User:Tsweeney617/American Dream/Cam Hist Peer Review

The American Perception of Class:

I think that this is a really important topic and I'm glad that someone from our class decided to tackle it! Overall, as I was reading this section it seemed to me to only show what the "American Dream" was like to people in the middle/upper classes. If this is what you were intending then I would suggest making sure that is known by saying that this was how the middle/upper-class people thought of the "American Dream", if not then perhaps trying to add in some viewpoints from women, people of color, and the lower class who didn't have as much access to it. I also found it confusing if you were talking about the mythology of the American Dream and how that impacted people’s perceptions (which is what I thought?) or if you were talking about how the idea of the American dream is important politically? I think that it would be helpful to have it be very clear if you are talking about the ideology of the American Dream or the facts of it and I think it would be helpful to get to the historical roots of whichever you are trying to talk about. I think that would also help make the overall section more clear since I had a hard time following it while I was reading. In the beginning, you talk about how American Exceptionalism created the idea that America was the best place to live "but it also led to beliefs that certain classes within society were better" but then later in the same paragraph talk about how "America was seemingly classless" it was not easy following through this paragraph since it seems you jump around to different thoughts and ideals such as the Marxism challenging but it doesn't always seem like full thoughts? I know I struggle with this as well and when my best friend helps me edit things she always reminds me that the reader can't read your mind and all the background information that you have so make sure to include all the background information.

Attitudes About the American Dream:

I was glad to see that you added in women and people of color for this section! I think again all this section needs is a little bit of clearing up for if you are referencing the ideals of the American Dream or if you are talking about facts and what group of people you are referring to both. For example, you mentioned how the attitude towards people of a lower class is commonly one of laziness and not working hard enough, but who believes that where is that narrative coming from, is it the same for women/men or different races? I think just expanding on the points you have already made will help make things much more clear and offer readers more information.

Masculinity in the household:

I would add in citations for the first few sentences from the reading that was talking about how hard it was to get the guys to help with household chores,  “the politics of housework” reading I think would be helpful. At the end of the paragraph when you talk about working-class groups I think again it would be helpful to make sure you are very clear and find the historical roots, such as women of lower classes had most of the time needed to work or find some way to help with income but most of the time it was as domestic workers until more modern times when women were able to branch out into the

Women’s Belief in the American Dream:

It seems the focus for this section is mostly middle to upper white class again but this time it is only during the red scare/Nixon’s presidency and the “conservative” movement. I think it would be good to add in perspectives from the lower class and also maybe some of the “feminist” movement since that is referenced as something this group of women were against. Saying that World War 2 was a war against communism is not correct since we were allies with communistic countries (Such as Russia) but rather it was against fascism, imperialism, and something the United States was brought into after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If that is not what you were trying to say then I would change that sentence so that it reflects what war you were talking about. I think it would also be helpful if you expanded on how this role changed women’s roles and made them more political as you say a couple times but you don’t explain how this allowed them to be more political. Another part that could use some expansion is at the end you refer to the stereotype “Valium popping housewives” this was very random and offered no further explanation. I think it would be helpful if you expanded on the stereotypes of the housewife and also explain drug use during this time period or cut this part out.

American Dream Home:

I don’t really understand what you mean by “pre-market America” I think it would be good to expand on that and explain what that means. From what I read this section it seemed again to mostly focus on white middle and upper classes and so I think it would be good to expand and explain that the “American Dream home” and the “nuclear family” was not the rule but the expectation and that most of the United States population was not able to obtain it. While African Americans were very limited in the jobs they could get it was in addition to the already gender roles and so I would not say that it was the same as white men and married or unmarried women. And I’m not sure what you are referencing when it comes to the industrial revolution since that is usually seen as between 1760-1840.

Overall: I think you have a really good start to a very important and tricky topic! I think the biggest thing that needs to happen is just making sure that you are very clear about when you are talking about the ideology of the American Dream vs. the reality of it. I think by staying grounded in the historical contexts and the roots will be helpful in making these distinctions and helping make things clear. As well as making sure all your content is well rounded to include low class and people of color’s experiences and be clear on when you are talking about and what groups you are talking about, or if you are wanting to only add in the middle/upper class perceptive then be sure to always make sure that it is clear who/what class it was. I think that you met the amount of sources that are needed for the class but I would maybe try to add some more into the "Women's Belief in the American Dream". As I have said I think this is a really important topic and I think that you tie it into things that we have talked about and read about during this term.