Creating Teenagers The Media Teenage Dream Based on research by David Emmanuel Barrera

Modern Age: Turn-of-the-Century American Culture and the Invention of Adolescence (2008) “Although adolescence was not part of the popular lexicon until the turn of the century, its roots go back well into the early nineteenth century, most recognizably in popular recapitulation- based notions of childhood…The invention of adolescence was greatly informed by [these works] and in particular their use of recapitulation as a way of explaining the ‘savage’ behavior of the child and, perhaps more important, as a way of essentializing this behavior as not only biological but also evolutionary.” -Kent Baxter, p. 8-9

late-1940s Economic boom postwar America optimism and euphoria for American teens. the late-1940s =the emergence of a teen culture The term teenager had not even been used until the ‘40s. “Teens began to adopt a language, using words such as “groovy cats,” “fly chick,” “jerk,” “square,” “geek,” “smooching,” “angel cake,” “in the groove,” and the most popular, “hip” – much were taken from Black jive talk and jazz on the radio.” Cars =staple for teen leisure -Happy Days

Adolescent Character and Personality (1949) “Recent studies of adolescents have emphasized the fact that boys and girls in their teens have a culture of their own with moral standards and with moral pressures behind those standards. This culture has been called the ‘adolescent peer culture.’ Boys and girls, desiring the approval of their age mates, follow the fashions of the peer culture in morals, dress, and speech; and the moral standards and practices of the adolescent peer culture are probably an important factor in character formation.”

High School Life Heightened desire for boys to pick up sports, especially football. Such were seen as the school leaders. Mixed messages though from parents excel academically, but be the most popular more than anything else. Cheerleading became an exclusively feminine school activity.

Dating “The economy of the date was unchanged: the boy asked, the boy paid – whether it was for Cokes or orchids. The boy provided the transportation. The girl paid for her clothes and grooming since her chief economic responsibility was to look good.” Different partners =success in the 1920s, ‘30s,’ and ’40s, 1950s., going steady Double standard was in place: Boys had to ‘do it,’ and girls had to refrain from ‘it.’

Rock & Roll Became a form of identity and pleasure for teens.

Films – Adult Fantasy (1953/1955)

Money matters… In the 1950s, adolescents emerged as a cultural, political, and economic force parents and other adults in and out of schools had to reckon with. From The Rise of Youth Counter Culture after World War II and the Popularization of Historical Knowledge: Then and Now Theresa Richardson, Ph.D.