Culture of 1950s

uniformity pervaded American society

men and women had been forced into new employment patterns

Because

World War II

war was over

traditional roles were reaffirmed

men = breadwinners 🍞

woman = even they worked, assumed their proper place 🏘

Sociologist David Riesman

observed the importance of peer-group

new society "other-directed"

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lead to stability as conformity.

Not all Americans conformed 😠

cultural norms

members of "beat generation"

stressing spontaneity and spirituality

challenge the patterns of respectability and shock the rest of the culture

Allen Ginsberg

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poem "Howl"

critique of modern, mechanized civilization.

won national acclaim

successful court challenge.

Other artists

Elvis Presley

Jackson Pollock

popularized black music in the form of rock and roll

discarded easels and laid out gigantic canvases on the floor

Elvis and demonstrated that there was a white audience for black music

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