How did the growth of youth culture in the 1950's and 60's affect the ways in which the teenager was portrayed?
The 1950's and 60's youth movement changed the way teenagers were thought of forever. Pre war teens were miniature clones of their parents, and expressing individuality through fashion and music was not heard of. During the post world war II baby boom the children were coming into adulthood and finding their own feet in the world this included having there own view and opinions on various subjects. This new individuality shaped and began to lead the way for a new generation, during this period, the new teenage movement brought along political activism, the fight for racial equality, the birth of the hippies and much more. Although we see the teenage movement of the 1950's and 60's as a good thing due to the fact it gave freedom to a whole new generation many people of that time did not see this as a great thing.
American and British youth movements were very different. American teens had a large amount of disposable income and a large variety of items to spend their money on due to the fact for the first time in a long time Americans were allowed to be rich and everybodys outlook on life was to have 'the good life' compared to the British teens who were still suffering in money and food shortages after world war 2. During post war Britain, British teens spent a lot of time admiring the way the American teens lived, this was because the American teens owned their own cars and would wear the newest fashion and this was something British teens could only dream of but this would soon change.
Another thing British teens admired about the way the Americans lived was their new music styles. During the 50's Rock 'n' Roll became a hit with teens all around the world. Elvis Presley had a massive impact in Rock 'n' Roll and became an instant. Although teens enjoyed the sounds of Rock 'n' Roll many adults did not, they considered this genre to be the devils music and said it was corrupting the children. Rock 'n' Roll inspired and played a crucial role in many youth movements all around the world. Some of which i will discuss further.
The first youth group in Britain was the teddy boys and teddy girls, better known as the 'Teds'. But this was a few years after the Americans kick started the youth movements and only came along in 1953. The teds fashion sense was strongly influenced by the American Rock 'n' Roll style but had it's own twist. They would have Elvis inspired quiff's and flick knives but also wore edwardian style coats. Their style originated from the edwardian style dress that was around from 1951 onwards, as the style came from the working class communities it is said that the style came from the teens not the fashion designers. The saying most commonly used by the teens to describe their style was 'our dress is the answer to a dull world'. One unfortunate thing about the Ted's could be violent and this would make the older, older adults sceptical and judgmental.
Never the less the teddy boys were created to shock their parents generation. They would often be caught vandalising and causing fights in the streets, things you may associate with a gang today, the teddy boys were considered to be a force to be reckoned with. This meant anybody in their style of clothing was immediately scrutinised. The media right from the start began to slander the teddy boys reputation by mocking the way they dressed. In 1954 a caricature was created that depicted a teddy boy as "a monkey in a drape". This was printed in the Brighton Evening Argus. This caricature shows perfectly the beliefs of the general public on how the teddy boys dressed. Other newspapers showed the anger the public had towards them, this was because of the teddy's being known widely for their violence therefore many labeled them as a menace. It wasn't until a teen called John Beckley was murdered by a teddy boy that the public really couldn't tolerate the teddy boys anymore, this tarnished the whole teddy boy teen movement and the public ended up declaring 'war on the teddy boys'. Needless to say the teddy boy movement died down and the violence on the streets by these menaces diminished.
(Above) a group of Teddy boys.
Unlike the 1950's in britain the 60's proved to be more revolutionary to the youth movement. The 60's brought the birth of the hippies. This sub culture had a "anything goes" approach to life. They believed that all you needed to have a good life was happiness. Hippies had become bored and not content with what their parents had set up for them so as a result searched for a more simpler way of life with less materialistic values.
They believed in equality for women, sexual liberation and eco friendly lifestyles which meant hippies were more often than not vegetarians. As well as protesting their beliefs they also promoted psychedelic drugs like LSD, they claimed these drugs "expanded their consciousness". It was not long before the public began to think of hippies and sex crazed drug lovers who went to festivals just to do those things and this was viewed as a negative thing to the older generation who wasn't used to the new music and openness to sex.
Hippies based their movement of the shared beliefs, love of drugs and music. One British band that was a key factor in the birth of many British hippies was The Beatles. The Beatles has a movement of their own and this movement was called Beatlemania.
1964 brought around The Beatles it took no more than 4 years tot takes The Beatles from a dive bar to performing for a worldwide audience.
(left) The Beatles taken by photographer Mike Mitchell.
The Beatles fans ranged from hippies listening to all you need is love to screaming teenage girls. The beatles attracted large crowds of screaming fans everywhere they went. The fans were so enthusiastic about the four boys that it was said by many to border on hysteria. Once the boys began to be known as 'the bad boys' parents started to worry about what their children were idolising. Teen girls being obsessed with bad boys would then start to have sexual desires and this wasn't something the parents could accept about their children, although sexual openness was embraced by the teens the older adults were not as compelled to be as open as the youths.
Another major youth movement in 60's Britain was the Mods and Rockers. Unlike the hippy craze Mods and Rockers didn't have strong political views and were also rather well dressed all be it in their own different ways. It has often been known as a fashion war between the two because of the rivalry they both have for one another. The Mods were neat dressed italian scooter drivers and the Rockers were Leather jacket wearing motor bike riders. The two are well known for their wild, explosive fights in seaside towns the most famous of which were in Brighton town. These fights caused near riots and police presence was crucial, this gave the two a bad name and wasn't always accepted by the older adults of Britain.
(right) unknown photographer captures fights between the Mods and Rockers at Brighton beach. 
The Mod fashion style was neat, clean and simple. They prided themselves on how well dressed they were, the male mods would often wear suits on daily basis whereas today that kind of attire is only worn on special occasions and the females would wear skirt suits and fancy tops with perfectly styled hair. Presentation was key. 
(left)"John stephen, outside His The Mod Male Shop" which catered for all things suit and scooter related.
Whereas rockers were not as clean cut and had more of a rugged style with the men wearing leather jackets, rough quiffs or long hair and the females wearing the leather jackets on top of skirts and nice tops. (right) a group of Rockers showing the classic leather jacket look.
The rivalry between the two was so well known and strong that if even one rocker or mod saw one another or even just saw their motorcycle or scooter it would cause either a jumping on one individual or full blown brawls, no matter if they were in someones cafe or on the street. This cause a lot of issues for many people's businesses and daily lives. These youths were a true menace to the public.
In 1979 the film Quadrophenia was released. This film depicts perfectly the life of a Mod in 1964, showing the clothes the parties, the entire lifestyle right down to the riots and fights in the sea side towns. This films followed Jimmy Cooper the main character as he tries to find where he belongs, he finds that with the Mods in london. He encounters troubles with a girl and rockers throughout this films and it gives you a crystal clear understanding of the life of a Mod in 1964.
During this film as you see Jimmy struggle you witness the constant shame and disappointment his parents and sister have for him. Their opinion on his wild antics and lifestyle choices aren't great. It makes you see the point of view of the older generations on the way the youths of the time were acting.
(Right) Jimmy mother on set. This is a screenshot taken from the film. This was from a scene where Jimmy was getting shouted at by his mother because of the way he was behaving. Scenes like this in the film show exactly how the older generation thought of the youths.
But on the other hand in the image to the left (another screenshot) the youths themselves thought the Mod way of life was the best thing ever and was just that a way of life not a state of mind. They thought it would last forever, that the scooter would never die.
Therefore the thoughts of the people who really cared about them weren't so important.
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(Right) the big fight scene between the Mods and Rockers on Brighton beach captures the gruesome reality of the rivalry. These scenes brought about police in riot vans and on horses and involved many arrests. Including Jimmy himself and what was shown as the leader of the Rockers. (Below) Jimmy and the blonde man were bundled into the same van and this lead to them sharing a cigarette in this scene, showing a simple act that caused a truce between the two individual Mods and Rockers momentarily, which at the time really wasn't heard of.
Although today people who love scooter or motorcycles don't have the same hatred toward one another, some values from those Mods and Rockers still live on. They both take pride and joy in their scooters and in most cases their own appearances. They both still to some extent don't like the others choice of two wheeled vehicles but this doesn't cause the full blown brawls you saw back in the 60's. The Mods and Rockers lifestyle very much lives on today, despite the rising hatred of the movement from the older generation.
In conclusion it can be argued that all of the youth movements of the 1950's and 60's has an all round negative affect on how the new teenagers were portrayed to the older generations. They were just not used to the youths, their children wanting to rebel and gain their own image and style and wanting to be able to voice and act upon their own thoughts and opinions not their parents thoughts and opinions. Whether the youths were a Hippy, a Ted, a screaming fangirl of The beatles, a Mod or Rocker or anything else violence, sex, drugs and irrational behaviour was always associated with them and although this behaviour is quite common in todays day and age this was just obscene for the post war adults.
1/http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/what_matters/article/145008/The-1960s-Youth-Movement/, 2/ http://www.gpwu.ac.jp/~biddle/youth.htm, 3/ http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ageofirony/aoizine/dennis.html, 4/ http://www.seventeen.com/fun/articles/65th-anniversary-cover-archive#slide-31, 5/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2168955/How-date-like-1964--issue-teen-magazine-Jackies-quaint-fashion-tips.html, 6/ http://www.edwardianteddyboy.com/
http://www.brighton-hove 7/rpml.org.uk/HistoryAndCollections/collectionsthemes/teddyboys/Pages/home.aspx, 8/http://subcultureslist.com/teddy-boys/, 8/http://www.mortaljourney.com/2011/03/1960-trends/hippie-counter-culture-movement, 9/ Page 122 in 'The Sixties in Britain' - Beatlemania
11/ Page 124 in "The Sixties in Britain" -hysteria
12/ Page 118 in 'The Sixties in Britain" -Mods
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