...Consumerisms Effect Consumerisms Effect Consumerism is defined as, “the theory that an increasing consumption to goods is economically desirable; also: a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods” (“Consumerism,” n.d.). With this said, is consumerism healthy for anyone who is involved? From American cultures birth after the revolutionary war, this society has relished the flattery of consumerism. The search for wealth, material goods, and happiness has no boundaries in this society. Although some positive influences exist within consumerisms definition, a darker side to this phenomenon cannot be over looked. Consumerism reflects many negative human attributes and its increase is adversely affecting American culture, societal equalities, and the environment. Consumerism, in all its forms, has been around since the earliest times of American culture. From the earliest time of America, directly after the Revolutionary War, this attitude of need and want for material good and what was considered the best was very evident. One would think that during a life altering divide of nations the concept of consumerism would stop between them, but during this time, Americans still sought British goods. A high perceived value and thought pattern that these goods were of superior quality allowed these items to become a status symbol for early Americans. George Washington, weeks after signing a peace treaty with Britain, ordered a large...
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...Introduction The 1960s Counterculture was an agitation for better governance and a restoration of the dreams of the founding fathers of democracy. It was a movement that was both political and social as the people that found it appealing were disgusted by the hypocrisy of the ruling class and social challenges such as racism and poverty. The 1960s counterculture appealed to many young people, who were also its primary proponents. This essay examines why the younger generation took the lead in demanding for political and social changes during this era. “The Port Huron Statement” The “Port Huron Statement” was made by the Students for a Democratic Society movement in 1962. The statement was made by the students’ group to express the dissatisfaction...
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...Hippies: How & why did it start? Between 1896 and 1908, a German youth movement arose as a countercultural reaction to the organized social and cultural clubs that centered around German folk music. Known as Der Wandervogel ("migratory bird"), the movement opposed the formality of traditional German clubs, instead emphasizing amateur music and singing, creative dress, and communal outings involving hiking and camping.[15] Inspired by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Goethe, Hermann Hesse, and Eduard Baltzer, Wandervogel attracted thousands of young Germans who rejected the rapid trend toward urbanization and yearned for the pagan, back-to-nature spiritual life of their ancestors.[16] During the first several decades of the 20th century, Germans settled around the United States, bringing the values of the Wandervogel with them. Some opened the first health food stores, and many moved to Southern California where they could practice an alternative lifestyle in a warm climate. Over time, young Americans adopted the beliefs and practices of the new immigrants. One group, called the "Nature Boys", took to the California desert and raised organic food, espousing a back-to-nature lifestyle like the Wandervogel.[17] Songwriter Eden Ahbez wrote a hit song called Nature Boy inspired by Robert Bootzin (Gypsy Boots), who helped popularize health-consciousness, yoga, and organic food in the United States Music: Hippies use music to express themselves emotionally, spiritually...
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...Which Subcultures influence to modern fashion 1 Contents. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………......4 Chapter 1. Cholo subculture………………………………………………………………...4 Chapter 2. Psychedelia of hippies……………………………………………....5 Chapter 3. Bloomers. Sport style………………………………………………..7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………..10 List of references…………………………………………………………………………………10 List of figures………………………………………………………………………………………11 2 Abstract Fashion is dynamic - it constantly changes. Moreover, some people choose the behavior or lifestyle influenced by fashion trends. Each subculture strive to create their own, such as to disassociate itself from the conventional, to preserve its originality and identity. However, some subcultures have other, and creating their own distinctive culture, they develop and enrich human culture in general. This article examines the relationship between few subcultures and the currently fashion through an analysis of Cholo subculture, psychedelia of hippie and sport style. Since the time of 20s century designers drew inspiration from street fashion and various subcultures that have their own unique style. 3 Introduction According to the 'Oxford English Dictionary online' defines a...
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...Culture Wars in the 1960s The 1960s were all about changing the way America viewed sacred things like civil rights, war, and various other objects the counterculture was rallying for. Before this life-changing decade these things were near irrelevant, they were normal and not expected to change. However, during the 1960s these arguments were unavoidable and it was traditional people, typically the elders or parents of the generation, vs the new agers, young adults of the generation. The issues debated in the 60s stirred great conflict between the “religious” elders and the “secular” youths, by facing tradition against charisma, which brought together each of the groups since they needed to rely on each other to develop their argument. The elderly people in the 60s who were not for desegregation, anti-war, nor the new counterculture were categorized as “normative Americans who continued to believe in God, hard work, American exceptionalism,… and “traditional gender roles” (Snyder). This categorization defines them as the “religious” portion of this argument since they identified with believing in God. They were a hard group to get to budge on what they believed since for years prior to the 60s they ignored the efforts made by the younger generations to change the world. The elderly being set in their ways adheres to Smith’s argument that “A little more than half of emerging adults remain quite stable in their levels of religious commitment”(Smith,282)....
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...What Defines a Hipster? The hipster is a fascinating example of authenticity and irony within individuals, and their attitude towards commercialism and the mainstream media and style has been determined as rebellious. But, what are they, and how exactly do they display these traits? What’s up with their beards, “beanie” hats, and alternative rock band tees? According to Bjørn Schiermer (2014, pg. 169), the term hipster originated in late the 1940s, and “was a term for the decadent connoisseurism and over-refinement of late black jazz culture”. Schiermer also imparts, in an interview with Laurie Taylor, that the “hipster culture is no traditional subculture, it’s less uniform” (Taylor, 2014; Schiermer, 2014). Schiemer also voices the culture explores and appreciates what previous generations did not (Taylor, 2014; Schiermer, 2014). Urban Dictionary informs that, by a contributor by the alias of Trey Parasuco (2006), the modern hipster is defined as a subculture of men and women in their 20’s to 30’s who value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics. They also appreciate the art of indie-rock and exploit creativity, intelligence, and witty banter (Parasuco, 2006). Lauren Alfrey (2008) contributes to Parasuco’s (2006) definition, stating that hipsters are not identifiable in terms of race or class, but solely from their actions and personal tastes. Bjørn Schiermer (2014) humorously quotes multiple fictional “guides”, one authored by Robert Lanham, The Hipster...
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...Girl interrupted The 1960s was a decade of tumult and change. It was a shift in almost everything, from values, music and norms, from collar-workers to flower-children. Counterculture and hippies were essentially what summed up the rebellion in the 60s. It was a whole new generation of baby-boomers, who came of age as teenagers and adolescents and older generations were against the rejection of traditional values and the new unconventional ways of the baby-boomers, which were strange and scary to them. Susanna Kaysen was also a young adult during the late rise of the 60s’ youth culture. She’s the author of the autobiography, Girl Interrupted, in which she writes about her own experience at a mental institution back in end of the 1960s. Through her memoirs and description of the society back then, Susanna Kaysen throws light upon the generation gap and the problems and complications during the social revolution in the 60s. A doctor, who Susanna has never met before, suggests after a 20-minute interview, that she should be admitted to a mental institution. She agrees, thinking it’s only for a short time, but few weeks turned out to be two years. In the excerpt, she reflects on her own conceptions of reality and tells about how her and other patients at the mental institute sat by quietly, when the world was raging outside and moving on, while they were on standby. 18 years old Susanna questions her own diagnosis, Borderline. At such early age, she has already tried a lot...
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...Influence of the 1960s The sixties were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change in the cultural fabric of American life. No longer content to be images of the generation ahead of them, young people wanted change. The changes affected education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment. Many of the revolutionary ideas which began in the sixties are continuing to evolve today (Bradley & Goodwin, 2010). Because of the sixties, I was able to grow up in a neighborhood where different cultures live harmoniously. Before the sixties, non-white people were not allowed to mixed-in with the white families. It is because of the 60s that one neighborhood can include a Hispanic family, and Asian family and an African-American family (Carter, 2010). The Civil Rights Act of 1965 gave more people the right to vote and took down the obstacles which prevented many people from participating in democracy and exercising their full rights as citizens. This enabled me to exercise my right as an individual living in the United States. The Civil Rights Act provided not only me but a lot of people the right to be vote, be heard, and express their opinion (Farber, 1994). The legacy of the 1960s can be seen including society and family structure in America. America. American society is more...
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...greed and getting into other nation’s business, instead of taking care of our own nation. I, as a voter, voted for the politicians who I trust that will honor to serve my nation, state, and city. They are like palm trees, first they grow straight when elected, then they start bending towards the other side, and their palms (hands) are always open, and last their nuts at when their on top. I know I am the oldest in my class, and during my days I was considered the Baby Boomers. People born in the 1950s and early 1960s are Baby Boomers, named because there were so many of us. As we started having children in the 1970s, this was a group who tore away from the traditions of the 50s and 60s, but later found out that they were the first generation to have less than their parents. The children of the Baby Boomers born primarily early 60s to late 70s are called Generation X. If you were born in the 80s you are Generation Y. In today’s society people born in the 1950s and 1960s are so different from those who were born in the 1980s who are the Generation Y, because of how they interact with others. During my days and till now it is more verbal, today’s its more non-verbal, however my generation still...
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...How far was the effectiveness of the civil rights movement in the 1960s limited by Internal divisions? Firstly mention the successes of the 1960s * Greensboro Sit-ins 1960, This protest was very effective; it successfully desegregated the Woolworths store by the end of 1960 and all of Woolworths by 1961. By the end of 1962, 700k people protested and 810 southern towns desegregated something which helped to start the erosion of the Jim Crow Laws. But, the foundations for divisions were set, SNCC accused the SCLC of keeping donations and they were displeased with Kings top-down leadership. NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall called SNCC a ‘group of crazy coloured’. Although this didn’t affect this campaign, the co-operation was unsustainable and could be seen as the beginning of the end. * Freedom rides 1961, This again was successful in the respect that Supreme Court rulings MORGAN V VIRGINIA 1946 and BOYNTON V VIRGINIA 1960 were upheld, but divisions remained, CORE insisted that the SCLC said that CORE originated the freedom rides, cracks were beginning to widen. * The failure at Albany also helped with the radicalisation of SNCC and CORE, people started to question the effectiveness of peaceful protest. Talk about how when there is collaboration there is usually success, e.g. March on Washington which helped the 1964 Civil rights act go through. Tangible successes (dejure) * Civil Rights Act 1964 outlawed racial discrimination in employment and all forms of segregation...
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...Many controversial issues came up rapidly. The rebellion and violence afflicted the youth of America. The effect was especially bad because of the time period in which they had developed. By the middle 1950s, most of the youth’s parents had jobs that paid well. And they were very satisfied with their lives. They educated their children with what were known as "middle class" ethics. These contained a knowledge in God, hard work, and service to their country. Eventually, much of the youth in America began to question these beliefs. They felt that their parents' values were not enough to help them with the social hardships of the 1960s. They rebelled by against their prior ways by letting their hair grow long, and wearing odd clothing. Their anger was strongly communicated through music. Rock-and-roll music had become very prominent in America in the 1960s. Many people did not approve of it because they thought it was too sexual and demeaning, and they found the words inappropriate and harmful. The beatles came out with a protest song called “Revolution”. A revolution defined is, a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.” This song was mainly about revolting against the social order of our society. They wanted to “change the world” as they state in their song. This reflects the concerns of the society at the time because if the rebel and start a revolution, they can not let the government control everything they do. Therefore the fear of control...
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...LONDON: THE SWINGING CITY Before Affluence and After Austerity SLIDE: London smog 1953 In the mid-1960s, London was the place to be. ‘Fifteen years earlier, few would have predicted that London would soon play host to the most swinging ball of the century’ (Sandbrook, 2006b)[i] In fact Hardy Amies had had a similar opinion when reflecting on the legacy of the Festival of Britain in 1951; nothing in it signalled the onslaught of the Swinging Sixties, making particular reference to the Britishness of design in the shape of Mary Quant and her artistic contemporaries which would have enormous further global impact (Banham & Hillier 1976)[ii]. In retrospect it is understandable; the gloomy and restrictive situation of the country locked in the interminable shackle of debt from which it seemed almost impossible to free itself, gave absolutely no hint at the transformation to come. Historical descriptions of Britain in the 1950s are invariably depressing (Akhtar & Humphries, 2001; Marr, 2007; Kynaston 2008; Sandbrook, 2006ab; Tarrant, 1990; White, 2008)[iii]. The word that tends to sum up these accounts is ‘grey’. Cyril Connolly, the writer and critic wrote in 1947 after the worst winter since records began followed by the worst flooding, that the British people had been reduced to ‘a neuter class …with [ ] drab clothes … - a careworn people … in their shabby raincoats, under a sky permanently dull and lowering like a metal dish-cover.’ (Gardiner, 1999:35)[iv] SLIDE: London...
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...Mary Quant: A woman who completed women and the youth culture During the 1960s, although Great Britain was referred as the empire on which the sun never sets, the nation itself was too busy in replicating and imitating culture and arts of France. Even the young nation, United States had the victory of seizing hegemony right after World War 2, which hurt the Great Britain’s pride. Not only the nation itself but also the people of Great Britain desperately wanted something “British-like,” something of their own. Furthermore, the social issues for wanting individualism, having a will to express their own selves, and second wave of feminism, more liberated life styles for women, erupted across the Western countries. New definitions of youth and femininity were epitomized through fashion typically created by Mary Quant, a British fashion designer. She had not only helped translating a generation of women, but also helped the failing British fashion industry into a thriving commercialism. Mary Quant was born in London, 1934. She studied illustration at Goldsmith College of Art and met her future husband, Alexander Plunket Greene and a former solicitor, Archie Mcnair. When she failed to become an art teacher, she teamed up with her husband and Mcnair to open up a boutique called Bazaar in Kings Road, London. In the beginning, she planned to buy clothes from the private wholesalers and sell it as retail items at her boutique, but with the limited designs, which...
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...Abstract There is no doubt that as the American society has advanced technologically, economically, and politically over the decades that the positive and negative effects have trickled down into family structures. As time has passed, parenting rolls have changed and these altered rolls have led to an advanced but weaker society. It has been documented in the history books that the 1960s was one decade full of turmoil and change. During those times the United States was a country that was suffering from social, racial, and gender intolerance that sparked events that would transform this nation and propel it into the future. Women in the 60s were paid salaries well below that of men in every occupation. As time and our civilization have progressed, minority groups and women have both been granted equal rights with the rest of the American citizens. Changes to the family structures have been changed in light of equal rights. Over the past forty years notable changes include changes in women and men roles, increases in divorce rates, and the effects the role reversals have had on the children. Over a century ago more than two-thirds of household consisted of an employed husband, while the wives stayed home with the children. (Mintz, 2012). We all are aware that has changed. Women with children are more likely to work a fulltime job as well as her husband. Studies show that in 2010 there were more American women employed than men. (Castelloe, 2011). In addition, slightly...
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...Was permissive legislation in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s a response to social change or did it create it? In 1959, six years before becoming Labour’s Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins said that ‘the state should not impinge excessively on peoples private lives and personal morality’. Permissiveness is routed in this idea of a new relationship between society and the individual, representing ‘striking changes in public and private morals’. According to Andrews, social change began in 1956 with a ‘class initiative’, caused by rapidly growing affluence. The affluence of the 1950s is proven by the proportion of homeowners in England and Wales rising from 31% to 44% between 1951-60, representing vast economic growth. Many politicians, particularly those on the Left, believed that ‘the affluent society was directly responsible for the permissive society’. Rising affluence occurred amid the re-emergence of Conservative values in the post-World War Two period, with Brown claiming that ‘the 1950s were about perfecting Victorian values’. The conservatism of the 1950s gave the 1960s a cause for rebellion, creating the unique conditions for permissive legislation to be passed. This paper will focus on acts passed between 1967-1970, including the Abortion, NHS (Family Planning) and the Sexual Offences Acts of 1967, the Divorce Reform Acts (1969), and in 1970 the Matrimonial Property Act. These permissive acts symbolised the breakdown of Victorian and Christian morals, particularly surrounding...
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