Gender, Gender Norms And Sexuality In Gimme Shelter

After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, and other accounts of tragedy, America was in deep melancholy and needed the void filled. When the Beatles stepped off the plane in ’64, they unknowingly initiated the revolution that sent vulnerable Americans out of the depths of

Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of

The seventies is often seen as a lost decade, merged between the optimistic sixties and the opportunistic eighties. Bruce J. Schulman argues, in his book titled, “The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture”, that this period ignores changes brought by the 1970s. This period brought changes in the economy, shifts in culture, politics, race, family and religious values. The United States faced many transformations that helped shape our country to this day. Schulman begins to explain his thesis, “The Seventies transformed American economic and cultural life as much as, if not more than, the revolutions in manners and morals of the 1920s and the 1960s.” The information that I will present will summarize the changes that affected the United

On February 9, 1964, Over 45% of America (roughly 73 million people) watched the Beatles’ debut US performance on the Ed Sullivan show. By the next morning, they had become the next big thing in America. Celebrities and schoolchildren alike were wearing Beatles wigs so that they could imitate their new favorite musical act. They had brought a cheeky sense of humor, long recognizable hair, and a new upbeat pop sound that appealed to the general public. By April 6, they owned the top five hits on the billboard hot 100 list. At one point, the Beatles sang 14 of the Billboard top 100 songs in the country. On the Billboard top selling albums list, they owned the top two albums on the billboard charts at the same time. They won two Grammy’s for 1964: one for best new artist and one for best group performance. They toured in Britain, Australia, and a blockbuster North American tour. Women wanted them and men wanted to be like them. Their fame was completely unrivaled. And that was their success simply in the sphere of music. (Kaplan, 2004).

In the summer of 1969, a music festival known as “Woodstock” took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York with thirty-two musical acts playing, and over 400,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical and peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to promote peace in the world. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. This three day music festival represented the perfect concert for the “baby boomers” during a messy political time. Woodstock significantly impacted the counterculture era of the 1960’s in a number of ways; how it began, the ideas of the concert, the sense of union and love it represented and it

Intro: Like various art forms such as film, television, and literature allows artists to express their own sense of identity, that being nationality, race, class, ethnicity, gender or sexuality. In this case, Queen uses music to illustrate the themes of gender and sexuality through their music video I Want to Break Free (1983). This essay will attempt to discuss how Queen’s music video, I Want to Break Free, explores queerness in relation to queer theory. Firstly, I will introduce the ideas and arguments of queer theory through Gilbert Herdt article Same Sex Different Cultures (1997). I will then discuss Queen’s portrayal of drag within the music video and how it can be seen as queer rather than heterosexual. Lastly, I will argue that

Every memory of the summer of 1969 is connected to, in one way or another, the historical event, Woodstock. The festival could not have left more of an impact on the “hippie” generation anymore than it did those three days of music and peace. The generation of the time wanted nothing more than what they got out of Woodstock. Today, people still look back on the festival and think of how well it made history without the expectance of doing so. Woodstock, one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century, combined iconic musical acts with interesting social behavior.

The spirit of the 1980’s was born of previous decades. America’s victory in World War II hurled the nation into a society which became faster with each decade. The 1950’s, thriving on a time of high job opportunity, rolled into the 1960’s time of activism of human rights for all peoples. Women’s rights, African-American rights, and antiwar dominated the minds of many Americans in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Meanwhile, to the pleasure of the children, cable television’s quality improved and shows transitioned from grayscale to color. As the 1980’s hit with the Cold War stretching for its fortieth

The ugly turn was taken at the Altamont Speedway during a festival promoting free rock music and peace all around. The festival soon turned from carefree to tragedy with one lick of the guitar. The whole idea around the Altamont Speedway music festival was the idea of the ever so present Rolling Stones. The Stones being a rock band, who wanted to, in a way, mimic the basic idea of its predecessors, the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. The idea that the people of the time weren’t about fighting and violence; they were all about loving oneself, loving one another, and most importantly, loving the

“Despite the economic uncertainty, riots and struggles, for us in the U.S. at least, the ’70s are considered a time of freedom, both creatively and sexually. I think there is a desire to go back to that,” said Patricia Mears,

In 1964, The Rolling Stones catapulted to fame amid outrage and controversy about the surliness of their demeanor and the length of their hair. The Stones were considered "dangerous" and riots and scenes of hysteria erupted wherever they played. "Today, they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, winners of the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and on the cover of TIME magazine" (RIAA; History 2 of 4). "There's nothing new about pop and rock music finding its roots in the anger and rebellion of young people, and there's nothing new in older people expressing unrealistic fears about that music" (RIAA; History 3 of 4). History has shown us that what may be initially perceived as objectionable is actually only the reaction of a new or different experience.

The emergence of Rock and Roll was one of the most pivotal moments of our nation’s history. The impact that this genre of music made is still evident in our culture. However, before this genre was able to gain momentum, it faced many cultural conflicts. The book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America by Glenn C. Altschuler analyzes the impact that rock and roll music has made on American culture. It explores how the Rock and Roll culture was able to roughly integrate and later conflict with preceding cultural values. This is especially apparent in chapters regarding race and sexuality. Overall, Rock and Roll was extremely controversial amongst parents and educators. This new music genre was condemned by the previous generation as

When most people think of the 1950’s or 1960’s, they think of Elvis, Greasers, jukeboxes, Woodstock, and rainbow peace signs and hippie love. Although these symbols are somewhat accurate (and very popular), not many people think about the changes society and culture went through. The 1950’s and 60’s were a time of great change and freedom for many Americans. Everything from World War II, to the gay liberation movement, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped to change society. Many of the views American’s had on topics such as war, gender roles and sexual preference were changed greatly after these events and have led to our culture being what it is today. The 1950’s and 1960’s were a time where great changes took place that helped to

The Sixties were an exciting revolutionary period with great cultural change. Some people called it the “decade of discontent” (Britannica) due to the race riots in Detroit and La, and the demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Other people called it the decade of “peace, love, and harmony” (Woodstock 69). This decade was identified as such as a result of the peace movement and the emergence of the flower children. (Britannica) The sixties were about assassination, unforgettable fashion, new styles of music, civil rights, gay and women’s liberation, Vietnam, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, peace marches, sexual freedom, drug experimentation, and Woodstock. All of these components caused a revolutionary change in the

The 1960s were times of revolution and change among society in America. The main aspect of this decade was social change. This social change was due in large part to up and coming artists such as The Beatles. The impact The Beatles had on society and society’s standards in the 1960s was so massive that their influences would last long into the future, even after the breakup of the band. The strides not only being made in music but in the culture of America were ones that would last for decades. Even today, 46 years after the breakup, the Beatles legacy is still kept alive through tributes and record sales are still skyrocketing. The Beatles were the most influential band of all time due to their immense impact on American pop culture, the lasting effect they had on the way music is made and produced, and the inspiration they provided to artists of the 20th and 21st century.