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The Artistic Revolution Of The Vietnam War

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The Artistic Revolution of the Vietnam War A massive artistic change begins with a sense of something about this is wrong. The next step is anger against the wrong and a decision to rectify it. Later, the anger and need for change bleed into every artistic form to revolutionize culture itself. There is no better example of a counter-culture movement than America in the 1960’s, as defiance of previous social norms took place in the Civil Rights movement, the beginning of feminism, and the construction of a radical “hippie” lifestyle. Through cultural changes came rapid controversial evolution in the arts, particularly in music and fashion. In the 1960’s the civil rights movement produced two major changes: the Civil Rights Act and Voting …show more content…

However, women were still treated unequally in the workplace, often given inferior positions. Feminists thought they could bring their cause into the leftist organizations forming in opposition to the Vietnam War, only to find even young radicals were unwilling to fight for women’s rights. Women did often rise to leadership positions in these organizations, yet their contributions were rarely acknowledged. However, the mid-60s hippie movement and particularly the introduction of led women to question gender roles. They now could consider more long-term careers and promotions without the expectation of quitting due to pregnancy, and they had more sexual freedom. While feminist music didn’t fully enter the mix until the 1970’s, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” became a hit song that appealed to the mainstream but was clearly a strong feminist anthem. Another major factor in the spread of feminism was the incredibly influential band the Beatles, the members of which, according Unlike many rock ‘n roll bands, most Beatles love songs did not present women as inferior to men, and several were written from the viewpoint of men apologizing to women for mistreatment—an extreme rarity at the time. More prevalent than feminist music in the 60’s were changes in an everyday, widespread form of art: fashion. From bra burning to …show more content…

While “hippies” listened to rock ‘n roll, experimented with drugs, and embraced the peace-love-sex lifestyle, their most shocking form of self-expression was in fashion. This meant exchanging neat crew and short “poodle” cuts for long hair, painting flowers on their faces and wearing them on their clothes, and showing skin. As stated previously, women took advantage of hippie culture to embrace more controversial styles: from miniskirts to jeans to rejecting makeup, “flower children” searched for freedom from previous social mandates. In style and lyrical content, the hippie culture was evident in popular

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