The argument up until me...

The argument about the effect of the atomic bomb on American culture in the early years of the Cold War is something that has been extensively written on. I think one of the reasons for that is that the effects are so far-reaching and so obvious that they should be simple to dissect. But they aren't. The atomic bomb affected us in every way we could imagine, and some that we haven't imagined yet, necessitating a continual production of literature and research on the topic. There is a political pool of research, culminating in work like that of Spencer Weart and Allan Winkler. These two men have taken very different views of the possibilities of the atom. Weart's book, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images takes a negative view, looking at nuclear secrecy and visual representations of the bomb and nuclear energy as dangerous things. Allan Winkler takes the opposite view, looking at peaceful applications of the atom and nuclear energy. Each one of these authors makes valid points, and there is no reason that both of them can't be seriously considered. That would be the root of the problem, though. There is no one answer, no right path to pursue when questioning the effect of the atomic bomb. Elaine Tyler May has gone in yet another direction by connecting the bomb to an increase in the sexualization and objectification of American women in her book Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era.  She has one illustration that was published in a nuclear safety handbook illustrating the three deadly types of radiation given off by a nuclear blast. They are alpha, beta and gamma and in the illustration, they all appear as drunken prom queens with the name of their radiation type printed on wilted sashes across their chests. Her book also connects effectively with the intense standardization we see in gender roles in this period; at least the gender roles that were distributed through propagandist media sources. John Hersey' s book Hiroshima is also an excellent place to look for the elements of guilt and the Japanese perspective on the bomb.