Ordinary People | Historical Context

Ordinary People Historical Context

Cultural Revolutions of the 1970s

After the political movements of the 1960s, revolutions in the 1970s took a decidedly personal turn. The concerns of Ordinary People reflect that shift. Decidedly apolitical and small in its scope, Ordinary People is not concerned with grand, sweeping political events, but rather with the shifts that accompany personal development.

The 1970s are commonly stereotyped as the "Me Decade," but this designation does reflect a shift in concerns from the political to the personal. The feminist movement, with its insistence that "the personal is political," influenced this trend as it gained force in the decade. Though the female characters of Ordinary People do not express a feminist consciousness, the influence of 1970s feminism is evident in their lives. Jeannine's mother is divorced, and Beth leaves her husband and son. These actions were just becoming acceptable in society at that time. Carole Lazenby, a housewife, is taking a college course,...
(read more)