Author Archives: Jessica Bonilla

Life in the 1950’s

by Jessica Bonilla

In the article “Busy Wife’s Achievement ” published in Life Magazine in 1956 is about a young girl name Marjorie Sutton who was married before even graduating high school then from there went to fulfill her housewife duties. Her accomplishments or as the article states “Has made a career”  being able to cook, make clothes for her children and herself , host large parties, be part of the PTA and even run fund raisers.

If you ask any women in Baruch they will laugh at Marjorie Sutton “Career” because cooking, cleaning and making it to your children school meetings would considered more of your obligation as a wife not a career. If this article would to be rewritten today same title “Busy Wife’s Achievement” it would say Marjorie Sutton has just earned her PHD, works 40 hrs a week and still has time to make it to her boys soccer game.

Society has changed very much since the 1950’s. Marjorie’s husband only earns 25,000 a year and lives comfortable that would be impossible today. Now most households have two incomes just to make ends meet. When a couple gets divorce now it is not frown upon on, I have even seen signs that say 2nd divorce is 50% off. A women not married by the age of 20 is very common for todays society too. These are things that would have been frown upon on in the 1950s. I’m glad that society has changed and women are much more independent now.

 

 

No matter how much time passes money STILL talks louder by Jessica Bonilla

by Jessica Bonilla

Even though by the 1900 Americans have done a great job in advancing itself by building railroads and using electricity. There isn’t much of a difference than the world today. Back then just building the railroads were sufficient for the convenience of exploring the U.S and make it back home for dinner, in today’s society since we already have the train tracks, we work on extending train lines to help everyday commuters.

Another similarity i found in the reading is how business men J.P Morgan and John D. Rockefeller didn’t have to serve their country because they paid their way out of it. As quoted below  “Morgan had escaped military service in the Civil War by paying $300 to a substitute. So did John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Philip Armour, Jay Gould, and James Mellon. Mellon’s father had written to him that “a man may be a patriot without risking his own life or sacrificing his health”. Now a days you hear on the news how celebrities get away with murder and dwi because they have money to pay people off.

 

I think Howard Zinn uses specific key terms for instance “had escaped military services” so it can be interpreted in a positive way. Instead of using “he didn’t have to serve the military or even he paid his way out of serving his country. Howard Zinn portrays Morgan as a successful business man. Usually the world escape is used in cases “she escaped her kidnapper”.