Rock And Roll's Influence On Youth Culture

In the mid 1950s, American culture drastically changed with the introduction of a new style of music: Rock and Roll. A hybrid of blues, gospel, white country, and folk music, Rock’s novelty intrigued everyone. For young people, Rock and Roll, “not only move[d] the feet, but the spirit as well”. Youth identified themselves with rock as it gave them a sense of identity in a hectic society. Through Rock, teenagers became their own demographic, rising as one of the top consumers in the America. However, a strong force battled against this rising youth culture: adults. The older generations deplored Rock and Roll and believed it was responsible for creating teenage rebellion. As teenage power grew, traditionalists became a minority and lost control over society. In desperate efforts to regain control, adults rushed to suppress the growing empowerment of teens,

Adults saw the music as “musical baby food”, having little taste and substance. The pounding noise did nothing but irritate adults. Moreover, the big energetic movements associated with Rock created even bigger tensions between the generations. The bumps, grinds, and gyration seen by stars like Elvis Presley, infused what adults believed to be too much sexual expression. Due to this, traditionalists saw Rock and Roll as a bad influence, as it encouraged non-martial sexual behavior, believed to create emotionally unstable teens.Although “a Dionysiac type of dancing [with] many ‘cultic’, [… and] quasi-compulsive” elements as anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer puts it, Rock and Roll was less sexual than critics portrayed it. Most songs enforced stereotypical gender roles as men were the singers, singing about women as objects of affection, dependent on the man. Furthermore, the intense movements of Rock and Roll actually made it harder for dancers to share physical