A book on the social history of societal and family roles during the 1950s.

First published in 1988, Homeward Bound is an important cultural study focusing on family and the baby boom phenomenon after WWII. May lays out gender relationships since the Depression and carefully analyzes and explains the connection between national security and home in the context of the Cold War. As May shows, American people from both sexes willingly entered into marriage after WW II. Women left the work forces and quit school for marriage. Family and children were the signs of masculinity and success for men, as well. On the one hand, because of the fear of the atomic bomb, Americans became conservative about sex and developed a more rigid definition of the ideal family. On the other hand, the housing policy and the success of consumer capitalism during the Cold War became a force and also a change for “atypical” Americans, such as European immigrants and poor whites, to integrate into the mainstream society during the social reform. By analyzing movies and social science research, such as the Kelly Longitudinal study, May shows a historical consciousness formed and accepted by the people from all levels of society and the importance of understanding sexuality from a broader context.