Gender representation. The 1950s. Edit. You may wonder what these words mean, today, here, these words will be explained. Gender representations are the way in which a gender, such as the only two, male and female, are represented in the media and in social life. In the 1950s, bread cost .14 cents, bomb shelter plans were sold, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and people were afraid of communists invading America and turning them into communists (American Cultural History). New technologies were being born, such as computers and color television, and with this new technology; the advertising industry was born and, with it, new types of gender representations. Gender representations changed in the 1950s, father figures were described as irresponsible and could not help their children with their problems (KON), women were described as "happy housewives", they were expected to marry and have children quickly, and take care of the house, where the husband could not (PBS AMEX), but the portrayal of black men remained the same, they were portrayed mainly as “Uncle Toms” and this did not change for quite a while ( FERRIS). The typical family of the 1950s, represented by the media, consisted of a father, mother and usually two children; It was known as the “Nuclear Family,” the epitome of the 1950s, the way every family wanted to be, thought it should be. The father was shown as a buffoon, an idiot who couldn't understand how to do the simplest tasks around the house, and was too inert to even attempt to do any of them. The mother was described as the exact opposite of the husband; being more than capable of doing everything her husband couldn't do, like washing dishes and cooking, anything more complex than general yard work that she could do, as well as...half of paper..... .ing Beauty ." Minds @ UW. Np, July 17, 2009. Web. March 21, 2014. .Ivy, Chelsea, and Rose Jove. "Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities." Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities. Research University, nd Web. March 20, 2014. “Leave It to Beaver: Jerry Mathers and Gang.” Leave It to Beaver: Jerry Mathers & Gang, ndWeb March 24, 2014. “People and Events: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s. " PBS. PBS, nd Web. March 19, 2014..Salinger, JD. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print."Tom's Caricature." Tom Ferris State University Caricature , March 20. 2014..