Conformity In The 1950's Essay

The music of the 1960s and 1970s definitely had an impact on culture and society in the United States. Protest music, specifically, brought ideas, as well as problems, to the attention of many Americans. Radio stations across the nation were a big part of the spread of protest music. Radio experienced a boom after World War II. Stations started appearing all over, which meant more people could be reached. The messages written in popularized protest songs were heard over the radio by people who otherwise may not have gotten the chance to hear the artists.

The 1950s was an important year for fashion and for African Americans. A few things that were important in the fifties was segregation, fashion and the influence that the fifties had on fashion.

Elvis faced many obstacles during his 24 years as the “King” he faced racial controversy, musical barriers, and bad press in order to help create Rock and Roll music. Long before Rock n Roll was created or even thought of, the musical world was divided over petty differences. One of the many reasons why music was divided was the heavy racism that plagued the United States since the end of slavery. Another reason why music was divided was the fact of a huge generation gap, or difference between parent and child. These are some of the challenges that Elvis faced.

All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America showcased how one aspect of the Cultural Revolution during the 1950s and 1960s supplemented the perfect storm of social reforms. The first half of the book, Dr. Glenn Altschuler, largely focused on how rock ‘n’ roll and those who wrote and produced it stirred up topics such as race and sexuality. As with any new social or cultural shift, rock ‘n’ roll faced an almost immediate resistance from both religious and fundamentalist extremists. In most cases, it was the same types of people that opposed rock ‘n’ roll also opposed other major social reforms such as racial integration.

We are all told that there is a wrong and right way to live our lives. These people are referring to conforming and not conforming to society. Conformity is a noun that means, “compliance with standards, rules, or laws.” The degrees of conforming go from wearing clothes in public like everyone else to following everything everyone does. There are many pieces of literature on this topic. A novel, short story, and poem proves that conformity is the dull way to live life and keeping individuality may be hard, but is worth it. In M.T. Anderson’s novel Feed, it shows the readers that conforming takes away diversity and makes it easier for a government or powerful business to take over and dictate the world. In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison

Rock music in the 1960s was egalitarian, eclectic, and real based on a number of reasons. To explain the 'real' piece of rock music in the 1960s, one would have to know that there was war going on overseas that didn't make sense to Americans as to why it was going on (the Vietnam war). There was also still severe inequality between blacks and whites causing protests to occur via the Civil Rights movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There was inequality between women and mens rights. These issues caused dissatisfaction to occur in the American people. What better way to vent dissatisfaction than through music! Also in addition to the frustrations described above, teen rebellion from the parental obligations was also in full swing. The result of this was 'free love' and experimenting with drugs. This led to creative, and mind you interesting, rock that Americans loved like "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles. Aside from the above,

The United States had appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s. The fifties were the decade of reform to the better led by president Eisenhower. The economy was booming. Further, there was a rise in consumerism which resulted in a domino effect on the economy. On the other hand, issues arose during that time as well, such as the fear of communism. Additionally, disagreements and rebellions. The 1950s was characterized as a prosperous and conformist for several reasons. For instance, the development of the suburbs. The fifties was a period of civil rights groups, feminism, and change.

Jimi Hendrix formerly stated, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” A generation which was earnestly devoted to peace, protest, and revolution, the counterculture amongst the 1960’s yearned for change. Rock and roll was far beyond just a genre of music; it influenced lifestyles, protests, and attitudes, thus, kindling an awakening in the youth of American culture. The distinction between parental and youth culture was a persistent root of concern, considering that teens throughout the world found a sense of belonging in this style of music. Differing racial and social groups brewed, worrying the older generations of social

Elvis Presley has had more impact on American society and culture than any other person in history for the three following reasons; his large contribution to the start of the generation gap in the 1950’s, his huge impact on rock ‘n’ roll music, and finally, his music opened a door for some integration between races.

With an estimated one billion units sold and counting, Elvis Presley is thought to be the most commercially successful solo musical artist of all time (Meacham 1) Born in Tupelo Mississippi and later relocating to Memphis Tennessee, Elvis was a natural star. Elvis won a high school talent show by singing and playing his guitar, earning the most applause out of any of the contestants. He would soon after that become a trucker, but his dreams of becoming a star were not crushed yet. Elvis gyrated his hips into America's heart as the most influential figure in American history.

Now, people didn’t have to wait for the daily paper to look at ads, they wouldn’t have to go any farther than switching the television on and sitting in their living room. There was new music hitting the streets and, although, not everyone appreciated the music it sure made a bang in the 1950’s. A new music era was becoming more and more popular, it was called Rock and Roll. By 1955, Little Richard, was an up and coming Rock and Roller from the south. The progress of music from earlier years to the mid 1950’s was great. Not long after, Little Richard, in 1956, Elvis Presley, made his debut and in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis. Music attached to those particular names gave people a way to express themselves, the music gave people an idol that “understood” them. Rock and Roll also gave people back in the 1950’s freedom to be who they wanted to

For my second experiential learning assignment, I decided to break a social norm while going out to eat with my family at a restaurant: granted this is something I have a habit of doing but the reaction I got from my dining mates was particularly interesting this time. To give a little bit of background of the setting I was in at the time, I was with my mother, younger brother, and my mother’s friend at a restaurant in DC for my birthday dinner. The restaurant was crowded, but not many people were paying attention to what we were doing. The behavior I decided to break was dipping my fingers in the container caramel was in and then proceeded lick my fingers after doing so. I choose to break this social norm because one, the caramel sauce was really good, and two I was testing to see if my mother would say anything: normally on my birthday she lets me get away with

The Cold War refers to the hostile political relations between the Soviet bloc countries, and the US-led Western powers from 1945-1991, resulting from ideological and political differences (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cold-war). It is considered one of the most important events of the 20th century, and its effect can still be seen in contemporary world affairs. The Cold War was characterized by the omnipresent feeling of distrust, suspicion and fear. In the United States, this culture of fear was often called the Red Scare, or the era of McCarthyism. It was most prominent during the early fifties, but started to die down when Senator McCarthy was discredited and relations between the US and USSR thawed.

During the beginning of rock n’ roll, African Americans were trying to gain civil rights causing many conflicts between the music and race. Altschuler does a very good job on incorporating the historical events that took place as rock n’ roll began to emerge such as, Dr. King’s speech, the court case Brown vs. Board of Education, and a major integration at Little Rock Central High School. One of the biggest conflicts was that rock n’ roll music was not supportive of integration and many time criticized to a great extent. Other aspects that were made discussed throughout these two chapters were the different artist and how they did not support their own race and even some would not play at segregated venues, which included Domino and Nat Cole. Artist, such as Ballard, were condemned for the lyrics in their songs that were many times expressive towards sexuality. However for this time period the children were taught to not have sex until after married through ways of religion and parenting, but with lyrics from the Dominoes such as “There’ll be fifteen minutes of kissin’ / Then you’ll holler, please don’t stop / There will be fifteen minutes of teasin’, / And fifteen minutes of squeezin’ / And fifteen minutes of blowin’ my top” there was a lot of anxiety from the parents of these

It corrupted youths thoughts and ideas while making the peaceful time into an era of rebellious teens. Rock and roll is genre that encourages rebellion within youth. The rebellion ties in with violence as portrayed in the movie Blackboard Jungle. The movie is about kids who are passionate about rock and roll, and how it led to violence/rebellion at a high school. The movie features Bill Haley’s recording of Rock Around the Clock. The lyrics of most rock and roll songs were provocative and dirty. However, the film was a hit and the song was history’s most successful rock single(Birth of the Cool- in class notes). Teenagers before the 1950s would dance and express themselves through classical and American pop music. During the 1950s, the teenagers of the newer generation expressed themselves through a different genre of music, rock and roll. It was exactly the same cycle that the newer generations’ parents went through as teenagers. The only difference being the times (document 10). However, rock and roll is sung mostly by uneducated people who use “sly, lewd, in plain fact, dirty lyrics.” The people who would usually sing or write these songs were delinquents, rule breakers, and imbeciles. They would encourage the teens to rebel against their parents ideology(document 9). The new era of rock and roll was the cause of many rebellious teens in the 1950s which led to violence and new ways of thinking. It allowed teens to