Wally unloads a "Gopher" During the 1950s, suburbs such as Levitown were springing up across the country, and the so-called American dream was becoming easier to achieve. achieve for ordinary Americans. than ever. They had just emerged from two decades dominated by the Great Depression and World War II, and prosperity was finally in sight. The need for women to work in the home, as had been the case during the war, no longer existed, and women were largely relegated to female-dominated professions like nurses, secretaries, and teachers, if they worked. Televisions became very popular and quickly became part of the American cultural canon of entertainment. Leave It To Beaver is a classic American television show, which embraces values ​​such as respect, responsibility and learning from mistakes. But, at least in the episode used for this essay, it's also incredibly sexist to a modern viewer. This begs the question: what does the episode The Blind Date Committee1 say about gender expectations in the 1950s? The gender expectations in Leave It To Beaver seem to be consistent with the period. The Cleavers live in the prosperous suburban town of Mayfield2. Mr. Ward Cleaver works outside the home, is fair and gives much advice to his sons, besides having a very cordial relationship with his wife. Mrs. June Cleaver is a housewife, she very happily performs the duties expected of her as a mother and wife, Wally and Beaver are respectful to their parents, but also make mistakes. Each episode follows a familiar formula, there is a conflict that is resolved at the end of the episode, usually teaching Wally or Beaver something. The Cleavers are the ultimate model American family. They meet all the criteria,...... middle of paper ......s are anything less true. According to Leave It To Beaver (and shows like it), women are supposed to be happy, pretty, docile housewives, obedient to their husbands and fathers, but not intelligent or successful in their own right. The episode blatantly reinforces gender stereotypes and portrays women as extremely simple and happy with the state of their world. This episode (and the entire series) is post-publication of Betty Friedan's infamous book Feminine Mystique, as the fight for women's liberation really begins to heat up. But watching Leave It To Beaver, you wouldn't imagine that the world is just starting to change for women right now. Unfortunately, many social ideas and stereotypes are still too present in today's world, encouraged in more sexualized and obvious ways. In my opinion, the distance between then and now is far too close for comfort..