22 July 1956 “Give Me a ‘T’, Give me an ‘I’ Give me a…well you get the picture.”

The one thing I always hear again and again about the 1950’s is the oppression of women. That their roles were overtly characterized and their options slim. Though, it might be true that much of what a young girl in 1956 saw was geared toward homemaking over other careers, there was no true obstacle in their path to becoming a doctor or politician.
Yet, today we think we have reached some zenith of equality. That our ‘freedom to be sexy’ is some how more liberating than the corset. I wonder, sometimes, if our modern view of the female is not in many ways more damaging.
Today’s post is short and sweet.
Here are cheerleaders from 1956, you will notice both men and women. The girls skirts are long and they are as covered as the men, so in my assumption, they are there to cheer the team and garner ‘team spirit’ and crowd support.
Here are modern cheerleaders, what do you think it is they are meant to garner? And what message does this send to modern girls? I think we need to stop the idea that the past was only bad and full of bad ideas, the good is perfect. I am amazed since my 1950’s journey how we actually are silently ‘training’ our future women.
And as a similiar comparison how about teen stars in which to aspire to as role models. 1956 Debbie Reynolds Natalie Wood and Today