The Permissive Society America, 19411965 [Paperback]

The Permissive Society points to the emergence of a liberalizing impulse during the 1950s, with a traditionalist moral framework giving way to a less authoritarian approach to moral issues.In contrast to those who see the 1950s as essentially a conservative period, The Permissive Society points to the emergence of a liberalizing impulse during the Truman and Eisenhower years. The book shows how, during the 1950s, a traditionalist moral framework was beginning to give way to a less authoritarian approach to moral issues.In contrast to those who see the 1950s as essentially a conservative period, The Permissive Society points to the emergence of a liberalizing impulse during the Truman and Eisenhower years. The book shows how, during the 1950s, a traditionalist moral framework was beginning to give way to a less authoritarian approach to moral issues.In contrast to those who see the 1950s as essentially a conservative period, and who view the 1960s as a time of rapid moral change, The Permissive Society points to the emergence of a liberalizing impulse during the Truman and Eisenhower years. The book shows how, during the 1950s, a traditionalist moral framework was beginning to give way to a less authoritarian approach to moral issues as demonstrated by a more relaxed style of child-rearing, the rising status of women both inside and outside the home, the increasing reluctance of Americans to regard alcoholism as a sin, loosening sexual attitudes, the increasing influence of modern psychology, and, correspondingly, the declining influence of religion in the personal lives of most Americans.Introduction: rising expectations and the challenge from World War II; 1. Psychology: Benjamin Spock, Carl Rogers, and the liberalizing impulse in the 1950s; 2. Religion: ballrooms, bingo, blue laws and Billy Graham - piety and secularization in 1950s America; 3. Sex: Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor and the sexual revolution in the postwar period; 4. Women: the rising status of womlc!