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Counterculture Movement Of The 1960s Essay

673 Words3 Pages

The Counterculture Movement of the 1960s urged a nation filled with millions of youthful baby-boomers, that were eager to find their own voices, to retaliate against cultural assimilation put in place by previous generations. As Lisa Law stated, “It was an attempt to rebel against the values our parents had pushed on us. We were trying to get back to touching and relating and living” ( “A Visual Journey..”) This time period encapsulated protests against several issues such as the conflict in Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage, Nonconformity, and the Sexual Revolution; this contributed to the unity of several causes who could relate to one other through their passion for change. One of the most interesting aspects, in my opinion, …show more content…

I believe she embodies Law’s rejection of mainstream cultural whole-heartedly. For example, in one of Joplin’s songs “Women is Losers”(1967) she condemned the typical norm of how “Men always seem to end up on top”. Her lyrics are important as they remind students “that for many women the much vaunted erotic liberation of the sexual revolution was something they experienced mainly via the news media and popular culture, while patterns of sexism and discrimination against women continued relatively unchecked” and that “traditional gender roles […] continued to be the norm for many American families” (Ward). While gender roles were no longer confined to the outdated previous notions of women’s tasks being within the home devoting themselves solely to motherhood, female submissiveness still remained a widely accepted social norm. Joplin, furthermore, pushed the boundaries of traditional female norms in her songs by expressing her sexual and romantic desires/freedom. This is evident in her songs titles and lyrics such as “One Night Stand”, “Blow my Mind”, “C’mon Baby, Let the Good Times Roll”. Her behavior was sometimes criticized especially by traditionalists, like some promoters in Texas who banned her music on the radio and she even was once arrested for using vulgar language at a

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