This is a very interesting take on traditional American gender roles tweeted by Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li. Her opinion is that you can’t really understand gender roles in the United States unless you understand that they’re basically a reactionary backlash / trauma response to the events of World War II. Here’s why:
Source: Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li
“The only industrialized nation not in ruins.”
Hello, Canada existed in 1945.
Canada took heavy losses in both World Wars. They may not have been in ruins, but they were dealing with a lot more than the States.
From a population of 11.5 million in 1941, Canada lost 42,000 soldiers and had another 55,000 injured. Proportionally, Canada’s fatalities were about 65% higher than the US’s, but not as high as the UK’s, and there was negligible damage to Canada’s infrastructure, economy, and industry. The war an enormous shot in the arm for Canadian industry, which singlehandedly produced more motor vehicles than the combined wartime output of all Axis nations. After the war, Canada received 200,000 immigrants from Europe by 1952, largely rolling straight into industrial jobs, which more than replaced wartime losses. Point being: purpleaspie was correct.