The Art Of Loving

When Erich Fromm published The Art of Loving in 1956, American society was undergoing profound transformations that fundamentally altered how people approached relationships, family, and love. The post-World War II era represented a unique historical moment characterized by economic prosperity, expanding consumerism, shifting gender roles, and new psychological understandings that collectively reshaped cultural attitudes toward love and intimacy.

The postwar economic boom created unprecedented prosperity for middle-class Americans. Mass production techniques perfected during wartime were redirected toward consumer goods, fueling what historian Lizabeth Cohen has termed a “consumers’ republic”—a society where citizenship and consumption became increasingly intertwined. This economic transformation extended beyond material goods to affect social relations themselves. As Fromm observes throughout The Art of Loving, relationships increasingly followed the logic of the marketplace, with people approaching potential partners as commodities to be evaluated based on their “exchange value” in the social marketplace.

Family life underwent dramatic restructuring during this period. The suburban exodus saw millions of Americans leave cities for newly constructed suburbs, creating physical separation between work and home life while reinforcing the nuclear family model. The period saw rising marriage rates, a significant drop in the average age of marriage, and the “baby boom”—demographic shifts that intensified focus on family formation.