Narrative

Elaine Tyler May is a historian of the United States in the twentieth century whose work centers on the intersections of gender, sexuality, domestic culture and politics.  Her scholarship explores the ways in which issues normally considered part of private life – such as consumerism, and leisure pursuits – reflect, express, and influence American political, cultural, and social values.  Her books and articles examine changing expectations for marriage in the early 20th century, family and sexuality in the cold war era, the history of women, and the history of childlessness and reproduction in America.   Her current research project is an examination of the legacy of the cold war at home, which explores the ongoing quest for national and personal security in terms of Americans’ sense of danger from within as well as outside the country.