YOUTH AND DIFFERENT GENERATIONS: BABY BOOMERS By Kari Vitalich

Timeline  Baby Boomers were born between 1946 – 1964  They were in their youth between 1966 – 1984  They were also known as the ‘now’ generation and the ‘love’ generation

What are some of the characteristics associated with your generation?  The Baby boomers had the largest population out of any generation. They were brought up in a plentiful, healthy post-war economy and became an self- absorbed generation. They were ambitious, optimistic and loyal, and their life revolved around the fact that they lived to work. They found things like job status and social standard important which created the origin of the concepts “workaholic” and “superwoman”. They were also better educated, especially women. There was also a ‘hippie’ subculture that started in the 1960s who were open-minded, believed taking part in free love, drugs, sexual reproduction and dancing.

What sort of music was popular with youth in your generation and how does it differ from today’s music? The Baby Boomers were the first generation who owned their own record players which allowed them to listen to music over and over again without waiting for the radio to play it and portable transistor radios which allowed them to listen to music whenever they wanted wherever they wanted. Baby boomers were the first generation introduced to rock music which they were strongly influenced by. They rejected there parents interests in classical and jazz music and instead became interested in rock music, which parents generally didn’t like. Famous artists during this time included the Beetles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. Popular songs were generally about freedom, rebellion, sex and race. Music during the time of the Baby Boomers differs from today’s music because the music included lots of instruments and the singers had to have talent, to make the song sound good. These days voices are auto tuned and synthesisers are commonly used to make the music sound good. The baby boomers were also the first to discover rock and pop music genres. Now there are a wide range of popular genres influenced from the past, which include electro pop, hip hop, R&B, country and many more. Famous artists from the time of the baby boomers are still popular today but there are also many different artists today like Lady Gaga, Eminem and Rihanna. The themes of the lyrics have also changed, these days there are more references to alcohol, sex and drugs. The artists are also now trying to achieve more of a "shock value" from their audiences by pushing boundaries, by including more inappropriate language and referring to things like sexual references. The Beetles

What would they have been watching on TV? Baby Boomers were the first generation who owned TVs and they were incredibly influenced by them. To them TV seemed so realistic and they believed just about everything they saw on TV, parents even considered it to be educational.. They were also influenced by the advertisements on TV. The TV began to be aimed at youth viewers specifically, due to the large population of youth. They would have been watching TV shows including:  The Addams Family  The Avengers  Batman  Bewitched  The Brady Bunch  Flipper  Get Smart  Gilligan’s Island  Hogan’s Heroes  I Dream Of Jeannie  Family Ties  The 3 stooges

What would they have been wearing (fashion)?  Mini skirts (1960s): Before the 1960s hemlines were at an acceptable knee height. Although during the 1960s hemlines became shorter, which caused mini skirts to become fashionable. Women were exposing a lot more skin than in previous generations.  Mod Fashion (1960s): Modern fashion that originated in London became popular. It consisted of clothes that were slim fitting, used bold colours and geometric shapes. This was a drastic change considering the previous fashion consisted of dark black, brown and grey colours.  ‘Hippie’ Fashion (1960s): Youth started to become bored with the lifestyle of the 1950s and instead started embracing peace, love and freedom which was expressed through the clothes that they wore, which were loose fitting and colourful.  Womens Fashion (1970s): Women became sick of constantly being controlled by men. So they stopped wearing bras and wore baggy trousers, men's jeans, vests and oversized shirts, instead of the uncomfortable previous women’s fashion.  Disco Fashion (1970s): Young people started going to clubs in new designs of disco clothing that were shiny and showed off their body shape. The clothing was made from brightly coloured materials such as spandex and Lycra, decorated with sequins and velour. Some types of clothing included pants that were tight that flared at the bottom and also platform shoes.

What were the major health issues during that time? The rise of the ‘hippie’ way of life caused people to start experimenting in different types of drugs which included: LSD (Acid) - People started to explore psychedelics and the most common form was Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. This drug let people look at things from a different perspective because it made them go into a psychedelic trance. It was originally available in tablet form, before it became illegal. Marijuana- People were finding new ways to explore pleasure and marijuana delivered this. Although it was illegal, many people still wanted to try it. Popular methods of using it included, smoking the buds in bongs, making tea from the leaves and buds and using it in foods like brownies. This became a major health issue because they were taking these drugs unaware of the long lasting side affects that it would have on their bodies. This was because of the lack in technology that meant they didn’t have much knowledge on the affects of the drugs. Instead they had a fun loving spirit and concentrated more on enjoying the life they lived.

What was happening politically during that time? During the time of the Baby Boomers politics was changing.  In 1963, the ‘Freedom Rides’ caused busloads of protestors to roll through New South Wales fighting to stop discrimination against Aboriginal Australians, who were not allowed to go to places like pubs, cinemas and public pools in rural areas. This caused the government into a referendum which resulted in Aboriginals being given the right to vote.  In 1970, there were a series of moratorium marches which caused Melbourne to shut down. They marched because when the Vietnam war was opposed there was more ‘people power’. In the late 1960s people started to think politically which resulted in the rise of people following the ‘hippy’ culture and alternative lifestyles.  Between the times of 1962 to 1972, the population of adults in Australia increased by about three million people. This was due to the baby boomer generation who had finally reached voting age.  When Gough Whitlam ran for president he used the slogan “It’s Time” and his policies included withdrawing troops from Vietnam, making university education free and abolishing laws that discriminated against Aboriginals. When he was elected as Prime Minister he made many changes to the government and introduced a record number of Bills into the parliament. These changes include Australia’s first federal Legislation on Human rights, making university education free and resolving issues and Australia’s relationship with China.  In 1975 a ‘no-fault divorce’ law was introduced. Although this caused an increase in lone-parenting.

What was happening in Science and Technology during that time?  Television (1956): Television was a new way of receiving information and brought the moving picture into peoples homes. This caused it to take over radio and cinema, which caused it to become Australia’s main form of communication. By the end of the 1950s televisions were owned by over two thirds of families living in Melbourne and Sydney and it soon spread to other states in Australia.  Telephone calls (mid-1960s): A new system of telephone calls was introduced called Subsriber Trunk Dialling (STD) which meant that people who were making long-distance calls could dial the number directly, instead of dialling the operator who would place the call for them.  Satellites and telecommunications (1960s): Satellite technology drastically changed the way the world communicated. Satellites exchanged information with the rest of the world, which also changed television and telephone communication. By 1968 Australia’s telecommunications system was connected to the satellite system. These changes helped information travel faster to Australian families for example when American astronauts first landed on the moon people could watch the moon landing while it was happening on their TVs, rather than hearing or reading about it afterwards.  Radio (1950s s): Once television was introduced people started to not need radio anymore. Although in the late 1950s the portable transistor was invented, which caused radio to become more popular again because it was more versatile, it could be installed in cars and taken to various outdoor locations instead of just listened to at home.

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