Summary
Highlights
Following World War II, American culture embraced mass production, leading to an 'Age of Conformity'. While earlier mass media like radio and cinema introduced a national culture, post-war television significantly contributed to a more homogeneous society, where various American groups became increasingly similar. This period saw mass culture becoming more uniform, reducing regional cultural distinctions.
Three major networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) presented television programming that appealed to mainstream Americans. Shows like 'I Love Lucy' and 'Leave it to Beaver' promoted idealized versions of the nuclear family and traditional moral values. 'Leave it to Beaver' depicted a perfect middle-class suburban family, reinforcing gender roles, while 'I Love Lucy' occasionally challenged these norms through its protagonist's aspirations.
Religion also became a tool for conformity during the Cold War. To distinguish Americans from the 'godless atheists' of the Soviet Union, American culture emphasized godliness. Phrases like 'under God' were added to the Pledge of Allegiance and 'In God We Trust' became the national motto. Television evangelists like Billy Graham blended biblical teachings with conservative politics and anti-communism, making it difficult to separate Christian identity from American identity and contributing to the growth of evangelicalism.
Artists were among the first to challenge the era's conformity. The Beat Generation, including writers like Jack Kerouac, used their work to criticize white middle-class culture. Kerouac's 'On the Road' celebrated freedom, travel, and non-conformist experiences, often embracing drugs and alcohol as means to unique life experiences. Elements of black culture, music, and beauty standards were also embraced. J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye' similarly critiqued the phoniness of mass culture through its protagonist Holden Caulfield.
Intellectuals also challenged conformity, particularly regarding consumerism and corporate capitalism. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, in his 1958 book 'The Affluent Society,' argued that post-war economic growth created private wealth at the expense of public goods like schools and parks. He criticized the advertising industry for artificially creating demand and conditioning Americans to equate consumption with happiness.
In a society promoting heterosexuality as the sole norm, homosexuals began to challenge laws criminalizing their orientation. Organizations like the Mattachine Society (founded in 1951 for gay men) and the Daughters of Bilitis (for lesbians) emerged, laying the groundwork for the more widespread gay rights movement of the 1960s.
Teenagers, a newly recognized age group in the post-war era, rebelled against their parents' conformity, most notably through rock and roll music. This genre, pioneered by Black artists like Chuck Berry and popularized by white artists like Elvis Presley through television, was considered scandalous by older generations. Elvis's suggestive dancing further fueled parental horror, but his popularity among teenagers underscored their defiance of cultural conformity.