Since the Second World War, American society has undergone series of political, economic and social changes that has brought with it a lot impact in the social welfare and relationship among the people. Of all sectors, the social institutions are the one that has felt the full wrath of such changes. These social changes have been mainly in the gender hierarchies and ideology, ideologies of gender, sexuality, and the families have had a significant effect on the American politics and policy formulation. Understanding the aspects of gender such as the sexual revolution, the women’s movement, the debate over abortion and reproductive rights, Gay liberation, marriage, therefore, shades the unique forces behind the ever-changing American policies and politics over the years.
Over the years, a lot of changes regarding the roles and responsibility of each gender and sexuality have been experienced, more recently, history was also recent as for the first time in the history of America a woman had her name in the presidential ballot papers and the chances of success were extremely high, similar, women have insistent entered and taken decisive position in previously unchartered territories such serving in the elite squads in the military. Such a feat was not achievement accidentally but rather it took women’s empowerment movement a lot of sacrifices for such gains to be enjoyed by women today. The feminists in the post-1950s exerted a lot of pressure on the society to embrace and accept the position the women, they used various strategies to articulate the challenges faced by women. Betty Friedan, a renowned feminist observed that “For over fifteen years there was no word of this yearning in the millions of words written about women, for women, in all the columns, books and articles by experts telling women their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers” (Hoffman & Gjerde, 2006). The pressure and criticism that women’s feminist movement directed toward to the government helped in influencing the kind of policies and politics that American society enjoys today.
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After the Second World War in which American triumph was an open secret, the attention shifted to restructuring the country’s economy and recovering from the war mentality. However, advancing the economic and political changes became a challenge a there emerged series social issues that demanded immediate attention, this is because immorality was on the rise and the new sexual behavior such as homosexuality was rapidly emerging and pornography and prostitution gained relevance in the society. During that period, the American politics were propelled by the fear of the communist ideology one that they regarded as weak and inferior, the American therefore, linked those embracing new sexual behavior as “pervert” and their dislike equaled to that of the communists. In order to contain the rise of homosexuals the Senate produced a report arguing that “Like communists, who would infiltrate and destroy the society, sexual “perverts” could spread their poison simply by association. “One homosexual can pollute a Government office” (Hoffman & Gjerde, 2006). Such political actions made in the attempt to address a moral and social issue greatly affected the kind of politics and policies that Washington has had since then. By linking the unwanted social vice to the ideology of another sovereign this Russia, the relationship between the two states has also remained fragile and American foreign policies quite hostile to Moscow.
Similarly, despite America accepting and appreciating that universal rights are a preserve of every human being, the society have struggle accept the fact decision of one to be homosexuals. In the most unfortunate, the debate of homosexuality has remained a quite issue and has formed a debate topic in the campaigns for the white house; even today, political leaders yet to come out openly to pronounce themselves on the issue of homosexuality.
Another critical aspect social issues that have greatly influenced the politics in America is the pertinent issue of marriage equality. While the topic may seem as easy as it looks, women have really struggled to push over this narrative. While the war period women thought that having gained the little advantage to also work and assume the responsibility that initially was culturally granted to men, they have already raised their status to that of men. Unfortunately, the post-war era brought with it a new reality for women as the men assumed the top leadership in almost every sphere. The struggle for equality in marriage was impacted by the various male perspective and perception toward the capability of women. The inability to achieve equality between the spouses was also influenced by what “most theorists believed that women married to strong men who assumed their rightful economic and sexual dominance in the home would channel their sexual energy into marriage” (Hoffman & Gjerde, 2006). The sexual dominance that men enjoyed in their houses and homes was reflected in the political environment where the narrative that women were inferior in many respected and therefore it is very difficult to rest greater responsibility such as leadership on their shoulders.
The impact of this perception seems have influenced a great deal the failure of Mrs. Hillary Clinton to clinch the presidency in the recently concluded elections. To justify this, Hoffman & Gjerde (2006) notes that the sources of popular and official ideology insisted that male power was as necessary for the home as in the political realm, for the two were connected.” The perception that men were superior to women made it difficult for the women to rise above certain levels that society feels to be a province dedicated only to men. However, the existence of courageous women such as Clinton who have defied all political odds to pursue their dreams, they remain an inspiration.
Finally, the sexual revolution also redefined the political landscape of the Americans and the approach and consideration they took in the formulating their foreign policies. The rise of sexual perverts in the post-world period had a lot of implication of the political environment, the “foreign policy itself rested on well-articulated assumptions about masculine power—a power drawn from sexual potency as well as the moral strength to resist temptation” (Hoffman & Gjerde, 2006). On the political podiums, it was normal for one to lewd and vulgar in their rhetoric; in fact, politicians found it normal using prose laden with metaphors of sexual prowess. Nonetheless, the sexual revolution came in the period when the society was empowered and informed of their rights; this made it possible to strengthen the political participation of the masses in the decision regarding their country. For American society, therefore, the sexual revolution was both political and moral shift whose impact in the society remained even today.
Politics, moral and social occurrence are fundamental aspects of human life that are intertwined such that a change in one results to a direct effect on the other. The current American politics and policies thus greatly trace its origin the series of changes and actions that have been registered in social institutions. The dominance of men in the America politics and the kind of policies formulated in the years after the Second World War had great connection the social position in regards to the power relations between men and women, sexual liberty, the stand on emerging themes such homosexuality as well as reproductive rights among other issues of gender concern. Finally, for women to claim an influential space in the political sphere, the society must rise beyond the sexuality debate and focus on merit.
Reference
Hoffman, E. C., & Gjerde, J. (2006). Major problems in American history: documents and essays . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
