I have a theory about our nation's misogyny which may be too simplistic, but keeps coming back up in my mind.

[Attilatheblond]

44. Part of the 'get back to the kitchen' thing after WWII was about jobs. Returning soldiers needed civilian jobs

that the women had been doing while the men were at war.

But a lot of women rather enjoyed working outside the home, earning money, having larger lives. There was probably some resentment. I know my mom had stories about the re-adjustments women were expected to make so 'the boys' could get back to their civilian lives and traditional breadwinner roles. Sadly, a lot of those men were pretty messed up from the war, and many, too many, relied on alcohol to get thru their days. That left a lot of families with 'breadwinners' who actually could not be relied on to support families. A lot of women went back to work. Again, resentment from many sides in many cases.

So, TV soothed the gents by showing them myths about the good guys always being the guys. And commercials like: "would he hold hands with a pine cone?" to sell soap told women to be scrub women AND beauty queens. Again, impossible to balance what society was being programmed to believe and realities. Maybe little boys grew up (or some just got bigger) thinking their place would be assured due to gender. Reality can really slap hard when people believe in myths*.

* and we are seeing a lot of the trouble that can cause in society to this day, what with so many people believing in new, more dangerous cultural/socio-political myths while actively denying what is right before their eyes. Schisms between dearly held beliefs and conflicting realities are a sure fire way to mess with mental health on a large scale.