826 Chapter 31 From Boomers to Millennials
undermined his efforts to organize Chicano farm-
workers. In 1973 the UFW provided manpower for a
“wet line” along the United States border to block
illegal immigration from Mexico.
InWho Are We?(2004), Harvard political scientist
Samuel P. Huntington warned that the massive infusion
of Latinos could “divide the United States into two
peoples, two cultures, and two languages.” Population
projections showed that by 2050 whites might
become a minority. But Huntington’s dichotomy was
too simple. Although immigrant groups often lived
in distinct neighborhoods—Mexicans on one block
and Hondurans on the next—they increasingly
reached across national boundaries. Local restau-
rants offered wide assortments of ethnic fares, out-
door festivals attracted all peoples, and popular
music featured a boggling fusion of styles. Most
important, immigrants increasingly ceased to think
of themselves as belonging to a particular ethnic
group. In 2000, nearly 7 million Americans identi-
fied themselves as “multiracial.” And a rising gener-
ation of Millennials regarded immigrants as a national
asset rather than a burden.
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996atwww.myhistorylab.com
Immigration to the U.S., 1945–1990at
http://www.myhistorylab.com
LBJ Immigration Act of 1975at
http://www.myhistorylab.com
The Emergence of Modern Feminism
“Boomers”—from the phrase “baby boom”—got
that name because so many of their generation were
born after World War II, when returning soldiers
were reunited with their girlfriends and wives, and
when ample job opportunities made it easier to raise
families. Boomers’ parents married earlier and had
children sooner after marriage than at any other time
in the twentieth century. By the late 1950s, the
birthrate of the United States approached that of
teeming India.
A decisive force in the early lives of Boomers was
Dr. Benjamin Spock’sCommon Sense Guide to Baby
and Child Care. First published in 1946, Spock’s
manual sold 24 million copies during the next quar-
ter century. Spock’s book guided young parents
through the common medical crises of parenthood—
ear infections, colic, chickenpox—and also counseled
them on psychological issues. A mother’s most
important job, Spock insisted, was to shore up her
children’s sense of self by providing continuous sup-
port and affection. Women who worked outside the
ReadtheDocumentSeetheMapReadtheDocumenthome necessarily “neglected” their children. The
child who was “mildly neglected,” Spock added, was
apt to grow up “mildly disturbed.” Psychologists
such as Marynia Farnham added that a woman’s
reproductive system influenced her mental processes:
Women were naturally attuned to nurturing and
childcare. Those women who entered the aggressive
“men’s world” of work would be at odds with their
own psychological inclinations.
Television picked up on this theme and ham-
mered away at it each week in sitcoms such as
Robert Young’s ironically titledFather Knows Best
(1954–1962) and Jackie Gleason’s equally ironic
take on working-class marriage,The Honeymooners
(1953–1962). Repeatedly irascible or befuddled
patriarchs blundered into family matters, only to be
gently eased out of harm’s way by their understand-
ing and psychologically savvy wives. Even Lucille
Ball and Vivian Vance, the screwball housewives in
the popular sitcomI Love Lucy(1952–1957), had a
better grasp of family dynamics than their stumble-
bum husbands.
But the reality of the postwar woman was more
complicated. Economic expansion generated many
new jobs, especially in the burgeoning corporate
bureaucracies and retail stores. Women were in high
demand because they would work for lower wages
than men. Many took jobs, ignoring Spock and cul-
tural conventions. In 1940, only one in four civilian
employees was female, one-third of them married.
Three decades later, four in ten paid employees were195016060
Workforce in millions2010040140120800
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005All workers
All womenPaid Workforce, 1950-2005, by GenderThe number (and
percentage) of wage-earning women increased rapidly after 1960. In
1950, for example, fewer than one-third of the paid work force consisted
of women; by 2006, the proportion had increased to nearly half.