How Rock And Roll Changed America Essay

Music has the power to change people. We can see this in the book “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America”, Glenn Altschuler. Altschuler investigates how the phenomena affected racial and gender relations, the pop music business, and societal perceptions of adolescent sexuality.
In Altschuler's book he considers the 1950’s “the age of anxiety”. In the 1950's they believed race and music interlocked with each other. Rock was becoming a “highly visible and contested arena for struggles over racial identity and cultural and economic empowerment in the United States” (p.35).
The roots of rock and roll can be traced back to African American rhythm and blues traditions. The emergence of rock and roll in the 1950s coincided with a time of

Rock and roll songs of the 1950s often had highly suggestive lyrics that were considered obscene by the conservative white culture of the time. These lyrics were often targeted towards young people, and the conservative culture felt that they were a bad influence on their children.
The roots of rock and roll can be traced back to African-American musical traditions. This was unsettling to white culture because they were still dealing with issues of racism and segregation.The rebellious attitude of rock and roll was unsettling to the conservative white culture of the time. It was seen as a threat to the established order. Rock and roll brought together black and white cultures, which was unsettling to the conservative white culture that supported segregation
The music of rock and roll was often accompanied by provocative dancing, which was considered too sexually suggestive for the conservative white culture. Rock and roll was also an anti-traditional movement that rejected the cultural norms of the time. This included rejecting gender norms, traditional morality, and other established social

This was unsettling to white culture because it challenged the traditional hierarchy where young people should be seen and not heard.Rock and roll music challenged traditional attitudes towards sex, and promoted a more open and liberal view of sexuality. This was seen as threatening to white culture, which still held very conservative views towards sex.
Rock and roll produced many iconic figures, such as Elvis Presley and Little Richard. These figures challenged traditional gender norms and were seen as a bad influence on the youth.The commercialization of rock and roll was unsettling to the conservative white culture because they felt that it was being used to exploit young people.
Rock and roll helped to breakdown social barriers and created new opportunities for people from all different backgrounds to come together. White culture found this unsettling because it challenged the established order. Rock and roll was also often associated with juvenile delinquency, which was seen as a major threat to white