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political policy officially targeted Communism, a perceived threat to American
democracy. May argues that political containment coexisted with a domestic
counterpart centered on the home. The home became a sphere of influence,
which constrained dangerous social forces, especially sexually deviant women.
Fifties women were supposed to find gratification by having and
raising children. Experts such as Lundberg and Famham labeled ambitions such
as education and career masculine and therefore unseemly.^^ Domestic
containment made sense because the home provided a safe haven fi*om the
dangers of the outside world. More than that, domestic containment was
''bolstered by a political culture that rewarded its adherents and marginalized its
detractors.”^^ In other words, nuclear families in "normal” communities found
rewards, while sexual deviants in communities that did not fit the norm, both
socially and legally, drew scorn.
During the 1950s, all kinds of subversive forces were associated with
Communism. "Popular culture,” sa \