How did many Americans change their ways of living in the 1950s?

Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study and academic field devoted to gender identity and gendered representation as central categories of analysis. This field includes women's studies (concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics), men's studies, and LGBT studies. Sometimes, gender studies is offered together with study of sexuality. These disciplines study gender and sexuality in the fields of literature, language, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, cinema, media studies, human development, law, and medicine. It also analyzes race, ethnicity, location, nationality, and disability.

Gender study has many different forms. One view espoused by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one". This view proposes that in gender studies, the term "gender" should be used to refer to the social and cultural constructions of masculinities and femininities, not to the state of being male or female in its entirety. However, this view is not held by all gender theorists. Other areas]which?[ of gender study closely examine the role that the biological states of being male or female (anatomical, physiological, and genetical explanations of male and female body parts, structure and nature of functions of body organs, genetic carriers etc.) have on social constructs of gender. Specifically, in what way gender roles are defined by biology and how they are defined by cultural trends. The field emerged from a number of different areas: the sociology of the 1950s and later (see Sociology of gender); the theories of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; and the work of feminists such as Judith Butler.

Historically, there have been great social differences between men and women, not only in the United States, but also in Mexico. Gender is often socially constructed to de-value women and place them in certain domestic roles. However, gender in Mexican culture varies slightly from gender in American culture. Religious, class and cultural differences play a greater role in Mexico, reflecting the role of women in society. For example, there has historically been more limits over women, than men, in regards to having entire power over their bodies. In the late 1800s, during the Mexican Revolution, the influx of Mexican immigrants affected the role of women in society. Towards the beginning of the 20th century, as Mexican women began crossing the border, family dynamics began to shift, however, social progress for Latino women was still limited by Americanization. However, in the early 1920s, opportunities opened up for women in education and social movements, and many women began to speak out, although still restricted by social conventions. As the century progressed, a turbulent political period along with an increasing activist presence placed Mexican-American women in a critical turning point for their future in America in relation to class, race, and gender. Studying Mexican American women in society by analyzing cultural, sexual and political aspects, as well as comparing their place in society to American women, provides a historical context into Latino culture and gender norms in the United States.

African Americans in the United States faced discrimination, segregation, and stereotyping, especially in the Southern and Midwestern United States for decades after the American Civil War. “In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of 'equal protection of the laws' expected the president, the Congress, and the courts to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment. The inequality prevalent in the time period before the Civil Rights movement gained strength in the U.S., anthropologist Carol B. Stack produced her ethnography entitled All Our Kin. Stack’s research was collected as she immersed herself in the culture of an impoverished community in the vicinity of Chicago, the identity and whereabouts of which is unknown and thus referred to as “Jackson Harbor”

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (US), America, or simply the States, is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, 16 territories, and a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and the federal district of Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also has five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean. The largest of these territories are Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands which are an official part of the United States. At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) in total and with around 316 million people, the United States is the fourth-largest country by total area and third largest by population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States is also extremely diverse, and it is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Paleo-indians migrated from Asia to what is now the U.S. mainland around 15,000 years ago, with European colonization beginning in the 16th century. The United States emerged from 13 British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. Disputes between Great Britain and these colonies led to the American Revolution. On July 4, 1776, delegates from the 13 colonies unanimously issued the Declaration of Independence. The ensuing war ended in 1783 with the recognition of independence of the United States from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and was the first successful war of independence against a European colonial empire. The current Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787. The first 10 amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and guarantee many fundamental civil rights and freedoms.