Conformism In The 1960s Essay

The 1960s was a time where people started to think more individually. Instead of the government deciding the public’s opinion, people started thinking for themselves and changing the country through society itself. In the 1950s, conformism was caused by the wide spread fear of communism. People dressed the same way, acted the same way and were terrified to go against social norms. They blindly accepted laws and governmental policies. People in the 60s were no longer willing to conform to the government and society and they started acting out. American citizens were tired of following orders. They wanted to look into themselves for answers, not just obey what they had been told in the decade before. In the 1950s, people had to act, dress and …show more content…
This movement was very popular because the music portrayed how many of the listeners were feeling. Often the messages in lyrics during the 1960s were a call for action to oppose the government. The majority of Americans did not support the Cold War or the Vietnam War, or the draft; and this reflected heavily on the music of this time. Music influenced People start to disobey common laws and cause chaos. There were things such as draft burning witch was an act of protest against going to war. Although it may not seem substantial, this reflects how many citizens felt about the government and other authority. People did not know who to follow or trust and if they thought something was morally right, they would often do it, even if the law did not reflect in their preference. The loss of distrust could have been cause by many things including JFK’s assassination in 1963, Malcom X in 1965 and Martin Luther King in 1968(history.com). A good example of this is the drug laws. Most people in the music industry used or promoted drugs in their songs as a way to think individually. The calls of actions in songs often made people question authority. The new music told people to experiment and experience things, and fight the draft. Drugs and disobedience were becoming a more common occurrence as people started to distrust authority. The music during this time was a perfect reflection of society. Made by …show more content…
The role of women shifted from a stay at home lifestyle to a more active and involved one. This change showed how Americans were starting to reject social norms and change American from within. The Feminine Mystique, written in 1963 by Betty Friedan, was a very popular book that put on display the public opinion about women’s rights at the time (Evelyn Reed 1964). It was one of the most influential, nonfiction books during the 1960s and continues to have influence to this day. The Feminine Mystique showed that a second wave of feminism was beginning. Betty rejected the idea of the Feminine Mystique because of the ideal that the common role of a woman should be a stay at home mom, not the bread winner of the family. This book essentially started the feminine movement of the 1960s by questioning ideas that were put in place by societal norms. In 1960 the FDA approved birth control and by 1965 so had the Supreme Court(History.com). The approval of birth control was a huge success for the movement because of its ability to allow women more choices. More and more woman started to leave the house and get jobs, breaking the stereotype of women being housewives. Men could now stay at home and play the “feminine mystique role”. The positions of women and men are the same and by thinking freely people started to really see it this way. The 1960s feminist