[WWII] is the perspective men had at the time. The idea that they could suffer through that and be bossed around in their own homes was unthinkable. Feminists who complain about how oppressed women were in the 50s never would have signed up for what grown men of the time had faced, and most women knew it, so they shut up and did the laundry.

To see things accurately, we must separate the reality from the myth of the 50s. Yes, there was a fair amount of lip service paid to the idea that men ought to be respected as head of household, but the culture was already moving away from that at a rapid pace. There is a constant, unyielding desire in the human heart to be liberated from reality, and to forget hard lessons. Those who sacrifice are always resented, despite our deference to them — we are not by nature an obedient, grateful lot. The decade was merely an interlude; a time of uneasy peace between husbands and wives and fathers and children. Founded on poverty and war, it was not built to last in a growing, increasingly wealthy society.

But what society is built to last without change? I look at what we have today, and the fact that societies never remain the same is one of the few consolations that remains.