American Cultural History: 1970s - Report Example

THE RETRO 70’S AND THE STYLISH 90’S Information February 29, 1The Retro 1970’s means the old fashioned style of the nineteen seventies, it is a decade that began on January 1, 1970 and ended on December 31, 1979. On the other hand, the Stylish 1990’s means the fashionable nineteen ninety’s, it is a decade that began on January 1, 1990 and ended on December 31, 1999. These centuries are characterized by tremendous differences in fashion, entertainment, literature, education, arts and architecture, technology, sports, bestsellers, space exploration, television, laws passed and other societal issues. Fashion In the nineteen seventies there was designer everything. Starting from the ‘unisex look’ where everyday clothing like jeans, T-shirts, belts, boots, sandals, hats and other items were not gender specific. Women’s fashions had borrowed from men and men’s fashion from women’s; men’s fashions displayed idioms associated with female attire for example large scarves in bold prints, blousy shirts in bright colors, more jewelry and accessories, beaded belts and thick high heeled shoes. 2The nineteen ninety’s have been called the decades of anti-fashion or ‘anything goes’, when the street fashion finally worn out over haute couture. There was picking and combining from any style or period that appealed. In the early nineties there was the power dressing of the nineteen eighties which did not result in any new defining style. New avant-garde designers revisited earlier decades and presented their endemic collections as reverence or updates. Real creative intelligence had gone out of fashion and there were more labels and star names than ever before while consumers and designers did not seem to care. In the seventies, women had long free flowing hairstyles while men grew their hair long or naturally over the collar, longer sideburns with beards and moustaches very popular. Hot pants were worn by everyone from celebrities to strippers, the polyester leisure suits for both men and women were introduced. Polyester print shirts which were rather comical, sportswear jackets with hoods, workout suits, special footwear, headbands, sports bottles and Walkmans were common sights. Family Life 3By the nineteen seventies, marriage rate began to fall; rates of divorce which had been adequately level begun rising and fertility began declining. 4Women’s roles started changing at the work place and at home, men’s and children’s roles changed due to more women especially wives and mothers entering the workforce. Almost three in four married mothers worked at some time in 1992, compared with just over half of married mothers in 1970’s. Thirty seven percent of all married women worked full time year round in 1992 contrast to sixteen percent in 1970. Approximately eight in ten mothers with only the age of school going children worked at some time in 1992. 5There was an accelerated growth in single parent families during the 1970’s in both black and white families in America and this has been on the increase in the 1990’s. 6In the 1970’s there were about 3 million families headed by only a mother, this number had grown larger by the late nineties. Religion 7There were many spiritual cults popping up in the seventies, over 2000 communes in the United States of America were refuges for other utopias and religious fanatics. Televangelism burst into the scenes in the 1970s although it had begun earlier through radio, religious broadcasting on television became a compelling force in the prevailing American Christianity. Christianity became an advocated religion, evangelicals decided to use the airwaves to spread their message to the biggest possible audience. 8Televangelism had been limited to local stations and markets before the 1970’s, this is because major networks were unwilling to schedule religious broadcasting for the fear of alienating other specific audiences especially those coming from other faiths. In 1977, the Christian Broadcast Network began leasing its own satellite and successfully offered programming to cable and satellite systems to nationwide lengths. Other figures soon joined the move. By the 1990’s viewership of televangelists had increased from nearly five million per week to over a hundred million per week. Some religious networks like CBN and Praise the Lord offered programming for twenty four hours and shows to stations that had no network. There was a political clout of televangelists that has diminished during the 1990’s, religious stations have increased from twenty five in the eighties to over 300 in 1990. Competition among televangelists has decreased the individual audience of specific stations or broadcasters. However, religious broadcasters still have a significant impact on the medium of television. Sports 9Sport scenes of the seventies reflected other societal aspects; the world of sports of professional athletes was affected by civil rights, women’s rights and unstable politics. There was new interest in healthy living to body fitness extended by amateur athletes. Many baby boomers filled yoga and aerobic classes to keep fit while others tried endurance sports like swimming, jogging and riding bicycles. Bicycles for adults were bought in huge numbers. 10Traditional sports were pushed to the limit of skill and daring in the 1990’s by athletes, the decade was exciting for girls, boys, men and women in sports while some met danger and others broke records. Many young people craved for more than normal visits to fitness clubs, they wanted excitement. Athletes and people doing exercises seized risky adventures from mountain bikes, in-line skaters, snowboards, bungee cords to climbing walls. In 1995 these extreme games were televised. In 1996, the Olympics opened women’s basketball and after great success in the Olympics the American Basketball League offered skilled women a chance at earning decent living from United States basketball. Women’s soccer also made its way to the Olympics in the same year as well as women’s ice hockey and softball. In 1999, bicycle racing reached a new level of popularity. In tennis, twin sisters Venus and Serena Williams won grand slam double titles in 1999 with this continuing to the twenty first century. When congress passed education amendments in 1972, sports and equipment were made available to girls who had very limited sporting opportunities previously. Gradually females got into the male arenas of basketball, coaching and hockey, athletic girls began winning medals. Tennis became a televised sport while recreational centers and schools started offering tennis lessons while tennis stars became household names. 11From the mid 1970’s, sports and swimming instruction were brought more to the fore when considering educational needs. 12Travelling for sports vacations was adopted by many American’s in the 1990’s, camping and backpacking trips gained popularity and were sought as temporary solace from the daily office work routines and urban life. Camping was done in isolated areas that were as far as possible from civilization. In 1994, Tiger Woods who was then eighteen years old became the youngest ever United States amateur champion, he has since then single-handedly brought golf from country clubs to the young and more diverse crowds. During the 1990’s families and young adults were involved in popular games and toys ranging from stuffed animals to more advanced gadgets, they bought video game systems. Web based games now allowed people to compete against others worldwide using the Internet. Advanced graphics and technology were introduced in 19998 and 1999 allowing hundreds and even thousands of players to virtually compete in the same game. Civil Rights 13The segregation policy in African-American students was questioned in the 1970’s and despite resistance from most Americans, children regardless of race studied together in 1974. Riots over this court order resulted while some Americans boycotted taking their children to school; many African-American students were attacked on entry into these schools. In some schools only the minimum number of African-American students was allowed. Throughout the decade, civil rights groups continued to fight for equality. 14During the 1990’s, the African-American middle class grew, civil rights legislations that had started in the fifties and sixties had succeeded in availing many opportunities to African-Americans. Race disparities in the professional world had not completely vanished but they were less pronounced in the 1990’s than in previous decades. Many l African-Americans were attending college while others made great strides in the fields of medicine, law, education and other fields that were previously race prohibited. Many black families moved into suburbs and flourishing urban centers that had traditionally belonged to the whites. Affluent African-American neighborhoods also grew. Gangs, drugs and violence were the way of life for most low class African-Americans. Women fought for equality everywhere in the United States in the 1970’s, they demanded equal payment with men in the same work. 1975 was consequently declared the International Women’s Year, issues around women were discussed and seminars offered to assist women gain control of their lives and future. The seminars and meetings focused on getting the government to pass laws allowing for women equality. These movements continued to the eighties. Student protests gained momentum in the 1970’s with students creating underground organizations to fight for their grounds. These protests continued throughout the 1970’s. 15By mid 1990’s there were executive orders to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in state employment. In some communities where gay civil rights protection had been achieved, equity issue on domestic partner had emerged. Television 16By mid 1970’s cable television firms expanded their operations to suburbs, centers and cities. A federal policy opened up the television world competition between technologies allowing entrepreneurial satellite use for a wide variety of business purposes. In 1976, Home Box Office in the United States and Ted Turner in Atlanta delivered programming to cable televisions. The number of independent television broadcasters grew with options further enlarged by the spread of the video cassette recorder, the digital versatile disk and direct to home satellite service. In 1996, through the Telecommunications act parents received greater control over the television content their children were exposed to. 17Ratings on movies were enacted, the level of explicitness and frequency of occurrence of intercourse on television increased; producers dared to show partly naked couples. Prime time television increased images and references to intercourse almost all occurring outside marriage. 18As late as 1978, most American families did not have cable television; only about seventeen percent of American homes had access to cable television. In the 1970’s sex on television was limited to light behaviors like kissing and embracing, contextually implied intercourse was very rare. Much of sexual activity on television was displayed to occur outside marriage. Space Exploration 19During the 1970’s, most Americans hoped for more achievements from a space program that had placed a man on the moon. There were five more moon landings by the Apollo space program after Apollo 11. In 1972, the last Apollo moon landing occurred. 20In the 1990’s, spacecrafts were launched in order to study the sun and its effects on the earth’s environment, the first space craft to be launched was known as Ulysses, it returned a lot of data and works to date.Other spacecrafts are continually launched to study other planets and bodies. Exploration of the solar system continued throughout the 1970’s using unmanned space missions. With advances in space science, Apollo program was down to investigating whether space could benefit defense and commercial undertakings. In 1972, the development of a new type of space transportation was announced by President Nixon, the system could help in transporting space frontiers to familiar and easily accessible territories. In 1973 a space station was launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Known as Skylab. Ordinary Americans benefited from studies about space with developments in freeze dried foods, advances in the healthcare system and more understanding on solar power. The United States and Soviet Union cooperated in space in 1975 allowing astronauts from other countries in the globe to space missions. It became a new way of nations working together. Arts and Architecture 21In the 1990’s there was a general obsession with women’s weight and being thin, artists and architectures exhibited simpler lines. There was a disconnection between trends tilting toward the natural and unadorned and the advertising’s fashion emphasis on looking like a model. Arts branched out along different paths in the 1990’s, Performance art was allowed in art museums. Exhibits combined video, paintings, sculpture and photography with human antics. Digital art through computer software emerged though interactive websites and other multimedia formats. 22In the 1970’s, styles introduced in the 1960’s were refined. Artists conveyed messages using color, fashion and format. Ways of expressing creativity through light, shape and media were discovered. Prior to the 1970’s, most museums and art galleries had rejected exhibiting female artists. Women’s work was second place to men’s regardless of its quality with their work in the 1970’s emphasizing on the female body and spirituality as well as women’s history. Arts like sewing, pottery and quilting that were previously housework became high decorative arts. Injustices suffered were posted in these and other forms of art by women. In the nineties United States architects came up with new designs of taller and more reinforced skyscrapers that were constructed. Space and resource conservation was ensured in these buildings. Inside homes furnishings and decorations changed, the famous Chinese feng shui principles were introduced to consumers in the 1990’s by landscape designers and architects. The principles were popular in placement of rooms added to houses, arranging rooms and gardens. Books on these subjects were introduced to help people in arranging their rooms and houses in general. In the 1970’s, public arts improvement of city’s image was realized by local governments. Consequently, street art was commissioned in Chicago, San Francisco and Salt Lake City for passersby thrill and enjoyment. In 1974, Chicago city passed a law instructing leaving of artwork space in any new public building. Springing from this law was the Chicago Art Program which ensured that the tradition would continue. Since then libraries, courthouses and even police stations have displayed more than four hundred pieces of art. By the late seventies, performance artists joined video artists in changing the idea of the stationary state of art. 23Skyscrapers were big news in the 1970’s and in 1972; the World Trade Center in New York was the world’s tallest building. Urban architects experimented with glass and steel trying to conserve resources with theses designs. Environmental Issues 24Global warming was identified by experts in the 1990’s from an increase in the earth’s average temperature. Scientists declared that this was caused by increase in carbon dioxide concentrations and other green house gases present in the atmosphere. High levels of these gases resulted from pollution from cars, industries, homes as more heat got trapped. Scientists also found out that some polluting gases burned holes in the protective ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere allowing the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays that damage the environment. The 1990’s was the warmest decade, there were extreme storms and drought with sections of Antarctic ice shelves melting and breaking off. Glaciers all over the world began shrinking at an alarming rate causing worries by scientists. Many Americans were hesitant in altering their lives though showing concerns for the environment. Expensive changes to make business operations more earth friendly were met by reluctance. In 1990 the Clean Air Act was signed by President George Bush as a move to improving air quality by reducing emissions. 25The 1970’s were a landmark for environmental movements, the Earth day in 1970 emphasized concern for the environment through demonstrations in almost all major cities in the United States. Environmental interests had existed before but there was no serious concern. Representatives from many nations met in 1997 to discuss ways of reducing green house gases. The demand for earth-friendly practices and environmental awareness grew with the aging of the decade. 26In the 1970’s, broader environmental concerns mainly focused on the health of individuals and ecological balance. There were raised concerns on pesticides used in agriculture some of which threatened bird populations. Air pollution was very toxic and cancer causing materials from industrial processes, atomic weapons testing and nucleur power plants was feared to be on the increase. Crime 27There were many structural changes in the police in the 1970’s, tension between police and students reduced at the end of the Vietnam War. Relationship between police and the minorities was however still rocky. Police operations were greatly influenced by a lot of federal government support. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration devoted a reasonable amount of funds to police agencies in this decade. 28After 1991, crime decreased to levels never seen before, this was as a result of rise in imprisonment, community policing, the large number of police force and aging of baby boomers out of the high crime ages. Many officers were able to further their education through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration program in the 1970’s, with many criminal justice programs being developed in many college campuses. There was transformation in the way police kept records, investigated crimes and communicated with one another through computer technology innovation. Training academies improved the way police learned to deal with issues like community conflicts, job stress and relations with other people. There was recruitment of more women and minorities in the work force. 29At the beginning of the decade from 1990 to 2000, homicide rates dropped by thirty nine percent, robbery by forty four percent, burglary by forty one percent and auto theft by thirty one percent. The economy was stable, incarceration rate was skyrocketing and the high risk age bracket was much lower in 1995 than it had been before. Police tactics were more efficient and many of those that were heavily involved in crack cocaine boom that had struck in the eighties had been killed, imprisoned or had reformed thus no longer offending. The United States was a much safer place without these criminal activities. 30In the early 1970’s, populations in prisons rose forcing a nationwide increase in prison space in order to hold the rising number of inmates. Reinstitution of the death penalty was brought in the late 1970’s. Bibliography Gillis Charles. “American cultural history: 1970-1979.” Lone star college-Kingwood. 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Crime in the public mind. Belmont: Cengage learning, 2010. Siegel, Larry. Introduction to criminal justice. Michigan: University of Michigan press, 2009. Zimring, Franklin. The great American crime decline. Oxford: Oxford university press, 2007. Blumstein, Alfred, and Wallman Joel. The crime drop in America. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2006. Gaines, Larry, and Miller Roger. Criminal justice in action: the core. Belmont: Cengage learning, 2010. Read More