1953

The film Mona Lisa Smile is about a teacher in 1953 at Wellesley College. This college was an all girls school and back in this time, there were different expectations about woman. Everything was about the man.
In 1953, the women were the housewives. But it had been different earlier. When World War II took hundreds of thousands of men from their homes, there were many jobs available. Women filled these jobs, even if they had previously been “manly jobs.” For example, this was the time period when “Rosie the Riveter” was drawn. After all of the men returned from World War II, women were pushed back into the house to cook, clean, and care for children. Now, if they even had jobs it would be something like a secretary. They did not have any important jobs.
Their role in life was to take care of their husband. In the movie, Joan and Betty want that life. They want to be the good housewife. Even though they are both very intelligent young women, they want a future for themselves that involves them wasting their intelligence at home washing dishes and talking soothingly to their husbands when they get home from work.
In the movie, Joan is a very smart woman who is pre-law. When Katharine asks her what law school she is going to, Joan just says she plans on getting married. She’s deserted this dream to be a housewife.