Youth Culture History Paper free essay sample

The decade of the 1950s sparked the rise of youth power. It was the beginning of actual â€Å"teenagers†. Post World War ll brought a baby boom that led to a mass amount of young people in the fifties. The youth culture was a significant social change that was taking place in America. The fifties youth culture had a considerable influence over pop culture. Their behavior, interests, and ideas were distinct from their parents. â€Å"Their attempts to forge an identity worried adults, who couldnt understand the shift (Shmoop Editorial Team). The fifties were essential to youth culture because it marked the historical roots of teenagers. In essence, prior to the 1950’s, the youth lacked freedom to develop a youth culture. Succeeding the fifties, the youth culture stepped out of conformity forming a greater youth culture. Before the 1950’s, many historical events occurred such as the Great Depression and after that were the war years. Young people before the fifties had a very different lifestyle. â€Å"Education was not as revered in the 1920s or as essential as it is today. Many teens took on full-time careers as young as 14 and quit school (Teenagers in the 1920s). † â€Å"Many teens sought jobs themselves rather than stay in school where they could not help their families financially (Teen Culture in the 1930s). † The majority of teens were expected to go to work and accept the responsibilities of a full time job, because of the bad economy families were struggling and teens help providing for the household was more important than education. While in the fifties, teenagers only needed to work part time jobs and they also received allowances from their parents. In 1956, middle-class American teenagers on average had a weekly income of more than $10, close to the weekly disposable income of an entire family a generation earlier (Henrietta). † A reason behind why the youth culture emerged in the 1950’s was the fact that teenagers had lots of free time since they were not required to work. â€Å"Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before (History). They had freedom to have fun and spend money on non-necessity items. Teenagers had a great amount of contribution to consumerism. The teen culture created a new market for companies to target. With the free time teens had, it allowed more freedom as well as money to spend which sets apart teenagers from before. This change allowed a separate youth culture to evolve. The era of the 1960’s is known as the hippie decade. The mid sixties was the beginning of teenagers creating a different lifestyle than the decades before them. This lifestyle included more freedom, nonconformity, and speaking up about their opinions. Music such as Rock and Roll defined the youth culture of the sixties. The 1970’s were a time of transition for America. It changed from the youth being active in social injustices by protesting, to being apathetic about politics. The young people just wanted to be happy for a change and wanted to have a good time. The use of drugs and sexual activity was significant during that time period. They were very experimental and did what they wanted to do without much worries. The seventies were a simple time more about not worrying. The youth’s creation of the hippie lifestyle of the sixties and the relaxed lifestyle of the seventies differed from the fifties in a way that it was a rebellion against the constricting social roles and conservative norms of society. This is known as counterculture. â€Å"For decades, adults have worried that youth subcultures were the root of moral degradation and changing values in younger generations (Steinberg). † The fifties were seen as a time of conformity, in which the evolution of youth culture grew to stand apart from the conformity era. An example is music. Rock and Roll was a big influence in the fifties. It gained popularity because it was against what parents (before the fifties) liked, which fueled teens to listen to it. To rebel and not conform to listening to the typical standard music their parents enjoyed was a statement for the youth culture in the fifties that they wanted to be different. A vast amount of entertainment embodied the non-conformist spirit of the 1950’s, which provided an outlet for those uncomfortable with the conservative society. It may not be noticed but the youth culture holds great power in today’s society and it continues to rise. â€Å"Take a close look at fashion trends, automotive design, movie and television programming, video games and sports, magazine publications and advertising and, last but not least, music. Youth culture represents billions of dollars in numerous industries and it shows no slowing in its growth and influence (Taylor). † The youth culture’s impact on society may not be noticed but it is revolutionary. The development of â€Å"teenagers† was a cultural phenomenon. Previous to the 1950’s, the economy was extremely bad therefore helping provide for your household with a full time job as a teenager was required. As time went on the economy was at a good condition. There was no need for adolescence to have a job to support the family. This let teenagers have leisure time and encouraged freedom with the factor of being able to spend money on non-necessities. Music, clothing styles, and the media were symbols of non-conformist spirit among young people to rebel against their parents and their parents conformist way of life. Youth culture is specific to adolescents and differentiates from the culture of older generations. This established a new unique culture. The fifties youth culture shaped young peoples’ lives today. Works Cited Henretta, James A. , Rebecca Edwards, and Robert Self. Americas History. N. p. : Bedford, 2011. Print.