1. How does Malvina Reynolds’ song Little Boxes criticize the suburbs of the 1950s?
Bell Ringer

2. Breaking Out of “Little Boxes”
Conformity and Conflict

3. “The Problem That Has No Name”
The Feminine Mystique – Betty Friedan (1963)
“The problem that has no name”
Housewives feeling unfulfilled, despite society telling them they should be content
A1957 interview with her former college classmates, prompted Friedan to begin research for The Feminine Mystique, conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising.
“The suburban housewife was the dream image of the young American women. She was healthy, beautiful, educated, concerned only about her husband, her children, and her home.”
She discovered “the problem that has no name” - the widespread unhappiness of women persisted, although American culture insisted that fulfillment for women could be found in marriage and housewifery.

4. The Sexual Revolution Begins
The Kinsey Report
Playboy Magazine (1953)
Hugh Hefner
“The Pill” (1954)
Health, choice, population control
Stigma/denial by doctors
The Kinsey Report (1953)
Discussed taboo subjects surrounding sexuality for both men and women
Discussed fluidity of sexuality
Playboy Magazine (1953)
Hugh Hefner
Marilyn Monroe as the first centerfold
“The Pill” (1954)
Health, choice, population control
Stigma/denial for women who asked for a prescription; not widely available until 1960s

5. Dig It, Man!
The “Beat Generation” (AKA: Beatniks): Underground anti- conformist youth movement
Greenwich Village, NYC
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
Alan Ginsburg – “Howl”
The “Beat Generation” (AKA: Beatniks): Underground anti-conformist youth movement
Greenwich Village, NYC
Artistic, drug experimentation, alternative forms of sexuality, interest in Eastern religions, rejection of consumerism, idealization of free expression
Alan Ginsburg – “Howl”
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz…
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
“[...]the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”
"Beat" indicated the culture, the attitude and the literature, while the common usage of "beatnik" was that of a stereotype found in lightweight cartoon drawings and twisted, sometimes violent, media characters.

6. Beats vs. Preps
Beats
Preps

7. Born to Be Wild! Teenage rebels (AKA: juvenile delinquents)
Rebelled against authority and middle class life
J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Rebel Without A Cause
Teenage Rebels (AKA: Juvenile Delinquents, JDs, Greasers, DAs, etc.)
Books: J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Movies: The Wild One; Rebel Without A Cause
Listened to rock and roll
Experimented with drugs and alcohol
Rebelled against authority
More promiscuous than their peers

8. What do these artists have in common?

9. Origins of Rock and Roll
Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley and the Comets (1954)
Originated from the black community
Dubbed “race music”
Covered by “acceptable” white artists
All pictures linked to music.
All these artists are early inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though most people will initially notice that they are all black, which is EXACTLY what America saw. They were preoccupied with their race, rather than their talent. “Play button” will show Pat Boone’s rendition of Blueberry Hill – it’s sickeningly sweet and boring.

10. The Men Who Made Rock and Roll
Alan Freed
Popularized genre among white audiences
Coined the term “Rock and Roll”
Payola scandal!
Sam Phillips’ Sun Records
Responsible for careers of many early superstars
Alan Freed: Cleveland DJ who coined the term “Rock and Roll”
Responsible for introducing the genre to mainstream audiences
Presented music by African-American artists (rather than cover versions by white artists)
Payola scandal!
Freed's career ended when it was shown that he had accepted payola (payments from record companies to play specific records)
Sam Phillips
Originally opened to provide opportunities to record (song demos, birthday greetings, etc.)
Opened Sun Records to take advantage of the great artists that came through his studio to record demos
Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and……
His secretary recorded a young man that impressed her. He recorded a gospel hymn for his mother’s birthday. Phillips listened to it, remarking that “gospel doesn’t sell” and that he was just another black artist whose music wouldn’t go anywhere. The secretary informed him that the singer was actually white, and Phillips decided to sign the young man to his label – Elvis Presley

11. Elvis Presley: The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Elvis Presley - undisputed King of Rock and Roll
Was “a white artist able to sing black music,” bringing rock and roll to a wider audience than ever before.
Had a massive following, bringing young girls to hysteria
Considered too “sexual” for many audiences, including Ed Sullivan

12. The Day the Music Died Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue and Oh Boy!
Big Bopper: Chantilly Lace
Richie Valens: Donna and La Bamba
February 3, 1959 – A plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the “Big Bopper” crashed in a field outside Clear Lake, Iowa
American Pie by Don McLean (1971), dubbed it as "The Day The Music Died”
Symbolized the "loss of innocence" of the early rock-and-roll generation
The Day the Music Died

13. Motown
Motown: An African- American record label that had huge crossover success
Founded by Berry Gordy
Known for its signature style of soul music with a distinct pop influence
Motown: An African-American record label that had huge crossover success
Nickname for Detroit (“Motor Town/City”)
Founded by Berry Gordy
Known for its signature style of soul music with a distinct pop influence
Temptations, Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, etc.

14. Let’s Dance!