I am doing a paper on how the perception of gender in the US affected how Japan was represented during Occupation. I am looking for more info on gender in the US during that time (late 40s until early 50s). I would really appreciate some recommendations :D thanks!
There's a couple I can think of:
Making War, Making Women: Femininity and Duty on the American Home Front, 1941-1945, by Melissa McEuen (University of Georgia Press, 2010) - This book focuses a lot on what was expected of women during the war years in terms of cosmetics, skin care, laundry, etc. and how gender was presented in pop culture and advertising.
Housework and Housewives in American Advertising: Married to the Mop, by Jessamyn Neuhaus (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) - Technically I haven't read this one myself, but it seems to speak quite a lot to gender stereotypes throughout the twentieth century.
Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America, by Jo B. Paoletti (Indiana University Press, 2012) - Straight up about gender! This mostly focuses on gender presentation in children, but it may still be of use to you.