The 60's Societal customs and norms of the period (such as gender Essay - 1

The 60's Societal customs and norms of the period (such as gender roles, and. Also what is the collective view on God during this era) - Essay Example The evident changes ranged from values, education, laws, lifestyles, and entertainment. As the article The groovy 1990’s discusses, the 1960’s was a decade in which gender roles were thoroughly questioned. Inspired by the success of the civil rights movement, women in America and elsewhere around the world had set out on a quest to convert the ensuing quest for racial equality to a pursuit for women’s rights. Access to a credit, equal pay, and equal rights amendments were some of the agendas that were being pursued. A notable feature of this era was the escalation in the popularity of the birth control pill. Besides being an affordable tool for curbing unwanted pregnancies, the pill became a symbol of female emancipation. Having acquired unrestricted access to the pill, women had finally managed to gain increased control over their future. Not only did they now have the power to pursue long term jobs, they also had the ability to pursue higher education and compete for careers previously preserved for men. Besides the pill, the rise of feminisms wa s another notable feature in the fight for a shift in gender roles: Throughout the 1960’s, women groups such as New York Radical Women and the New York Radical Feminists emerged to challenge male supremacy both within the family and the political arena. According to the book The Age of Contradiction, the first two years marked the emergence of the phenomenon, â€Å"radical feminist† (â€Å"1998 Howard Brick†). Musically, it was a decade characterised by a surge in the celebrity culture and celebrity worship. Taking a departure from earlier decades in which great musicians were merely appreciated, the 1960’s ushered in a new era in which musicians became the ideal representation of success and fame; musicians were now the only standard against which one’s fame could accurately be measured. It was thus a decade in which musicians such as Elvis Presely, Jack Kennedy