Non-Conformity in the 50s The 50s, in spite of its image, was not a decade of total conformity There was a good deal of non-conformity, criticism, rebelliousness. Not everyone approved of the standardized culture / of the social norms.

Elements of Non-Conformity Betty Friedan criticized the re-emergence of the stay at home mom stereotype: how women in the workforce were underpaid and denied promotion, and supervisory positions Called on women and society in general to fight these injustices Later put her thoughts in her book, The Feminine Mystique (1963)

Betty Friedan

Elements of Non-Conformity 2. Michael Harrington, in his book The Other America, published in 1962, criticized the uneven / unfair distribution of wealth, and the govt.’s lack of concern for some groups of poor people. He claimed that 50 million Americans lived in poverty – “pockets of poverty”, esp. African Americans (in the inner city), Hispanic Americans, Native American Indians, Appalachian Whites, and the very old and the very young. Tried to show that not everyone was happy and prosperous… influenced President Johnson

Elements of Non-Conformity 3. Music; in music there was a rebellion against the popular music of the time – as represented by Doris Day. The 50s saw the beginnings of Rock Music – popularized by the Cleveland Ohio D.J. Alan Freed – which had its roots in the blues and jazz of the 20s, and the rhythm and blues of the 30s. Emerging rock stars were Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and the most popular of them all, Elvis Presley, who recorded his first songs in 1953 – Heartbeat Hotel and Hound Dog.

Chuck Berry, Elvis

His rebellious style, his suggestive body language, captured the attention of the teenagers of the 50s. Rock music had explicit lyrics and a new sound involving heavy rhythms. The older generation rejected it. It was popularized through the tv show Bandstand which featured the latest musicians, and an audience dancing along to the music – the popular dance of the time was the Twist developed by Chubby Checkers (right) simulating the hip action which spun a hoola-hoop.

Elements of Non-Conformity 4. Literature: In the 50s there emerged a group of writers who became known as the beats or beatniks (from the word ‘weary” / or “beaten down” by society) who criticized the 50s for being sterile, conformist, impersonal, meaningless. They adopted a non-conformist unconventional, lifestyle, dress, grew beards, long hair, hung out in coffee shops discussing their poems and writings. They took an interest in Eastern Religions such as Buddhism. They experimented with drugs. They foreshadowed the Hippies of the 60s.

They were most numerous in San Francisco, L. A They were most numerous in San Francisco, L.A., and New York’s Greenwich Village. They wrote non-conformist, unconventional, unstructured, free, poems / literature. The best examples are Alan Ginsberg’s (right) poem Howl, which blasted modern American life, and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, which describes a nomad search across America – with a car thief and con man – for authentic experiences / people / values.

The movie Rebel Without a Cause, with James Dean (right) (a 1955 film that tells the story of a rebellious teenager played by James Dean, who comes to a town, meets a girl, disobeys his parents, and defies the local high school bullies. It was an attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental style, and exploit the differences between generations) ,the poems of Sylvia Plath, the painting of Norman Rockwell, and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye are also considered as non conformist, demanding that the individual be allowed to express him or her self in their own individual way. Salinger’s (right) main character, Holden Caulfield, is troubled by the phonies around him and struggles to keep his own identity under the pressures to conform.

Elements of Non-Conformity 5. Politically, the Red Scare and McCarthyism intimidated people into conforming with Cold War policy but some people spoke out about the folly of the nuclear arms race. Neville Shute wrote a book On the Beach, which criticized the nuclear arms race and tried to show what might happen if there was a nuclear war. Influenced the anti-bomb campaign: in 1957, 63% of Americans wanted the govt. to halt H bomb tests. A group called SANE was set up to pressurize the govt. into changing its policies.

In her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson criticized the lack of regulation of the use of pesticides by farmers, esp. DDT – harmful to the environment, to the food chain, could cause serious illnesses

Elements of Non-Conformity We also have an active Civil Rights movement in the 50s – successful with Browne V Board of Education decision, 1954 – integration of schools by the Supreme Court – events at Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957, the Montgomery Bus Boycott / Rosa Parks, 1955 / ML King. Civil Right movement rebellion against denial of civil rights to African Americans. …

Elements of Non-Conformity Generally speaking, though, there was more Conformity than Non-Conformity in the 50s