80% thought singles were sick and neurotic in 1957 (1950s, Americans, why)
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I read somewhere that in 1957, 80% of Americans considered singles to be sick and neurotic and immoral, this is a high percentage, that sounds kind of harsh to say that about them, but that figure dropped to 36% in 1986 and stayed at that level since then (30%-40%.) But in the previous decades, singles were accepted and even encouraged and levels for this stood at between 5% and 20%. What happened in the 1950s? Why did we become more negative towards the singles and the childless and the gays to start treating them like a monster or something.
Wow, that is high, I do remember that getting married in the 1950s had a lot of pressure attached to it, and I remember people used to talk about single people too, in a bad way.
Maybe it was a societal backlash over the 1940's and women's new found independence during that decade? A bullying thing to get women back into the baby mode and acceptance of the stereotypical man rules the house mode.
Ya know, once you taste freedom...
Might be something to that given the very high numbers of singles (straight and otherwise) in current society when women are perfectly capable of earning their own good living.
I think it had something to do with the war. So many men were lost (died in it) that society didn't want to see those remaining left single as there weren't enough men to go around.
The same sentiment didn't hold true for women. They just seemed to be pitied if they were single.
I read somewhere that in 1957, 80% of Americans considered singles to be sick and neurotic and immoral, this is a high percentage, that sounds kind of harsh to say that about them, but that figure dropped to 36% in 1986 and stayed at that level since then (30%-40%.) But in the previous decades, singles were accepted and even encouraged and levels for this stood at between 5% and 20%. What happened in the 1950s? Why did we become more negative towards the singles and the childless and the gays to start treating them like a monster or something.
what does being "gay" have to do with your study on singles???
are you assuming the stereotype for 'singles' found in the 1957 study actually means "gays"......?
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