1. Why did views about women’s place in society changed in the 1960s? 2. Who wrote The Feminine Mystique? 3. What were the aims of the National Organization for Women (NOW)? 4. Give one impact of the women’s movement.
5. Give one feature that made the women’s liberation movement important in the 1960s.
7. Youth Culture and Revolution
Prior to the 1960s, the role of youth was to carry on the traditional culture of adults. This all changed in the late 1950s and especially the 1960s. ● By the 1960s, a youth market had developed as young people availed of opportunities for part-time and full-time jobs in the growing western economies.
● A break occurred between youth and adults – the so-called generation gap – and music, clothes, soft drinks and food were produced that were geared to the younger generation.
Western countries followed advances in America. There, Elvis Presley and others led the rock ‘n roll revolution which introduced a new style of music and fashion. Very soon, Britain produced the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Their long hair set a trend because it symbolised the differences with the clean-cut adult world. ● Some aspects of youth culture were more extreme than others. Teddy boys, mods and rockers, and hippies rejected the traditional values of the adults in differing degrees.
Rockers 1968
A more educated middle-class youth developed as more young people went to university. These took a critical view of issues in society, some following revolutionary ideas with heroes such as communist leaders Lenin, Trotsky and Che Guevara.
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Debate the importance of youth culture and the youth revolution