During World War II, many of the nation's young men went off to war, which caused women to take over many of the jobs that had previously been reserved for males. However, during the 1950's the old gender roles were reestablished. Men were supposed to work to support their families, and women were supposed to stay at home and take care of the house. The United States had entered a period of conformity--people were more likely to go along with the current social norms rather than introduce new ideas. This conformity was helped along by the rising popularity of television, which allowed Americans to all see the same thing. TV gave the country a more standardized definition of what was normal.
However, some artists and authors did rebel, and they became known as the "beat generation." In general, American society valued reason over intuition. The beat generation focused on the importance of intuition and spiritualism. They rejected Western religion and instead went with more Eastern religions. A poet who rebelled against modern industrialized civilization was Allen Ginzberg. The police declared that his poem "Howl" was offensive, and so they removed all of the published copies of it. However, Ginberg went to court and won. A very popular singer at that time was Elvis Presley, whose rock and roll songs popularized black music. Many of the people who preferred to conform were shocked by his music and dances.
These social rebellions laid the foundation for bigger changes in the 1960's.
~By Erin M
A well written and concise posting. The facts are interesting and adds to the paragraph.
ReplyDeleteThe posting was well-written and informational. It could have contained a little more about specific cultural trends like food and other entertainment.
ReplyDelete