When we talk about feminism, or, more accurately, the antithesis of feminism, we often bring up the ’50s housewife and/or pinup girl fashion. We envision a woman who wore beautiful dresses and heels every day while milling around the house, dusting, sweeping, and baking a picture-perfect Betty Crocker devil’s food cake for the sock hop. She was subservient to her husband, devoted to her children, and never seen in anything less than her best. She didn’t “work,” though her housework never ended, and her opinions were largely dismissed with a pat on the head.
Thankfully, American society has come a rather long way from that time, now that 47 percent of our workforce is made up by women. And I’d venture to say we’re all pretty happy about that. We’ve rejected most of the things that were treasured in that era, including segregation, blatantly sexist and racist laws (sort of), smoking indoors, and Wonder Bread. But one thing we haven’t quite given up is the fashion.
