Throughout the history of America, there have been times where people have been unaccepting and everything had to be a certain way. Over the past 70 years, the normal societal views have changed and people have become more accepting and individualistic.

The biggest difference would be among TV shows and the relationships, language and themes within these shows. In 1968, the first-ever interracial kiss with William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols aired. In today’s society, nobody would even care that it happened because it’s completely normal. However, back then, interracial relationships were uncommon and often not aired on television.

Commercials are now becoming more accepting towards the LGBTQ community and making sure that children no longer feel alone. Family commercials now show kids with two dads or two moms. Commercials and TV shows represent those relationships as well as allowing kids to have role models to look up to. Children can now learn to be OK with who they are through TV shows.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a very popular TV show that has people embracing who they are and their sexuality instead of hiding who they truly are. These TV shows didn’t always exist;  a prime example of that is when Ellen Degeneres got her sitcom show canceled after she came out to the public as being lesbian. The network which her show was on didn’t approve of her sexuality and felt it was best to cancel her show. Now, she is widely respected among the world and is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

There aren’t just differences in television anymore. Amelia Earhart became an official Barbie doll on International Women’s Day in March of 2018. Now, Barbie dolls are no longer just about looks or different outfits, important historical figures are becoming dolls in order for kids to have strong role models.

Men and women roles have also changed since the 1900s. Women no longer have to have pink as favorite color nor do men have to like blue. Clothing companies have expanded to making more blue clothes for girls and pink clothes for boys. Stereotypes are being broken about how there are now stay-at-home dads and moms get the main source of income. Stereotypical roles are continuing to change and show more equality towards men and women.

America still has a long way to go and people need to learn to accept each other for who they are. People have grown drastically towards finding their individualism and no one should be discriminated against for that. Children are learning to see all of the diversity in families through TV shows, toys and books. These changes help to prove that there is no “normal society” and people being different is a good thing. America is continuing to develop and grow towards a unique and diverse society.