Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll: American Youth Challenge Sexual Stereotypes

During the mid-twenties, some the Statesnsespeci everyy young college studentsch both(prenominal)enged traditional notions of proper demeanor. encourage by the decades prosperity, young people threw disseveries, drank illegal hard liquor, and danced new, in m antiquatedally suggestive steps at jazz clubs. The 1920s saw a restless culture, spearheaded by Americas younker rebelling once morest the moral restrictions of bygone generations.After decades where a children directly married and entered liberalhood the 1920s saw an military issue of a new group of people who were willing to push tender norms, rebel against strict hidebound values of their parents and shape culturally a relatively new society. The emergence of a spring chicken culture was attainable because of the rapid growth of sex, drugs and oscillate and roll a clipping where conservative ideologies were imposed on liberal minds and a new rebellious youth society was born.The Sex The flapper, one of the s ymbols of the 1920s, a new term apply to describe a new group of young women who wore excessive makeup, drank, tough sex in a causal manner, smoke, drove automobiles and amongst everything discarded fond and cozy norms. The typical flapper quality was tomboyish and flamboyant short bobbed bull knee-length, fringed skirts, draping necklaces and rol conduct stockings (Meyerowitz, 1275). The flappers behaviour was considered outlandish at the sequence, as it redefined womens roles in society.These women began working distant of the kinsfolk, thus challenging womens traditional societal roles they advocated for womens rights and be lay downd in umteen circumstances kindred men. Although few women actually fit this image, it was used widely in journalism and advertising to represent the rebelliousness of the period. The flapper was portrayed in many another(prenominal) Hollywood films and this new independent women attacked to em position other women to do the same. The fo undation of flappers into daily life through media allowed for Americans to be introduced to more liberal ways of thinking which allowed for the beginnings of the sexual revolution.Although all women were drawn to the rebellious ways of the flapper, many young urbanized women clung on to this new means of dress and behaviour and further questioned American social norms close to sex and the role of women outside of the home. In addition with new social thinking and activities came new social conventions. Most prominently among the youth of the 1920s, sex became far less tabu than it had been previously. The sexual revolution was a social outlook that challenged traditional codes of appearance which related to sexual urge and traffichips between women and men.This revolution took place throughout the westerly world especially in the unite States from the 1920s until the mid 1970s. many another(prenominal) of the removes brought about through the sexual revolution developed in to new mainstream codes of sexual behavior. More and more of Americas youth both males and females alike were adopting these new sexual norms which were depicted in films and advertisements, this led to an increase in pre-marital sex and the intromission of casual dating into society.This increase in sex amongst non-married youth led naturally to the promotion of birth work, first-year with the condom, and secondly the birth control pill introduced in 1960 which allowed for women for the first clock to choose if and when they wanted to become mothers (Tice, 153). These new methods of birth control brought with it changing ideas about women female sexuality was less suppressed, skirt hems were worn high, and makeup became more common.This change from a more conservative representation of women and men into a more rich depiction points a change in a societal and cultural outlook of what is acceptable. Jumping on this new more liberated bandwagon many companies depicted the new social norms in their advertisements Sex was more openly discussed and pre-marital sex more common these new less traditional ideas about sex and sexual relationships was traveling fast across America to very more than dismay of the older more conservative generation.The TV, a device of privy communication along with other media outlets much(prenominal) as radios and magazines could channel knowledge in a matter of seconds to millions of people this large audience was broadcast ideas which transformed into social norms such as consumerism and sexual liberation. Sex and pre-marital relations were demonstrated in films, advertisements and talked about on the radio. People across the hoidenish were being introduced to these new less conservative ideas and a growing youth population was adopting these new values.Appendix A (a coke add from the 1030s) demonstrates the change in the way that women were portrayed in advertisements. The female character on the left over(p) from 188 6 where she is fully clothed and proper, whereas the female character on the right from 1936, altogether 50 course of studys later is dressed in solely a bathing suit and is revealing much more skin. These advertisements demonstrated the change in society, through only 50 years what Americans deemed acceptable changed drastically and this is largely due to the sexual revolution started in part by Americas youth. The DrugsProhibition in the United States was a subject area ban, which made it illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcoholic beverages, went into effect from 1920 to 1933. Enforcement of prohibition, however, was sporadic, below funded and faced opposition in many northern states and cities. Bootleggers smuggled liquor from the West Indies and Canada, while saloons in every city provided alcohol illegally. create crime controlled the distri barelyion of alcohol in major American cities, and gangsters such as Al Capone made a fortune while practice of law enforc ement officials often looked the other way.Capones income in 1927 was reportedly over $1 million, while the average Americans income was below $2,500 (Harding, 1275-1276). Once again the more liberal minds of American youth along with many northerners who were apposed to this amendment refused to endorse by these laws. Many southerners believed that the only behaviour associated with alcohol was mischief, fighting, gambling, and pre-marital sexual relations. The 1920s saw a growth of popular recreation, in part because of higher wages and increased leisure time.Mass circulation magazines like Readers digest and Time because hugely successful, radio rose in prominence as a stock of news and entertainment, movies were an immensely popular leisure activity that children youths and givings alike all participated in and they all promoted the consumption of alcohol and tobacco (Glantz, 321). The ban on alcohol in America was lifted in part to attempt to restore economic prosperity dur ing the great depression and in part to satisfy the desires of many liberal thinkers, northerners and youth who possessed a disrespect for these constitutional amendments.By the mid 1950s, when the consumption of alcohol was less taboo in the American society even Coca-Cola ads incorporated the use of their product with the bargain and consumption of alcohol. Appendix B (coke add from the 1960s) demonstrates the willingness of Coca-Cola advertisers to associate their product with trade wines, and in later years Coca-Cola adds were associated with hard liquor stating that their product was miscible. The Rock & Roll The 1920s marked amazing changes to the already thriving unison industry, the introduction of the phonograph.This instrument allowed the distribution of music to flow much more freely, surpassing sales of both piano rolls and sheet music put together. The decade also marked the dawning of independent move into labels which would in the latter part of the century spaw n its own genre of music known as Indy. The two most popular form of music at the time was a typical ballroom style the bland boring song of yesteryear, but then a serious was heard by the masses of which they never heard, it came booming from the bayou of a juvenile Orleans and it was called jazz.Upon its first introduction to the masses jazz was a moneymaking(prenominal) success until the public found out that it was typically written and performed by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Duke Ellington all well known African American jazz artists preformed their upbeat melodies over the radio and in small bar giving a voice to African American culture and struggles (Aabery, 17). In and era of which racism was still rampant it was very difficult for the adult public to accept the music not for what it was but for who performed it.Alas it came down to Americas youth who finding jazz was similar in supposition to their parents ballroom but with a more up beat beat which encourage dancing , the teens rebelled against their parents clear cut bigot beliefs and began listening to it giving jazz its true(p) introduction into American homes in the late twenties. This was not the last time that teenage rebellion would give birth to new music trends . The 1960s could easily be considered a time where rock and roll was unfeignedly born.The 1960s bred an era of conformity men wore 3 piece suits daylight and night, women were stay at home mothers whos place was in the kitchen and children were to stick out my their parents wishes to the letter. A booming economy and a booming population the United States all was well though they were completely unaware that there was a pending invasion from Britain which would change their country in ways they could never imagine. The British Invasion began in late 1962 introducing a true rock band to American youths, The Beetles.Banned from their own countrys airwaves by their organisation the Beetles m usic debuted in the United States in the pass of 1962 igniting teens with a passion in which the likes would never be put throughn again. Banned in its own country and almost immediately band from every home by its adult occupants it was at first difficult to listen to until some(prenominal) business would play rock music in their stores to attract junior peoples business . Establishments like Malt Shoppes became places of congregation for teenagers looking to get a taste of their favorite drink and a bit of good old rock and roll.Soon the fandom of Americas youth became hysterical lines of screaming fans would wait all day to get a glimpse of their favorite bands, young women swooning and fainting at the mere sight of their idols who were in their parents minds the least reputable characters to ever look up to, they didnt cut their hair, the wore strange clothes and spoke all to freely, traits which soon would be inherent in the majority of all American teens.This Also Gave bi rth the idea of free thinking teens who for the first time picked up an instrument and began to play because it was deemed cool by the media, who rebelled not only against their parents particular views but the law, sit ins in parks, walk outs in schools and riots in the streets were just the beginning of what appeared to be a very long decade, until lastly it all came to a boiling point in the penultimate year of the 1960s.Until finally in 1969 it all boiled over on a 600 acre dairy farm in the town of Bethl, New York, Thousands of people flocked to see all of their favourite rock bands perform at what would come to be known as Woodstock, a festival that united for the first time in the history of the country people of every race, color, and gender all in one place for a single purpose, an event that would not be seen for nearly another 30 years (Pompper et Al, 276-279).Showing truly the power of individuality which the youth of America possessed to not survive but thrive in a sea of conformity of which their parents had built well-nigh them proving to the world that it could be changed. You would hardly be able to see a Coca-Cola add after the mid 1940s which was not directly publicize towards American youth. It was geared towards the new generation, full of liberal values and ideas of consumerism they were for the first time in the history of America the haves as opposed to the have nots.Coca-Cola ads featured American heros such as baseball game star Babe Ruth or boxer Jack Dempsey. Coca-Cola ads demonstrate the progression of many things throughout American life in the twentieth century however evident is the transformation from a conservative adult run society to a more liberal youth oriented one. The introduction of sex, drugs and rock and roll into the American way of life by youths throughout the 2oth century has redefined social and sexual norms.