<Ol> <Li> Piety--Religion was valued because--unlike intellectual pursuits--it did not take a woman away from her "proper sphere," the home, and because it controlled women's longings . </Li> <Li> Purity--Virginity, a woman's greatest treasure, must not be lost until her marriage night, and married women had to remain committed only to their husbands . </Li> <Li> Submission--True women were required to be as submissive and obedient "as little children" because men were regarded as women's superiors "by God's appointment". </Li> <Li> Domesticity--A woman's proper place was in the home and her role as a wife was to create a refuge for her husband and children . Cooking, needlework, making beds, and tending flowers were considered naturally feminine activities, whereas reading anything other than religious biographies was discouraged . </Li> </Ol> <Li> Piety--Religion was valued because--unlike intellectual pursuits--it did not take a woman away from her "proper sphere," the home, and because it controlled women's longings . </Li> <Li> Purity--Virginity, a woman's greatest treasure, must not be lost until her marriage night, and married women had to remain committed only to their husbands . </Li> <Li> Submission--True women were required to be as submissive and obedient "as little children" because men were regarded as women's superiors "by God's appointment". </Li>

Women's roles during the 1950s could best be described as