Teenage Culture, 1955-63 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
General Fears/Anxiety
American adults anxious about challenging behaviour
Felt ‘greasers’ were disrespectful and rebellious, juvenile delinquency was increasing, and beats, beatniks, and rock’n’roll were a threat to society + values
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
The School in American Culture
Margaret Mead, 1951
Claimed growing disrespect for teachers was due to rapid change in US society, young people saw formal education as irrelevant
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey + Institute of Sexual Research at Indiana University
Published Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female (1953)
Claimed 95% of males had been sexually active by 15
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
Censorship
1953, 13 states passed laws regulating sale of comic books + censoring depictions of ‘inappropriate behaviour’
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
Teenage Gangs
Reported on by Newsweek and Time magazines
Ranged in size from 10 to 250 members, prevalent/numerous in Chicago and NYC slums
Frequently divided by ethnic groups
Fears of Juvenile Delinquency
Counterpoint
Despite fears, no increase in juvenile delinquency, some attribute anxiety to generational antipathy
Many teens didn’t rebel, worries about conformist younger generation who lacked American dynamism - ‘Silent generation’
The Beat Generation
Overview
Mostly middle class, rejected materialism, consumer culture, and conformity
Columbia University students - Allen Ginsburg + Jack Kerouac
1948 - First use of terms ‘beat’ and ‘beat generation’ by Kerouac
The Beat Generation
Allen Ginsburg
Acclaim in 1956 after public readings of ‘Howl’ (poem written under influence of drugs about drugs, homosexuality, non-conformity)
San Fran police seized copies, subsequent trial attracted national attention
The Beat Generation
Jack Kerouac
Started writing a book about travels in 1951
Uni dropout + US Navy reject
Viking published On the Road (1957) after removal of description of drug use + homosexual practices
Recieved critical acclaim
The Beat Generation
How Many?
Difficult to estimate
150 became writers, estimates vary from several hundred to several thousand
Famous ‘beat’ followers include Bob Dylan, Tom Hayden, and Doctor Timothy Leary (Harvard psychologist)
Beatniks
Overview
Superficial version of ‘beats’, known as ‘beatniks’ from 1958
Fashionable to adopt anti-establishment attitude
Keroac considered beatniks pretentious copycats, despite being known as ‘King of the Beatniks’
Beatniks
Characteristics
‘Pad’ in North Beach, San Fran or Greenwich Village, NYC
Sandals or barefoot, long hair, tight jeans, baggy sweaters
Jazz, sex drugs, swearing
Asian religions
Criticism of materialism, authority, police
Challenge of Culture: Music
Scale
Beats + beatniks minority, but rock’n’roll a widespread phenomenon
Challenge of Culture: Music
Development of Rock’n’Roll
First ‘teenage’ music
Combined black music (rhythm and blues) and hillbilly (country and western)
1953 - Cleveland DJ Alan Freed played black artists’ rhythm and blues records, called it ‘rock’n’roll’
White artists began copying it: Bill Haley and his Comets
Challenge of Culture: Music
National Appeal
Bill Haley + Comets single ‘Rock Around the Clock’ appeared in film The Blackboard Jungle, nationwide success
Popular rock’n’rollers included Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley
Challenge of Culture: Music
Group Identity
Popular with young people
Temp jobs + allowances, money spent on records - $182 million in 1954, $521 million in 1960
Time magazine compared concerts to Hitler’s rallies
Psychiatrist described as ‘a communicative disease’
Elvis Presley
Overview
Dubbed King of Rock’N’Roll
Fused** country, rhythm, blues, and gospel**
First single, Heartbreak Hotel, was number one
By end of 1950s appeased older Americans - gospel songs, romantic ballads, polite manners, devotion to mother
Elvis Presley
Criticisms
Nicknamed ‘Elvis the Pelvis’
Filmed from waist up for performance of ‘Hound Dog’ on The Ed Sullivan Show, 9th Sep 1956
Head of Alabama White Citizen’s Council commented on ‘obscenity and vulgarity’ of rock’n’roll - feared black culture
Elvis Presley
Changes by 60s
1959 - Black American Berry Gordy founded Motown record label in Detroit
Launched careers of The Four Tops, and Diana Ross and the Supremes
Platform to nationwide popularity of black American music not seen since jazz (1920s)
