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

Generation would revolutionize and change American society in a way they had not envisioned.
The decade of the 1950’s in America is certainly recognizable.

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

was opposite to what the norms were, behaved, and through art, most famously through literature. They are also associated with the jazz scene, as it served as a means for creative inspiration. The Beat culture also had there own form of speech or lingo which they used to communicate with words such as “squares” which as explained by van Elteren was a term the Beats developed to refer to the people who did adhere to social norms. (71) Additionally, the subculture is very well known for the drugs they chose to take in order to reach a more elevated state of consciousness. (See Fig. 2)In essence they were a contradiction to what America’s general population abided to. As explained by van Elteren the subculture could be found from the west side to the east side of the country, from New York to San Francisco, and even across the borders. Their forms of expression were a visible proof of their subcultural tendencies, however these tendencies would also prove to distinguish the Beats as a counterculture.
As one can see, the Beats were not just a subculture but a counterculture as well. A counterculture can be described as going against what the social norms. In this particular era of the 1950’s the Beats were a counterculture as they were opposed to what the social norms were. They did not wish to conform to these social norms that had been imposed after the calming revolution that took place at home. One example that van Elteren presents is that they rejected the “nuclear family system” which was a highly expected norm and the “bedrock of America.” (van Elteren, 76) America had turned into a consumerist nation, with mass production and material culture skyrocketing. In the words of Mel van Elteren, they “opposed “squares,” bourgeois culture.” (van Elteren, 71) The article, "The Subculture Of The Beats: A Sociological Revisit", states that subcultures tend to flourish with the aid of the media, and the Beats were not an exception. They were depicted as “weirdos,” but also “spread the Beat Gospel of “art for art’s sake,” simplicity, spiritual independence, and freedom from possessions.” (van Elteren, 75) With a large media spread, means that many people across America were watching, listening, and reading. Some were revolted, while others joined the cultural rebellion either with the intention of rigidly following through with the subculture’s values or not.
Kerouac, Burroughs’s, and Ginsberg, could have never imagined that their conversations would progress and influence the masses.

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

Beats and the Beat Generation) The works and the evolution of the Beats granted the freedom from rigidity and served to influence the various outlooks that have characterized America throughout the years.

Conclusively, post World War II did not only build upon the ideal way of life many individuals still adhere to today, but also introduced a subculture known as the Beats that would test the way many American’s thought about society. With their works produced under the influence of jazz and drugs, their unordinary forms of clothing and speech, and their undeniable hunger for far more than what conformist America had to offer led to the spread of the Beat subculture. The media soon popularized them and this subculture soon became to be identified as a counterculture as the Beats were highly opposed to the conformist values of America’s culture. Despite being highly criticized and deemed as ignorant the Beats paved the way as trendsetters with the Beatniks coming next in the line of succession closely followed by the countercultural, hippies of the 1960’s, and the modern individuals who think far beyond the norms. Dalton Conley presents socialization as, “the process by which you learn how to become a functioning member of society”(113) the Beats indeed learned to become a functioning member of society according to their values, against social norms and in constant contradiction with what they called the “squares.”