Question

Describe the impact of suburbanization on American women.

Answer 1

Suburbanisation made women disoriented by the isolation of individual homes and lack of public culture-so different from bustling city life. It brought difficulty for working women who either had to quit or commute long distances everyday however substantially proportion of working women rose as suburban America started taking shape of America itself. Feminism rose and alongside economic slumps and inflation (1970s) had rise as well and it pushed women to labor force. Women had fewer children, this could be due to compactness of suburban life and lack of domestic help. Post war women worked for a change and participated in volunteer activities to enhance their lives.

For young girls, though they had good secular public education but they faced narrow choice of gender roles. Most were expected to marry early and raise children without even a short period of paid employment post marriage. Few rebelled by political activism or by adopting bohemian lifestyle.

On a positive front, suburbanisation provided material comforts, good schools and a good and safe environment to run a family to women and, on the negative side are- low standards of feminism, narrow gender roles limited access to cultural pursuits