Sweet Charity’s Research BY: BIANCA FOREMAN

Society in America during the 1960’s  The 60’s became a time of social revolution as john. F Kennedy became the youngest president giving young people hope for the nation. However, since Kennedys assassination they felt as though things went back to square one. Especially during this time where so many social political heroes were being murdered like Martin Luther King Jr. who was shot in the Memphis, Tennessee in  Many citizens of America started protesting about ending the unfair treatment of black people, they even protested against ending the Vietnam war alongside full equality for women as women wanted equal pay as well as job roles for both men and women.  Other factors were:  Civil Rights Movement / segregation  Jim crow laws  Hippies revolution

 Young Americans questioned their beliefs because they felt like there parent values were not enough to help them with social and racial difficulties during this period of time. This encouraged them to rebel by letting their hair grow and dressing in strange clothes with bright colours, this was mainly expressed through their music. Which In this case we can link it to the song “Rhythm of Life” from Sweet Charity. Daddy is a fraud pretending to preach in a ministry where in reality he is mocking religion in a Hippie like way. Adding onto this point, Jimi Hendrix and Joan Baez are musicians who would play at the Woodstock event and they became a symbol of the young peoples rebellion against traditional values. These people were called the Hippies and they believed in more love and personal freedom in America.

Taxi dancers: TAXI DANCERS CAME AROUND IN THE 20 TH CENTURY. THE PROCESS OF HIRING A TAXI DANCER WENT BY MALE PATRONS BUYING DANCE TICKETS WHICH WOULD ENABLE THEM TO DANCE WITH ONE OF THE GIRLS FOR THE DURATION OF THE SONG. THE STARTING PRICE WOULD BE 10 CENTS A DANCE AND ON TOP OF THIS THEY EARNED A COMMISSION ON EVERY DANCE TICKET EARNED. IN 1913, SAN FRANCISCO BARBARY COAST NEIGHBOUR HOOD FEMALE CUSTOMERS WERE NOT ALLOWED IN UNLESS THEY WERE ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES. AS YEARS WENT ON THE NAME TAXI DANCER STARTED TO DEVELOP AND CHANGE UNTIL IT WAS KNOWN AS “DIME A DANCE GIRL “ AND THIS WAS WHEN FEMALES WOULD CHOOSE TO EITHER BE A PROSTITUTE OR JUST A REGULAR TAXI DANCER DOING EXOTIC STYLES TO EARN MONEY. ANOTHER NAME WAS HOSTESS CLUB; THIS LINKS TO CHARITY AS A GOOD NATURED TAXI DANCER WHICH IS UNUSUAL ESPECIALLY FOR HER OCCUPATION.

 By 1920 taxi dancing took a storm and spread to Chicago, where dance academies taught their students how to dance in this particular style as it surpassed the public ballroom becoming the most popular place for urban dancing. Taxi dancers made two to three times the salary of a women working in a factory or store. So in comparison to why Helene as well as Charity and Nickie are inclined to keep working as a dancehall hostess is because it is easy money. Also because women were looked at as housewife's because there wasn’t a lot of job roles available this was the last option for them and it doesn’t make them bad people because they are trying to fend for themselves. Seeing as though Charity has been working at the Fandangle ball room for over 8 years I believe that Helene has been working there for at least 10 or more years.  After world war II the popularity of taxi dancing began to diminish.

Bibliography:  American history: The ’60s become a time of social revolution and unrest (VOA special English ) (no date) Available at: (Accessed: 15 April 2016).  Watson, S. (1999) TAXI dancer, the dime a dance girl hostesses for ten cents a dance or ticket. Available at: (Accessed: 15 April 2016).