During the 1950s, it was believed that creating a home and having children were one of the most important goals for most women. During their school years, most women attended college to earn the "Mrs" degree, or the reason most women went to college was to get married and not to earn an actual degree (PBS.org, 2001 , par. 3). Women also started working again, even though they didn't have the same benefits or pay as men. Women were also hired for jobs suited to their appearance, not their abilities (Coster, 2011, p. 35-36). They were also encouraged to have large families, but needed help when it came to managing their home. Hollywood created the image of an American mother having a healthy family that influenced the way women thought and behaved. Advertising and Hollywood created unattainable ideals for the perfect housewives of the 1950s. Television advertisements reinforced women's gender roles, and the pressure of being the perfect mother and wife caused mental health problems for many women during this time. During the 1950s, women played a role in education, the workforce, the home, television, and even mental health, helping evolve the old 1950s mother into a new modern mother. Most women in the 1950s attended school and college. Women usually went to school for a chance to meet their future husband. For starters, Coster (2011), author of A New Deal for Women: Expanding Roles of Women 1938-1960, observed that most women married soon after high school or during college and then dropped out after graduation. marriage. Women tended to think that it was more important to have a husband than to have an education (p. 27). Coster (2011) also commented that during the 1950s, 70% of women married before the age of 24. If a woman doesn't... middle of paper... found January 25, 2014, from http ://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/p_mrs.html1950s, the. (2010). Retrieved February 10, 2014, from the History.com website: http://www.history.com/topics/1950s Teenage Life in the 1950s. (2009). Retrieved February 14, 2014, from Rewind theFifties website: http://www.loti.com/fifties_history/Teenage_Life_in_the_1950s.htmFrigidaire 1950s commercial refrigerator. (n.d.). [Video files]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_i0EQSYsfISvintage xerox sexist show (nd). [Video files]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swyqrf1PZjg Connelly, Joe (1957). [Video files]. 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