on canvas painting. This implies that although there are hundreds blinded and injured, life still goes on. (After reading there was a futbol game in the background of this picture I honestly couldn't believe it, so I hurried on over to Wikipedia and zoomed in on the monster, and sure enough, there is a futbol game alright!)
       As I was researching and scanning over different articles about Sargent's "Gassed" on the IWM's website, I ran over a less popular piece done by Sargent from around the same time. During Sargent's research for his painting "Gassed", he came down with a bad case of influenza. As Sargent recovered in a hospital in Roisel, he was inspired by the injured soldiers around him, which led to his painting of "The Interior of a Hospital Tent".

"The Interior of a Hospital Tent"
watercolor on canvas

       After getting my fair share of information from the Imperial War Museum, I was still hungry for facts about Sargent himself, and what his life was like as one of the "most successful painters of the Edwardian Age".
       After leafing through AVL for a while, I struck oil when I came across an article about Sargent in the Britannica Encyclopedia. Although Sargent is an American, he was born in Florence, Italy, and was raised abroad until he finally made his way to America in 1876, which was when he became a citizen of the United States. Sargent is most famous for doing a variety of impressionistic portraits of people from the upper class. In 1874, while Sargent was studying in Paris he was coached by a talented painter, Carolus-Duran, who had a great impact on the quality of Sargent's work.
        One of Sargent's most famous portrait's is "Madame X", which was, at the time, shocking and considered very promiscuous. I found a site near the end of my research called John Singer Sargent: the Complete Works, where I found a whole gallery of his paintings. I encourage you to check them out, my personal favorite is "Rosina".

"Madame X"

     Overall I like to think of my research as a success, not only did I learn something new, but I have a new favorite artist!

Digital Poetry Archive.

After exploring The First World War Poetry Digital Archive for about twenty minutes, scanning over letters and poems, I decided that I found the audio interviews the most interesting. On that what I found the most interesting was an interview with R. Thorpe-Tracey. In the interview he talks about how the civilians at home really had no clue what was going on during the war in France. Knowing that so many people were unaware of the extremes at which the war was being fought is quite frightening. The Digital Poetry Archive is a very interesting website full of some useful primary sources!

The Great White Fleet Research Post #2!

I chose which pictures I would use to create my six postcards.  I also did some research on each of the places I chose to find some interesting facts to "share with my folks back home"! Below are the links to the websites I used!

LINKS:

• http://transpressnz.blogspot.com/2011/07/auckland-wharves-1900s.html
• http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/events/ev-1900s/gwf07-09/gwf-2k.htm
• http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/i06000/i06177kc.htm
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceylon-Colombo-Street-Scene-Early-1900s-Postcard-Mint-/260679685975
• http://www.moodyscollectibles.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=346
• http://values.hobbizine.com/stamps/us-1908-09.html
• http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/events/ev-1900s/gwf07-09/gwf-7d.htm

The Great White Fleet Research!

    So far I have come across some great sources in my search for information about The Great White Fleet. I really like the second link because it has and interesting map, and a lot of unique information and pictures. 
     Something interesting that I have seen a lot in my research so far is that they substituted two of the boats after their time with the fleet. 
    I hope to come across more interesting facts in the rest of my studies! 

LINKS: 
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=27523189&site=src-live
http://www.greatwhitefleet.info/
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq42-1.htm