Examples Of Conformity In The 1950's

The 1950’s was a decade in which rapid change was occurring and no one seemed to question it. It was a somewhat prosperous and calm time that followed a rather tumultuous time, World War II. After the war, strong ideals and nearly identical goals on how one should strive to live life were placed upon the general American public. However, soon a group emerged that would redefine American culture. This group is commonly referred to as the Beats, and in a much more general term as the Beat Generation. This subculture encompassed everything the “normal” American citizen was not. As their thoughts on American society began to be noticed, their countercultural ideals became to be widely recognized, something they had not originally planned. The Beat

Everyone got a job to buy a home and buy other assets to their name (see Fig 1); women wore the same styled dresses with similar if not identical hairstyles, men wore crispy-ironed shirts and slacks, and were clean-shaven. America had become a form of utopia for American citizens who all looked identical and with the same endeavors in mind. This is why the 1950’s is also sometimes referred to as the “age of conformity.” However, as presented in the documentary The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation in 1944 three individuals, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs’s, and Allen Ginsberg, would come together and their conversations would lead to a social movement. Dalton describes a subculture as, “groups united by sets of concepts, values, symbols, and shared meaning specific to the members of that group.” (85) The Beats fall into this subculture category, as they all shared similar values when it came to the mainstream values that were in place during that time. Their perspectives on society were very negative as they felt as though something was missing, as though the societal conformity of the 50’s was not enough. They were tired of the social norms or, “beat” which is where the term “Beats” originated. As Kerouac once wrote, “It’s being beat and down on the world.” (The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation) The Beats expressed their beliefs through the way they dressed, which

As the media depictions circulated, the Beats began to evolve. The “Beatniks” had become the “trend followers,” sharing similar values and as van Elteren explains, “the original Beats were flamboyant individualist, “speedy,” “mad to live” while the “Beatniks were studiedly “cool”- conformists like everyone else, but in a different way; they conformed to the values and norms of their subculture.” (76) (See Fig. 3) The Beat Generation did not cease to exist after the fifties, as is presented in The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation, the Beats just took a new form as the countercultural, world- peace, all loving Hippies from the 60’s. Jack Kerouac who had never intended for his ideas to become a mass movement, once stated in an interview on how the hippies are like the beats that, “We’re just the older ones… It’s the same movement.” (The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation ) Even more recently, Michael McClure, another member of the original Beats stated that when he comes across an individual who is undeniably different in the way they express themselves and share the same beliefs as him such as being anti –war and caring for the environment that asks him, “What ever happened to the Beats, did they get run over by the steamroller of the corporations?” He simply states, “You’re us.” (The Source: The Story of the