White Flight and Suburbanization 1940s-1970

Housewife

- a post WWII gender ideal that defined and encouraged women to be full time wives, mothers, and homemakers. - supported by government, factories, and media.

Suburb

1940s-1950s - a housing development located on the edge of a city. - a result of the housing construction boom post-WWII. -relatively affordable, most of Americans lived there by the 1970s.

Levittown

1947 - a suburb created on Long Island, NY. The first mass-produced suburb in the US (used pre fabricated parts that were quickly assembled into identical homes). - represents post-war prosperity and post-war suburbanization.

White Flight

1950-1970 - occurs when white Americans leave the cities in droves after WWII to escape people of color. - also an effort to get more space and get away from the horrors of war.

Malvina Reynolds, "Little Boxes"

1962 - a song criticizing suburbs and suburbanization. - criticizing cheap materials and the lack of diversity. - criticizing the middle class expectation that men work and women are housewives.