Cultural Conformity and Challenge Flashcards
(20 cards)
How did the period after WW2 lead to greater social conformity?
hose who experienced the terrible decade of great depression then WW2 were desperate for economic success and stability.
There was lots of pressure to conform to identical ideas and practices from big business, which valued co-operation from company men, and from advertisements which encouraged consumerism.
A common culture was produced from the same media. Also the period after WW2 was continued tension with the USSR. Americans believed this danger required conformity and national unity.
Why did left wing critic Iving Howe say the 1950’s was the ‘Age of Conformity’?
created by cold war politics and a mass society in which, standardisation, co-operation and conformity replaced traditional American values of individualism and self reliance.
Liberals argued that Eisenhower’s popularity and lack of passion for social reform created a bland population (such as boring Levvittowns and Suburbs).
Why did some people, like Stanley Rowland (1956) assume suburban households were republican?
He said everyone in the suburbs buys the right car, keeps their lawn like their neighbour, eats crunchy breakfast cereal and votes Republican. He’s emphasizing how everyone followed the trend and what was popular.
What was the organisation man (William H. Whyte 1956)
Between 1947-1957 the number of salaried middle class workers rose by 61%. This was because of the large corporations exploding who needed people to market and manage. For example, General motors, employed thousands WHITE COLLAR WORKERS.
In the 1950’s critics wrote books about men who worked in big offices or corporations. The lonely crowd by David riesman and william whyte’s the organisation man sold 2 MILLION COPIES.
The organization man summed up the criticisms of suburban, corporate America. Whyte argued that suburban life promoted belonging and that corporate businesses created a new personality known as the organization man, who had to get along with thousands of co workers .
What was Whyte’s views on CONFORMITY and how it began?
To him the large organisations and suburban life threatened individualism that made America great.
Whyte stated how pressure to conform started when Americans were young. Post was high schools introduced courses on socially acceptable behaviour and another school informed its employers that it engineered its graduates into custom built men with the right attitude to work. Whyte said businesses used specific text to ensure conformity, and those who failed were likely to be disadvantaged.
Who was Lewis Mumford, and how did he criticise conformity in Levittowns in his ‘The City in History’
Lewis Mumford criticised the Levvittowns stating that there was a lack of community, and everything was uniform and conformity.
He states that the houses were unidentifiable, there were treeless communal waste, same class, same income, same age group, same TV, eating the same tasteless foods.
He is saying how boring and uniform life is here. I guess this lifestyle was appealing because it was a period of stability and safety for Americans who had gone through terrible things.
How popular was televsion by the early 1960s and why was it more popular than going to the cinema?
By 1960, 90% of American homes had television. Polls in the 1960 reveal that television was the favourite leisure activity for more than 50% Americans
. It was now more popular than movie going. Both television and movies enforced contemporary values and promoted conformity so it was critiqued. I feel like it was more popular maybe because it costed less and was more efficient as you could watch it from home.
Why was television criticised as a dangerous influence?
Critics believed it promoted conformity.
1950’s sitcoms such as father knows best and the adventures of Ozzie and Harriet portrayed the bliss of white middle class suburban families where mothers stayed at home as the ideal.
’ i love lucy’ challenged conformity… and was an example as popular though.
Why did television shows also have to portray the norm/conformity in this time?
They promoted conformity because they were designed for maximum mass appeal. Programmes had sponsors like ad’s and if the programmes didn’t please lots of people it did not get any sponsors. For example in the Nat king Cole show, because Cole was black American, it was harder to obtain sponsors. Sponsors even suggested using white makeup.
Keeping people happy for more sponsors meant that most of the shows were conformed and similar and there was a lack of change.
How did rise of TV cause consumerism, and lead to a decline in education/newspapers?
It also promoted consumerism through non stop advertisements. In I remember mama the young family members taught their parents consumerism was good.
It caused a decline in educational test scored and reading. Newspapers and magazine starting losing sales.
How did supporters of television respond to critica of tv?
People disagreed with criticisms on television. They said it was cheap entertainment that could be watched by whole family.
They insisted it wasn’t promoting conformity and that viewers were not just passive recipients. They said television helped develop a more nation culture and gave people access to new perspectives.
They said it decreased provincialism (narrowness of mind) and social divisions.
They also insisted that not all TV was mindless. Some documentaries did challenge conformity.
For example in his first televised interview in 1957 on the open mind, dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PRESENTED HIS IDEAS ABOUT THE NEW NEGRO. Some NEWS PROHRAMMES SHOWED CHALLENGES SUCH AS BLACK CHILDREN TRYING TO ENTER THE HIGH SCHOOL IN LITTLE ROCK IN 1957. Footage of the white victimisation helped promote positive change.
What is evidence that Hollywood challenged the conservative views on gender roles/race/social norms in the 1950’s
Hollywood also demonstrated the potential to change and challenge. For example, the attitudes to sex. Hollywood wanted to attract lots of large audiences when box offices were dropping due to tv, and sex sold.
More sexually explicit films like Baby Doll in 1956, drew big crowds. Hollywood was able to ignore the motion picture code and create these films because public attitudes were liberalizing. The 1952 supreme court ruling also granted more freedom and expression in films.
Some like it hot challenged the motion picture code.
Until 1956 the code forbade showing interracial marriages, but in 1957 the first interracial movie embrace was shown in the island the sun.
Beginning to challenge the racial stereotypes and challenges. In the defiant ones in 1958, black and white convicts were chained together and had to co-operate to survive. Hollywood was gaining confidence in opposing prejudice.
Did challenge traditional female roles and middle-class conformity. In all that heaven allows in 1955, the upper middle class widow Jane Wyman becomes involved with a younger bohemian gardener, who is lower class. She rejects some middle class materialism and chooses to marry the gardener again. The Hollywood started testing women’s roles.
What is evidence that Hollywood did not challenge the conservative views on gender roles/race/social norms in the 1950’s
Popular western movies and TV shows depicted the submissive women, heroic men and evil Indians.
Hollywood was still more conservative on sex than Broadway. In blue denim 1959, the movie was based on a play, but the 15 year old had an abortion in the play, and in the movie kept the baby. Abortion wasn’t even mentioned.
Hollywood had to be careful to make sure they were a hit around the whole USA and were not alienating specific customers. For example, the musical south pacific in 1958, about two interracial marriages. It was a hit in most of the USA but not received well in south and nearly caused a riot on Long Island. Sometimes challenging consensus could lead to less success in box office.
Even is some movies where there is a teen problem being shown such as the blackboard jungle in 1955, where disruptive behaviours in the classroom so at the end of the movie the teacher regains control. Shows how little freedom the youth had. Example is James dean in rebel without a cause in 1955 he is an emotionally confused suburban, middle class teenager. He eventually reforms to his dad though.
Cowboys and Indians was very popular as well which reformed to basic stereotypes. Links back to the colonizing of the USA originally. Cowboys who take it from the native Americans.
How influential was adveritisng in the 1950’sand why?
Critics of conformity argued it was promoted by advertisements. It increased a lot in the 1950’s. 5.7 billion dollars was spent on advertising in 1950. and 11.9 billion in 1960. The consumer society was encouraged by the advertising industry. Which had more money spent on that educations in the 1950’s.
In 1954 yale historian David potter said advertising was as socially influential as education and religion, as it shaped beliefs, shaped standards. Targeted bored children with the bright colours and fast bright images and exercised social control. In his book the hidden persuaders, Vance Packard said that advertisements psychology manipulated customers.
What is the difference between a ‘square’ and a ‘beat’?
Dissenter of middle class squares (upper middle class people who conform) are beats who rejected materialism, consumer culture and conformity for a lifestyle full of drugs, free love and general defiance of authority and convention. First member of beat generation were a group of Columbia University students that included Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
Origins of the beat generation is controversial. To most people, beats meant cheated, robbed or emotionally/physically exhausted.
How did Allen Ginsberg’s poem ‘Howl’ dissent from social norms?
30 year old Ginsberg gained fame in 1956 after readings of Howl. It was written under the influence of drugs and dealt with issues like drugs, homosexuality and opposed conformity. The San Francisco police started seizing copies and the trial attracted attention to beats.
How did Jack Kerouac’s life and book On the Road (1957) exemplify his rejection of contemporary social norms?
On the Road (1957) exemplifies his rejection of 1950s social norms through its portrayal of a nomadic lifestyle, prioritizing personal freedom over the era’s conformity and materialism. The novel’s characters defy societal expectations by seeking spiritual and experiential fulfillment rather than traditional success, reflecting Kerouac’s own non-conformist life and his critique of mainstream American values.
What were ‘beatniks’ and why did Jack Kerouac and other ‘beats’ dislike them?
Beatniks were a media-driven stereotype that emerged in the late 1950s, portraying the followers of the Beat Generation as superficial, countercultural figures who adopted the outward appearance (e.g., berets, goatees) without embracing the deeper philosophical ideas of the movement.
For Jack Kerouac and other original Beat writers, like Allen Ginsberg, Beatniks represented a commercialized and diluted version of their genuine rebellion against 1950s conformity and materialism. The Beats sought spiritual and intellectual exploration, while Beatniks were seen as focusing on shallow, performative rebellion.
Why did the mid-1950s witness an adult fear of ‘juvenile delinquency’ and how far was this fear justified?
The post-war economic boom led to increased disposable income among teenagers, allowing them to exert more independence, often seen as rebellion. The rise of rock ‘n’ roll, Hollywood films like Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and media sensationalism around youth crime fueled concerns that American values were under threat.
While youth crime did increase, it wasn’t as widespread or severe as media and conservative figures portrayed. The fear reflected broader anxieties about changing social norms, particularly regarding youth culture’s challenge to authority and traditional values.
- Why was rock ‘n’ roll appealing to teenagers of the 1950s, especially Elvis?
Rock ‘n’ roll, especially Elvis, appealed to 1950s teenagers because it symbolized rebellion, energy, and freedom from conservative norms. Elvis’s mix of black and white musical styles, provocative performances, and rebellious image made him a youth icon, embodying their desire for independence and breaking away from their parents’ generation.
