1980's and 1990's
The 1980's: An Overview
During the 1980s, Americans across the country welcomed a new conservatism in social, economic and political life. This conservative view in politics was mainly due to the policies brought to office by President Ronald Reagan. In 1982, America experienced the worst recession since the Great Depression. In total, nine million people were unemployed towards the end of that year. But over time, the economy got back on track as "Reaganomics" grew popular again. This decade has evolved to be remembered for its materialism and consumerism as well as for the spectacular increase of blockbuster movies and emergence of cable networks such as MTV, which launched the careers of many iconic artists (1).
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the US Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one's sex. At the Republican National Convention in 1980, Mary Crisp, a republican feminist, fought for continued Republican support of the amendment in the party platform. Crisp warned in her final speech to the platform that "We are about to bury the rights of over 100 million American women under a heap of platitudes" (2). In 1982 the ERA missed the deadline for ratification after it failed to get support from three more states. At the time, thirty-five state legislators had already voted in favor of the
amendment (3).
The year 1986 started out with tragedy. On January 28, the space orbiter, Challenger, exploded mid-air seventy-three seconds after it had taken off. On board the Challenger were seven astronauts including New Hampshire school teacher, Christa McAuliffe who was selected to join the mission so she could teach lessons from space to children across the country. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven passengers. It was later determined that the cause of the mishap was due to two rubber O-rings, designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, were not able to function correctly due to the cold temperatures on the morning of the launch (4).
Over the previous two decades, there was an increase female participation in the work force. This change focused attention on the potential conflict that could arise when men and women choose to deviate from the traditional gender-based division of labor. In 1980, 86 women for every 100 men opted for career-directed lifestyles, as contrasted with 41 per 100 in 1970 (5).
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the US Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one's sex. At the Republican National Convention in 1980, Mary Crisp, a republican feminist, fought for continued Republican support of the amendment in the party platform. Crisp warned in her final speech to the platform that "We are about to bury the rights of over 100 million American women under a heap of platitudes" (2). In 1982 the ERA missed the deadline for ratification after it failed to get support from three more states. At the time, thirty-five state legislators had already voted in favor of the
amendment (3).
The year 1986 started out with tragedy. On January 28, the space orbiter, Challenger, exploded mid-air seventy-three seconds after it had taken off. On board the Challenger were seven astronauts including New Hampshire school teacher, Christa McAuliffe who was selected to join the mission so she could teach lessons from space to children across the country. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven passengers. It was later determined that the cause of the mishap was due to two rubber O-rings, designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, were not able to function correctly due to the cold temperatures on the morning of the launch (4).
Over the previous two decades, there was an increase female participation in the work force. This change focused attention on the potential conflict that could arise when men and women choose to deviate from the traditional gender-based division of labor. In 1980, 86 women for every 100 men opted for career-directed lifestyles, as contrasted with 41 per 100 in 1970 (5).
The 1990's: An Overview
The majority of the nineties in the United States was lead by president Bill Clinton. He was the first democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve two terms. During his two term presidency that started in 1992, America had record low unemployment rates, inflation was at its lowest point in thirty years, the country experience the highest home ownership in its history which dropped crime rates in cities across the country and reduced welfare rolls. Clinton achieved a budget surplus by proposing the first balanced budget in decades. In 1998, scandal arose when a young woman came forward about President Clinton's infidelity. He was impeached by the House of Representatives, but was found not guilty by the Senate. Even after these digressions were made against him, he continued to have unprecedented popular approval rating for his job as president (6).
During the nineties, a new group arose that threatened the peace of Americans across the country. These extremists became known as Al Qaeda and were lead by Saudi radical Osama bin Laden. In 1993, they bombed the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six people. This was just the beginning of what was going to start a multiple decade war between the United States and Middle East (7).
The technology movement was starting to pick up pace during the nineties. Sir Tim Berners Lee of the European Organization for Nuclear Research proposed the World Wide Web in 1989. "By 1990, the proposal had grown to include a read-only of distributed document linking called hypertext, which was based on the markup language called HTML" (8). In addition to advancement with computers, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in April 1990 (9). The year 1998 held high achievements with technology considered. There were multiple important events that occurred. Arguably the biggest invention of all times, Google was introduced. It began as a research project by two PhD scholars at Stanford University in 1996 (10). Also in 1998, the space shuttle Endeavour went up into space and astronauts joined the first two modules of the International Space Station together in orbit on December 5. Apple's iMac was launched in 1998 and over the years it gained popularity until it was one of the most popular desktop computers (11).
During the nineties, a new group arose that threatened the peace of Americans across the country. These extremists became known as Al Qaeda and were lead by Saudi radical Osama bin Laden. In 1993, they bombed the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six people. This was just the beginning of what was going to start a multiple decade war between the United States and Middle East (7).
The technology movement was starting to pick up pace during the nineties. Sir Tim Berners Lee of the European Organization for Nuclear Research proposed the World Wide Web in 1989. "By 1990, the proposal had grown to include a read-only of distributed document linking called hypertext, which was based on the markup language called HTML" (8). In addition to advancement with computers, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in April 1990 (9). The year 1998 held high achievements with technology considered. There were multiple important events that occurred. Arguably the biggest invention of all times, Google was introduced. It began as a research project by two PhD scholars at Stanford University in 1996 (10). Also in 1998, the space shuttle Endeavour went up into space and astronauts joined the first two modules of the International Space Station together in orbit on December 5. Apple's iMac was launched in 1998 and over the years it gained popularity until it was one of the most popular desktop computers (11).
Pretty In Pink (1986)
The movie, Pretty In Pink begins by introducing actress Molly Ringwald who plays an outcast high school girl named Andie. The watchers soon learn that Andie lives with her single, unemployed father. Her mother left when she was a little girl so her father had to raise her. At school, Andie doesn't fit in. She's not popular and she doesn't have a lot of friends. She usually hangs out with her quirky best friend, Duckie, or her boss at the record store. Things begin to change for her when one of the rich, popular boys at school begins to fall for her. After attempting to make it work, Andie learns just how hard it can be to date someone who comes from such a different background. In the end, at their prom they end up getting back together and come to the realization that it doesn't matter how much money a person has, or how popular the person is.
There are a couple aspects to this movie that reflect what was going on in society during the time it was made. To begin with, the fact that Andie only lived with her father correlates with the increased rates of divorce during this time. According to the Center of Disease Control, in the 1985 there was more the 1.1 million divorced parents in the United States. In the movie, Andie was lower class and her father was unemployed while Blane, the rich popular boy, was middle class and had working, married parents. This supports the mind-set that more lower, unstable class families get divorced.
Women's roles in society used to be strictly as a domestic housewife. As the decades passed, more women were finding their way into the work place. This trend is shown within Pretty in Pink. The gym teacher at
Andie's school was a female as well as her boss at the record store.
Pretty in Pink follows some stereotypical trends. Some of these trends include the notion that females are more emotional than men and they display that emotion. In one scene, events are not going as Andie plans and she begins to throw objects around the record store office. In another scene, after Blane ignored her calls and did not acknowledge her in the parking lot, Andie waited outside of his class and confronted him about it. She stood there with tears in her eyes and she began to raise her voice, clearly showing she was upset.
Another trend is the notion that boys take the girls out on a date. In the eighties, chivalry was not dead yet. Blane was the one who drove and picked up Andie for their date. He was also the one to ask her to the dance which is usually how it is expected (12).
There are a couple aspects to this movie that reflect what was going on in society during the time it was made. To begin with, the fact that Andie only lived with her father correlates with the increased rates of divorce during this time. According to the Center of Disease Control, in the 1985 there was more the 1.1 million divorced parents in the United States. In the movie, Andie was lower class and her father was unemployed while Blane, the rich popular boy, was middle class and had working, married parents. This supports the mind-set that more lower, unstable class families get divorced.
Women's roles in society used to be strictly as a domestic housewife. As the decades passed, more women were finding their way into the work place. This trend is shown within Pretty in Pink. The gym teacher at
Andie's school was a female as well as her boss at the record store.
Pretty in Pink follows some stereotypical trends. Some of these trends include the notion that females are more emotional than men and they display that emotion. In one scene, events are not going as Andie plans and she begins to throw objects around the record store office. In another scene, after Blane ignored her calls and did not acknowledge her in the parking lot, Andie waited outside of his class and confronted him about it. She stood there with tears in her eyes and she began to raise her voice, clearly showing she was upset.
Another trend is the notion that boys take the girls out on a date. In the eighties, chivalry was not dead yet. Blane was the one who drove and picked up Andie for their date. He was also the one to ask her to the dance which is usually how it is expected (12).
Contact (1997)
This movie is about a female scientist, an astronomer to be specific. Jodie Foster plays the character of Dr. Ellie Arroway. The beginning of the movie shows Ellie as a little girl intrigued with her father's radio system. This fascination never left her and when she grew up she ended up becoming an astronomer so she could study the radio-waves that they recieve from space. No one believes her study is important. Other astronomers as well as the government want to shut her study down and take away her telescopes. But Dr. Arroway does not let that stop her. She continues to listen to the radio-waves and one night she hears something peculiar. The government found out and it was then they realized how real her study actually is.
Contact has a lot of aspects that correlate with the events and mind sets during the nineties. During this time, there were a lot of females in the working field but in addition to that more women were being seen in the science fields. The field was still growing at the time, but it was possible to see women pursuing scientific careers. Dr. Arroway was a respected woman who excelled in her field. She was also the only female scientist shown in this movie.
Contact has a lot of aspects that correlate with the events and mind sets during the nineties. During this time, there were a lot of females in the working field but in addition to that more women were being seen in the science fields. The field was still growing at the time, but it was possible to see women pursuing scientific careers. Dr. Arroway was a respected woman who excelled in her field. She was also the only female scientist shown in this movie.
Although Dr. Arroway found all of the information and put all of the pieces together to solve what the radio waves meant, her former boss, who happened to be a male, received a lot of the credit publicly.
The movie showed how men still go out of their way to get a woman's attention. Within five minutes of meeting Ellie, Palmer Joss an attractive journalist/ priest asked her to dinner. One thing that differed between this movie and Pretty in Pink was that it was the man, Palmer who had more of an emotional investment.
In a scene in the end of a movie, Dr. Arroway is shown with a group of children, trying to teach them about the telescopes. While talking to them she would bend down to their height and talk in a sweeter, more compassionate voice. This scene went to show that even though women can be working, even as scientists, that they can still have an inherently maternal drive (7).
References:
1. History.com Staff, "The 1980s", A+E Networks, 2011, November 16, 2014.
2. Jone Johnson Lewis, "Mary Crisp", About.com, November 16,2014.
3. History.com Staff
4. History.com Staff, "Challenger Disaster", A+E Networks, 2010, November 19,2014.
5. Mary C, Regan and Helen E. Roland, "Rearranging Family and Career Priorities: Professional Women and Men of the Eighties" Journal of Marriage and Family 47, no. 4 (1985): 985-992, accessed November 19, 2014,
6. Freidel, Frank. The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington: White House Historical Association, 1964. White House Historical Association. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
7. "The 90's: News and Events-National Geographic Channel." National Geographic Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
8. Goel, Tarun. "1990s Technology Timeline: Massive Growth During the Decade of the 90s." Bright Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
12. Pretty In Pink. USA: Paramount Pictures, 1986. Film.
13. Contact. USA: Warner Bros. 1997. Film.
1980 Image: http://strategicpublicaffairs.com/back-to-the-future-1980s-style/
1990 Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_'90s_Are_All_That
Pretty In Pink Cover: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091790/
Contact Cover: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_US_film)
Contact movie scene: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-contact-1997
1. History.com Staff, "The 1980s", A+E Networks, 2011, November 16, 2014.
2. Jone Johnson Lewis, "Mary Crisp", About.com, November 16,2014.
3. History.com Staff
4. History.com Staff, "Challenger Disaster", A+E Networks, 2010, November 19,2014.
5. Mary C, Regan and Helen E. Roland, "Rearranging Family and Career Priorities: Professional Women and Men of the Eighties" Journal of Marriage and Family 47, no. 4 (1985): 985-992, accessed November 19, 2014,
6. Freidel, Frank. The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington: White House Historical Association, 1964. White House Historical Association. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
7. "The 90's: News and Events-National Geographic Channel." National Geographic Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
8. Goel, Tarun. "1990s Technology Timeline: Massive Growth During the Decade of the 90s." Bright Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
12. Pretty In Pink. USA: Paramount Pictures, 1986. Film.
13. Contact. USA: Warner Bros. 1997. Film.
1980 Image: http://strategicpublicaffairs.com/back-to-the-future-1980s-style/
1990 Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_'90s_Are_All_That
Pretty In Pink Cover: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091790/
Contact Cover: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_US_film)
Contact movie scene: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-contact-1997