--- product_id: 64975354 title: "Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era" price: "$37.94" currency: USD in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/64975354-homeward-bound-american-families-in-the-cold-war-era store_origin: US region: United States of America --- # Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era **Price:** $37.94 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era - **How much does it cost?** $37.94 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/64975354-homeward-bound-american-families-in-the-cold-war-era) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description In the 1950s, the term "containment" referred to the foreign policy-driven containment of Communism and atomic proliferation. Yet in Homeward Bound May demonstrates that there was also a domestic version of containment where the "sphere of influence" was the home. Within its walls, potentially dangerous social forces might be tamed, securing the fulfilling life to which postwar women and men aspired. Homeward Bound tells the story of domestic containment - how it emerged, how it affected the lives of those who tried to conform to it, and how it unraveled in the wake of the Vietnam era's assault on Cold War culture, when unwed mothers, feminists, and "secular humanists" became the new "enemy." This revised and updated edition includes the latest information on race, the culture wars, and current cultural and political controversies of the post-Cold War era. Review: Maybe Home Bound? - Other reviewers complained that this wasn't history. If by that they meant it wasn't the nostalgia-soaked 1950s as Leave It To Beaver and Happy Days, they're right. It is, however, a well-researched and cogently presented window into the hidden marriage life of the time. This is a difficult view to find but Dr. May is able to mine the data and arrive at a more well-developed and complex vision of family life of the 50s. In effect, she shows how the dream of security, a husband and children were presented as the prize to be won, but once won often created a sense of loss that even the women that lived it had a hard time understanding. She is equally able in presenting the conflict and confusion men experienced. Particularly interesting was how she was able to compare views of individual husbands and wives using a 300 person anonymous study. The only complaint I had was the clunky last chapter which had virtually nothing to do with the topic and instead was a polemic on 9/11. Fortunately, it was short and didn't wash out the positive experience of the other 90% of the book. Review: Compelling Read! Totally worth it! - Beautifully written analysis of cold war families in America and the effects on feminism and women of that generation and those to follow. Very comprehensive and written in a clear point of view with dashes of humor and wit to keep the reader captivated. This was one for a school assignment that quickly became one of my favorites. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #545,991 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,299 in Cultural Anthropology (Books) #8,216 in United States History (Books) #10,675 in Parenting & Relationships (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 122 Reviews | ## Images ![Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81lNvpTwpNL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Maybe Home Bound? *by P***L on March 5, 2014* Other reviewers complained that this wasn't history. If by that they meant it wasn't the nostalgia-soaked 1950s as Leave It To Beaver and Happy Days, they're right. It is, however, a well-researched and cogently presented window into the hidden marriage life of the time. This is a difficult view to find but Dr. May is able to mine the data and arrive at a more well-developed and complex vision of family life of the 50s. In effect, she shows how the dream of security, a husband and children were presented as the prize to be won, but once won often created a sense of loss that even the women that lived it had a hard time understanding. She is equally able in presenting the conflict and confusion men experienced. Particularly interesting was how she was able to compare views of individual husbands and wives using a 300 person anonymous study. The only complaint I had was the clunky last chapter which had virtually nothing to do with the topic and instead was a polemic on 9/11. Fortunately, it was short and didn't wash out the positive experience of the other 90% of the book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Compelling Read! Totally worth it! *by C***A on March 22, 2020* Beautifully written analysis of cold war families in America and the effects on feminism and women of that generation and those to follow. Very comprehensive and written in a clear point of view with dashes of humor and wit to keep the reader captivated. This was one for a school assignment that quickly became one of my favorites. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Life in the 1950s - Not So "Picture Perfect" *by R***I on February 13, 2014* Elaine Tyler May opened her book, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, with a description of a 1959 publicity stunt. A young couple, recently married, chooses to spend their honeymoon in a bomb shelter. Surrounded by consumer goods, the couple enters the bomb shelter for two weeks and will have nothing more for entertainment than canned goods and each other. As May writes in the introduction, the couple epitomizes the image of the post-war family as “isolated, sexually charged, cushioned by abundance, and protected against impending doom.” (1) As the book progresses, May’s thesis is clear: the Cold War/anti-communism/domestic bliss of the 1950s may have been ideal for men and children, but was detrimental to women, their sexuality, and their personal fulfillment. She connects the Cold War and anti-communism to the oppression of women. A whole generation was inundated with propaganda describing the ideal domestic life and anything that deviated from the norm was “bad”. To support her conclusions, May draws from popular culture, Hollywood, politics, and the Kelly Longitudinal Survey. These examples show how messages infiltrated the American psyche and helped form the attitudes of a generation of men and women towards marriage, child bearing, and life in the suburbs. The 1950s was an era when, for the first time in decades, the birth and marriage rates increased, and the age of marriage and divorce rates decreased. Pundits, scientists, and so-called specialists advocated traditional gender roles and the submissiveness of women as a way to battle the spread of communism throughout the world. May shows how American domestic life mirrored the need for security with the boxy ranch-style home, fenced in back yard, and the family spending time indoors in front of the television – all protected from the evils of the outside world. May describes how the needs of 1950s women are suppressed and subservient to the needs of their husbands and children. May explains that this contradicted the previous gains women had made in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Women’s emancipation movements started in the 1920s with suffrage. In the 1930s women went to work during the depression to help support their families and continued working in war industries during the 1940s. At the time, even Hollywood contributed to the image of the strong, independent female with role models like Joan Crawford and Katherine Hepburn. One of the more fascinating sources May uses is the Kelly Longitudinal Study (KLS). The KLS is a long-term study interested in personality development as well as the subjects’ attitudes towards marriage, family life and social situations. Questions were answered in detail, often taking more room than allotted on the surveys. It is a window into the life and psyche of the “picture perfect” 1950s family, which shows that the picture wasn’t so perfect. Unfortunately, as May points out in her introduction, this study is limited to the affluent, white middle class and their experiences with marriage and family life. Her book is a great start to open further research into the KLS study as well as the lasting affects of the repression of women in the 1950s have had on later generations of women. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/64975354-homeward-bound-american-families-in-the-cold-war-era](https://www.desertcart.us/products/64975354-homeward-bound-american-families-in-the-cold-war-era) --- *Product available on Desertcart United States of America* *Store origin: US* *Last updated: 2026-10-02*