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NARRATOR: If the image of a woman during World War 2 was Rosie the Riveter, the 1950s female ideal became Suzy Homemaker. Those same women who were often encouraged to work in the factories to support the war effort were now urged to demonstrate their patriotism by staying home.

WOMAN: If you look at the difference between the way the magazines portrayed women in the 40s and magazines portrayed women in the 50s, you can see a huge propaganda effort took place to convince women that their place was in the home, that they didn't want to wear overalls, that really you were much more fulfilled if you could cook a good dinner than If you could make a wing on an airplane.

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WOMAN: You have no idea how much I've got to do. Remember, I haven't got your dream kitchen to make things easier.

WOMAN: This whole kitchen was designed for efficiency and convenience.

NARRATOR: Experts like noted Pediatrician and Author Dr. Benjamin Spock and Popular Advice Columnist Ann Landers encouraged this homemaker image, advising women to put their children and husbands first even at the expense of their own needs. Yet even as many mothers prided themselves in their families, the number of women working outside the home rose steadily as they took jobs to help maintain their family's standard of living. Soon both married and unmarried women were a significant part of the labor pool.

WOMAN: In the 1950s, 33% of the workforce is female.

NARRATOR: Women who did not work outside the home often volunteered in their places of worship and in their charitable organizations. There they learned the political and organizational skills that would become critical as they joined with working women to mastermind the women's movements of the 60s and 70s.