Subculture In The 1960s

The early 1960’s to mid 1970s was the start of the counterculture of youth culture. During the 1960’s, there were revolutions including a sexual revolution, a cultural/ racial revolution, a rights revolution, and student revolutions. In addition to revolutions, there also a focus on the transition to adulthood, popularity, consumption, anxiety, and the media. However the movie, American Graffiti, which was set in the 1962 (1960s)–before the peak of 1960’s counterculture–and released in 1973 (1970’s) displays an environment more focused on the anxiety of transitioning to adulthood, dating, and consumerism--music and cars. American Graffiti compared to the set and release dates share similarities with the counterculture, but are depicted in

The fifties and sixties were completely different in so many ways; the times had changed a lot in the transition of decades. The types of music, for one, were in great contrast. By the sixties the rock-'n'-roll and pelvic thrusting of the fifties had transformed into the pop, rock and folk music of the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Teenagers changed a lot over the two decades a lot, too. The tight pant, leather jacket bodgies, with their greased hair, and the widgies, with their rope petticoats and flared dresses, were replaced by the teenagers of the Psychedelic era. These teenagers preferred the swirled shapes and bright colours, with their newly found mini-skirts, and for the guys it was paisley shirts.

The centuries of prejudice and oppression inflicted upon minorities and women were the precedent for the protests by civil and social groups during the 1960s. These groups formed to promote equality among all US citizens; African Americans especially were craving for this change:

Australian popular culture in the 1960s had multiple features, many of which were influenced by the social changes and counter culture at the time. The primary aspects of Australian popular culture in the 1960s were; music, fashion, film, sport and television.

An early moral panic involves Mods VS Rockers in 1964. Events that were actually just a few scuffles between youths and vandalism were report in an exaggerated way. The media portrayed this event as a ‘Day of Terror’ and words such as ‘Riots’ and ‘battle’ were used. Cohen suggests over reporting of this far outweighed the importance of the actual event. He argues that the media tapped into a social consensus, that all the public shared concerns about the general decline in morality of the young and the emergence of a strong youth culture. Consequently the two groups were perceived in a stereotypical and distorted way.

drug taking, in songs like " Lucy in the sky with diamonds " which the

Music, in the past, has often spelled bad news to society at large. It can challenge norms and invoke a sense of hype in places that modern culture may be uncomfortable with, such as sex, sexuality, and drugs. Personally, when I think of punk music, I see a genre that stands to be individualistic, aggressive, and rebellious. Phrases such as ‘anti-establishment’ also come up. This notion comes from many aspects of punk subculture, including dress, music, performance, and my interpretations.

The peaceful life of the English society of the 1960s was struck by the clashes between the Mods and Rockers. Both Mods and Rockers were called “gangs”, which is a “structure sharing the same ideas, attachments and solidarity” [7]. Every gang usually has its own “interests, activities, membership, and status” [7]. Usually such groups appear spontaneously. Both gangs - Mods and Rockers - “represented opposite tastes with regard to a number of social conventions such as clothing, grooming, music, and so on” [7]. For example, the Mods (modernists) preferred to wear suits and pointed shoes, listen to Jazz and Rhythm & Blues style of music and ride scooters. In their

Most of the original rebellion was directed towards the British class structure. They wanted to express their disapproval of the structure that governed their country. In The Jam’s “Eton Rifles”, the band sarcastically attacks the upper class, calling them arrogant and preaching to them that rugby is the only thing making them strong (Punk 68). The Sex Pistols’ album “God Save The Queen” portrays the Queen of England with a safety pin through her nose on their cover. The reaction to this outburst of shocking rebellion from the mainstream society was a strong, displeased one. American writer Greil Marcus defined punk as, “…refusing the future society has planned for you.” Thousands of social misfits attempted just that. Through the many causes for this rebellious political expression: communism, anarchy, feminism, etc., the punks of England had a focus and a reason. It was this that made the “punk” a valid, yet undesired member of society, and the British public got to see this sociological change first hand (Chamberlain par.8). Although this movement was short lived, its impact was a phenomenon, and its effects were long- lasting, which distinguished this group from previous generations.

The 1960’s remains one of the most controversial decades of the 20th century and is a time of change that shaped the United States into what it is today. During this era, America was facing many issues including, Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, Nuclear Arms, and Non-Conformity. Unhappy with current political and social standards, young Americans began to question the beliefs held by their parents and felt that traditional values were not sufficient during this difficult time. One of the strongest expressions of their dissatisfaction was music. Rock and roll became very popular in the US and was used by many people to voice their protests. These bands also helped encourage racial equality because their members were evaluated based on talent, not skin color. In 1965 musician Stephan Conn stated “Our bands were nearly always integrated, since selection of the best sax man, guitarist or vocalist and not color always governed our choices” (Fonor, 1155). This made equality in society seem attainable, which is why many groups became more vocal in their demands for a more equal and diverse American society.

At the turn of the 1960’s, John F Kennedy famously challenged the American citizenry in his inaugural address to “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” While some enlisted to join the fight in Vietnam, others joined the Peace Corps. Others involved themselves in local politics and their counterparts, often referred to as nonconformists, formed their own organizations. With vastly different ideals of America’s path to future success, dissenting groups clashed and the tumultuous counterculture of rainbows, guns, and peace signs that defined the late 1960s was born.

During the 1960s Music was heavily influenced by the political and social events happening at the time. At this time civil rights movements were common as many people were trying to spread the emancipation of racism and segregation. As a result the music of the time tended to reflect this counterculture of peace. This “culture” encompassed civil rights, anti-establishment and, inciting revolution. This was a vital time in history for civil rights activists as well as anti-war revolutionaries and the music industry. From folk music to rock music, everyone was affected by the war and chose to express it through the most international form of art, music. Anti-war activists and counterculture enthusiast craved the music that truly expressed

The differences between the youth culture and the adult culture is that the youth culture was more willing to take risks in their behavior, probably due to the fact that they are young in the first place and having less responsibility than their adult counterparts. The youth in the 1960s had developed a bit of an edginess to them because of the changing political

Popular Culture in Britain at the Beginning of the 1960s In this essay I will describe the key features of popular culture in Britain at the beginning of the 1960s. In the late 40-50s, life was drab, uniform and restrained. People generally had a low standard of living as a result of the Second World War. This was formally known as austerity.

The teddy boys in the 1950s and 60s wore Edwardian suits and cropped hair, and created violence on the streets. Next were the Mods and the Rockers of the 1960s, the former dressed up in tailored suits and desired to be the upper class whereas the latter wore leather jackets and went against the upper class principles. Britain’s declining economy and the immigration of foreigners led to the emergence of the violent Skinheads who were extreme nationalists and racists. British media theorist and sociologist Dick Hebdige wrote in his book subculture: the meaning of style that “we are interested in subculture , the teddy boys and mods and rockers, the skinheads and the punks – who are alternately dismissed, denounced, canonized; treated at different times as threats to public order and as harmless buffoons (1979,