During the 1950s, it was believed that starting a home and having children was one of the most important goals for most women. During their schooling years, most women went to college to get their "Mrs" degree, or the reason most women went to college was to get married and not to get a real degree (PBS.org, 2001, paragraph 3). Women also began working again, although they did not receive the same benefits or salaries as men. Women were also hired for jobs tailored to their appearance and not their skills (Coster, 2011, p. 35-36). They were also encouraged to have large families, but needed help running their households. Hollywood created the image of an American mother with a healthy family that influenced the way women thought and behaved. Advertising and Hollywood created ideals for the perfect housewife of the 1950s that were unattainable. Television commercials reinforced women's gender roles and the pressure to be a perfect mother and wife caused mental health problems for many women during this time. During the 1950s, women played roles in education, the workforce, the home, television, and even mental health, helping to evolve the old 1950s mother towards a new modern mother. Most women in the 1950s attended school and university. Women usually went to school for the chance to meet their future husbands. To begin with, Coster (2011), author of A New Deal for Women: Expanding Roles of Women 1938-1960, observed that most women married right after high school or during college, then dropped out after be married. Women tended to think it was more important to have a husband than to have an education (p. 27). Coster (2011) also noted that in the 1950s, 70 percent of women married before the age of 24. If a woman did it...... middle of paper ...... retrieved January 25, 2014 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/p_mrs.html1950s, the. (2010). Retrieved February 10, 2014, from history.com website: http://www.history.com/topics/1950sTeenage life in the 1950's. (2009). Retrieved February 14, 2014, from Rewind theFifties website: http://www.loti.com/fifties_history/Teenage_Life_in_the_1950s.htmFrigidaire commercial refrigerator from the 1950s. (nd). [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_i0EQSYsfIVvintage sexist advertisement for Xerox (nd). [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swyqrf1PZjgConnelly, Joe (1957). [Video file]. Retrieved from http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70087786&trkid=13462100&t=Leave%2Beaver%253A%2BSsn%2B1%253A%2BBeaver%2527s%2BCrush&tctx=-99%2C-99%2C65057aef-88ab-4cdf - 9122-8c5e0330353a-2268289