Running head: Change in Parenting

Walters 1

Change of Parenting Through Time

Brianna Walters
2/16/16
Writing 1020

Change in Parenting

Walters 2

To interpret something means to provide a meaning to understand it in a certain way.

Interpretation requires one to understand the picture, music, or idea that is given and to explain
what the meaning is and why it means that. One item can have a different meaning to every
person that sees it, it just depends on the way it is viewed and the part someone finds most
valuable.
In an illustration from The New Yorker, it shows four cartoon pictures titled 1934, 1954,
1974 and 1994. In the picture titled 1934, it shows a mother and a daughter in the kitchen. The
mother is mixing something while watching her daughter stir something in a pot. In the 1954s
picture, it shows a mother and a daughter picking out something from a freezer. Then in the
1974s picture, it shows a mother microwaving food while the child leans over a checker board,
seemingly upset. The picture titled 1994 shows a mother who looks like she just came home
from work. She has on a business suit and a briefcase on the ground next to her. She is on the
So are these strands of
Here is
phone ordering take-out, while the child is watching television.
something?
where you
need to
explain the
All of these cartoons have a mother and a child. The mothers start off wearing aprons
Method and
use it as
then their attire becomes more business-like in a suit. This change could represent women
evidence for
an
gaining their civil rights and being able to work. When looking at the children in these photos,
interpretati
on. You
just kind of
the effect of their mother working seems to show. The first and second photo on top shows the
jump in
without a mom still in aprons and next to their child. The children and mothers are smiling and seem
clear
explication
happy. Then in the third cartoon the child looks upset, leaning over a checker board. It looks like
of the
context.

she wants to play but the mother has her back to her. The mother looks like she just got home
from work or is going to work since she is in work-like attire in a nice sweater and skirt. This

Change in Parenting

Walters 3

could explain the child being upset because the mother does not have time to play with her. All
of these photos seem to represent the changes that were caused by women starting to work.
In this illustration, an advance in technology seems to happen as time passes. In the first
cartoon titled 1934, they are making food and stirring by hand. Then as time passes to 1954, the
mother and child are picking out food from a freezer. Forwarding to 1974, the mother is
microwaving food. In the last cartoon from 1994, the mother is ordering take out. The change in
technology in this illustration seems to show how it decreased food preparation time. The
technology also seems to change along with the mothers outfits, so the change could represent
the decrease of time a mother has at home. The more a mother started to work, the less time she
spent at home which means the less time she had to prepare food. The mother from the 1934
cartoon had time to make food from scratch because her job was to stay home. A mother from
1974 or 1994 had less time to prepare food due to the fact that women were now working outside
of home. The illustration also seemed to show how technology helped the children of working
mothers. The picture titled 1974 showed an upset child, wanting her busy mothers attention. The

And you
interpret
this to
mean what?

child from 1994 was watching TV and seemed to not be bothered by the mothers attention being
elsewhere. The change of technology in the cover page of The New Yorker seems to show the
lack of a mothers time she had due to working.
This illustration seems to describe the expectations of women and the change that was
caused by them starting to work outside of home. By remembering what times were like in the
years stated in this illustration, it greatly explains the meaning of this picture. In the 1930s, a
womens role was a homemaker and a mother. Mothers stayed at home with the children while
the fathers were the providers. The women would teach the girls to cook and to have dinner
ready when the man of the house came home. During World War II, women took the places of

What
evidence
in the
cover
illustrat
es this
interpret
ation-tell us.

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Walters 4

men in factories while they were at war. When the war ended, men came home and
reclaimed their jobs. In the late 1940s, the government launched campaigns to enter or stay in
the work force due to economic growth. In the 1950s, married women working for wages
became more common. These women were still expected to care solely for the children. In the
1970s, women working increased even more. During this time, mothers who did work were
spending less time with their children but were still expected by society to tend to the children
because men were perceived to have a harder day at work. By the 1990s, women and men
worked the same jobs and hours, while children in daycares increased.
Given the history during these times, the meaning of this photo becomes more obvious.
The years stated in each picture describes the expectations of women during that time. Starting
with the first photo titled 1934, one would see a woman and a child in a kitchen cooking. This
picture would fit the time era since women were expected to cook and watch over the children.
Then, moving on to the cartoon bannered 1954, a mother and child could represent the 1950s
because she is still wearing an apron, meaning that the woman is a homemaker. She is also with
her child and about to prepare food with her. This would still fit the time frame of an average
1950s mother, who was believed by society that her only duty was to care for her children and
to be a homemaker, even if she worked. One of the differences from the 1974 cartoon compared
to the two before it, is that the womans outfit is different. The women went from wearing an
apron over their dresses to now wearing a more business look. The child in the picture is also
different than in the ones before. The children from 1934 and 1954 were happy and alongside
their mother. In 1974, the child looks upset and slumped over the checker board. One could
assume that the change in the childs behavior from the previous years is that she is lacking her
mothers attention. Since women during the 1970s were starting to work more than in previous

Change In Parenting Through Time

Walters 5

years, it meant they spent less time at home with the children. Then in the picture of 1994, a brief
case can be seen along with a business-looking woman, which would fit the average 1990s
woman. The relationship between the child and adult seems to be more distant; they have their
backs toward each other, with more space in between. In the second picture, the mother and child
were right next to each other. The first picture had a mother with her back towards her child but
was watching over her shoulder. This photo shows more disconnect than the others.
This illustration from The New Yorker shows the change in time from a stay-at-home
mother to a working-class mother and the effects that it caused. There are changes of clothes and
a growing distance between the mother and child, but there is also a change in food preparation.
As time forwards, the meals become less time consuming. The pictures show a woman making
food from scratch, to a woman getting it from a freezer. Then it continues to microwaving food
and then finally ordering it. All of the changes that happened could be explained by women
starting to work and not spending as much time at home. The change in outfits go from a stay-athome mother, to a woman starting to work, and then to a full business woman in a suit. As the
clothing becomes more work related, the bond between the mother and child seems to become
distant. The distance would result from a mother not spending as much time at home, which
would also explain the less food preparation time. Women in the 1990s had more
responsibilities that took up more of her time compared to a woman of the 1930s which effected
them as mothers and the children.
Good--check my markings. You need
to describe the interpretive
context based on the articles from
the Method more explicitly. Then
you need to more specifically
connect the context--the strands
etc--to your interpretation so we
readers clearly see how you made
this interpretation. Shall we
talk?
B+