This chapter analyzes the changes in the concept, roles, and attitudes of wives from the 1950s. According to the author, this period marked a revolution of the concept (due basically to the feminist and sexual revolution). However, while the traditional wife who submerged her identity into that of her husband may not longer represent a viable model for most women, Americans are not giving up on wifehood. Instead, they are straining to create more perfect unions on the basis of their new status as co-earners and their husbands’ fledgling status as co-home workers.
