Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Constructing a Culture
Main Menu
Constructing a Culture
Introduction: A Snapshot in Time
Sensible Schooling
Setting the Stage for Visual Culture
See and Hear!
Incorporating Audio-Visual Education into the Classroom
Life Adjustment Movement
Philosophy of education in which students are "adjusted" to American life.
Films in the Classroom
New Film Helps Girls
Creating a Visual Culture through Print Media
In the Beginning: A Brief History of LIFE Magazine
Post War Teen Tuning
The Building Blocks of Visual Culture
About
This page describes the methodology behind the developed. Team member introduction
Bibliography
Maureen Kudlik
07ec8ebdd0fbeaba49b25d2b198d84b9712cd0d6
Micah Ariel
a1e838a35a85c5d3e09b44fd8da4e45888d7b1ef
Jessica Martinez
e6106ba1d3fdd6a087256fecb73a84263965399a
Vince Sandri
f1c5ba0a4f7b96b251ed23b27f5bd5ddc781e56b
Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of their Own
1 2016-03-08T13:10:47-08:00 Maureen Kudlik 07ec8ebdd0fbeaba49b25d2b198d84b9712cd0d6 8336 2 Page 91 of 1944 photo-essay plain 2016-03-10T13:14:30-08:00 Maureen Kudlik 07ec8ebdd0fbeaba49b25d2b198d84b9712cd0d6This page is referenced by:
-
1
media/camera-801924_1920.jpg
media/background-texture-1014963_1280.jpg
media/Vintage Camera 2.jpg
2016-02-28T16:03:13-08:00
Teenhood through Nina Leen's Camera Lens
63
Capturing the Lives of Teenagers in the 1940s
image_header
241030
2016-03-14T06:57:51-07:00
1944
Preeminent photojournalist Nina Leen, employed by LIFE magazine in the 1940s primarily photographed animals, women and teenagers.[1] December 11, 1944 marked Leen's first coverage of teenage girls from Webster Grove, Missouri. "Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of their Own,"[2] catalogues the social life of a teen girl during World War II.
In her first photo-essay capturing the livelihood of teenagers, the photographs showcase Leen’s investigation of the social-emotional livelihood of girlhood. Images of teen girls donned in menfolk’s clothing, chatting on the phone for hours at a time, and being initiated into a high-school sorority greet LIFE audience’s eyes and introduces them to the glamorous world, in which this is "the time in the life of every American girl when the most important thing in the world is to be one of a crowd of other girls and to act and speak and dress exactly as they do. This is the teen age. Some 6,000,000 U.S. teen-age girls live in a world of their own--a lovely, gay, enthusiastic, funny, and blissful society almost untouched by the war."[3]
Seven months later, June 11, 1945, Leen revisited the teenager's livelihood, but this time teen boys from Des Moines, Iowa served as the representative for all teens, nationwide. The photo-essay, "Teen-Age Boys: Faced with war, they are the same as they have always been,”[4] faced with the threat of being drafted to fight the war against Japan, Leen’s photos support the conceit that boys act in the same manner as always, where: “homework is done in ten minutes, Mother is looked upon as a lovable servant, [and] home is only for eating and sleeping.”[5]
1945
As American life transitioned postwar, the livelihood of teenage girls flourished. "Tulsa Twins: They Show how much the Teen-age World has Changed" showcases the transformation in teen girls, such as presenting cutting-edge, trendsetting, “New Look” clothing that made girls look more flirty and feminine.
1947
In an up-close-and-personal photo shoot, serving as representatives for all teen girls nationwide, identical twins Barbara and Betty Bounds show off their fashion style, social life, and domestic tasks. “Tulsa Twins” welcomes you visually into the fashionable social world of middle-class, postwar teen girlhood, where being a lady requires domestic responsibility and acceptance to be “one of the crowd,” and in which “parties with boys are their favorite things in life.”[1] James Pomerantz, “The Surreal World of Nina Leen,” The New Yorker, April 11, 2013, accessed January 11, 2016, http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-surreal-world-of-nina-leen. One of the first female photographers contracted for LIFE magazine, Pomerantz states: “[Leen’s] most well-known subjects were animals (including her dog Lucky), American women and adolescents, and the Irascibles, a group of abstract artists…”
[2] Nina Leen, “Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own,” LIFE Magazine, December 11, 1944: 91-98. Google Books, accessed January 7, 2016,
https://books.google.com/books?id=10EEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA91#v=twopage&q&f=true.
Nina Leen photographed the 1944, article that appeared in LIFE magazine investigating the life of teenage girls. The 1947 photo-essay, “Tulsa Twins” is a follow-up to the first article. Readers familiar with style and social life in 1944 will recognize the transitions that occurred in the 1947 teenage girl, such as fashion and proper socialization. Introduction and promotion of uniformity in dress and actions led to conformity in appearance (including style and hair) and adherence to traditional gender roles. First introduced in 1944, the traditional, status quo mindset spilled into the 1947 installment. Post-World War II America experienced a heightened promotion of whiteness ideals and gender roles. Since America was involved in the Cold War, wished for peace on the home front, and safety within home life. Conformity to traditional standards tamed and controlled the new group of adolescents.
[3] Nina Leen, “Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own,” LIFE Magazine, December 11, 1944: 91-98. Google Books, accessed January 7, 2016,
https://books.google.com/books?id=10EEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA91#v=twopage&q&f=true.
[4] Nina Leen, “Teen-Age Boys: Faced with War, they are just the same as they have always been,” LIFE Magazine, June 11, 1945: 91-97. Google Books, accessed February 17, 2016, https://books.google.com/books?id=_EkEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=LIFE%20June%201945&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false.
[5] Nina Leen, “Teen-Age Boys: Faced with War, they are just the same as they have always been,” LIFE Magazine, June 11, 1945: 91-97. Google Books, accessed February 17, 2016, https://books.google.com/books?id=_EkEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=LIFE%20June%201945&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false.
.png){kind=link}