1950s Education

Group 2

Describe this image. What do you see? Use the

vocabulary toolbox.

………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….

Read the text and provide an answer for these following questions.

A lot has changed since the 1950s. [...]

Not so long ago a man would have no option but to spend most of his time working because it
was common knowledge that men were not emotionally competent enough to raise their babies
and children. It was better for a man to come in with an iron fist1 at the end of the day, so that
the children would be scared of him and toe the line. Wait till your father gets home!

This was the way it was meant to be because men were more competitive and adventurous. A
man wasn't a natural carer and wasn't outwardly2 affectionate. [...]

If he was exposed to the genuine3 emotions of others, or became more directly responsible for
the emotional development of his children, he might realise his own emotional depth; he might
lose the ability to push his emotion aside or hide it away. If that happened to a man, it would
make it impossible for him to be the singularly focused, iron fist, the world, the workplace, and
the family required him to be. Pride, aggression and anger and any form of expression that
provided him with control were allowed but if he expressed any other emotion, well, he simply
wasn't a man, and not being a man in a patriarchal world – we all know – is a pretty damning
thing.

Clint Greagen
“The 1950s Man in Me”, The Good Men Project, 2015.

1. with a firm, strong hand

2. superficially
3. authentic, rea
 1) How are traditional gender roles portrayed in your document?
………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) How were children raised in the 1950s? What were the consequences of this education?

………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3) Be prepared to present your document to your classmates. Provide a short summary of

what this video is about.

………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Useful vocabulary toolbox :

Girls / Boys were expected to behave...

The rules dictated that... ...was considered unnatural.