The Sixties and Seventies - Riassunto inglese, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica The Sixties and Seventies - Riassunto inglese e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Sixties and Seventies A cultural revolution In the 1960s there was a transformation in British ideas and modes of behaviour, which can be described as a “cultural revolution”. A number of influences contributed to this change. First of all, a new openness to attitudes from the Continent and the United States; then the pressures from youth and popular culture, but also arguments of a civilised and tolerant society put forward by politicians. In the 1960s many reforms were passed in that decade which marked a retreat from the social controls imposed in the Victorian Age in favour of “permissiveness” (great freedom of behaviour). In 1960, Penguin Books won the case of prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act for publishing D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover; this result was said to be a crucial step towards the freedom of the written word. In 1961 the contraceptive pill appeared. The following year (1962) the Telstar satellite made world television news possible, while in 1965 capital punishment for murder was suspended (to be abolished in 1969) and comprehensive schools replaced most grammar schools. By 1966 Mary Quant was producing the miniskirt, which was set about 7 inches above the knee. She then opened a fashion boutique in Carnaby Street, London. 'Swinging London' - a term popularised by Time magazine - and Liverpool became the world capitals of youth culture. England was a world leader in musical fashion: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones brought new vitality to popular culture, and new subcultures would emerge like heavy metal, punk rock and new wave. Social legislation The year 1967 was an annus mirabilis as regards legislation in the sphere of sexual mores. First, the Abortion Act made it possible to get an abortion on the National Health Service; then, the National Health Service (Family Planning) Act allowed local authorities to provide contraceptives, and the Sexual Offences Act stated that a homosexual act between two consenting adults in private was no longer a criminal offence. Moreover, in 1969, the Divorce Reform Act made divorce possible after the couple had lived apart for two years, while the Matrimonial Property Act of 1970 established that a wife's work should be regarded as an equal contribution towards creating the family home. Racial tensions Race was a new source of open social conflict. The immigrants were making a valuable contribution to the British economy, but usually in the lowest-paid jobs.. The final goal would be integration, “not as a flattening process of assimilation but as equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance”, as affirmed by the Home Secretary Roy Jenkins. In 1968, the Race Relations Act tried to prevent unequal treatment of coloured people by making it illegal to refuse employment, housing or public services to anyone on the grounds of colour or race. The Seventies The 1970s were a disastrous decade in which Britain experienced states of emergency five times between 1970 and 1974 and several years of economic contraction between 1974 and 1981. In 1973 Britain entered the European Economic Community (EEC) and in the same year there was the Oil crisis, an international energy crisis affecting the global economy. In Britain, food costs increased by 40% due to the Community's Common Agricultural Policy, and VAT (Value Added Tax) further raised consumer prices. The overall effect was 'stagflation, a combination of economic stagnation, rising inflation and unemployment. In 1978-79 the most visible sign of trouble was strikes in a range of industries and occupations, especially in the public sector. The so-called winter of discontent' had begun, accompanied by new social problems such as the first urban race riots; a new generation strongly influenced by drugs, juvenile violence; and the new dangers of pollution created by prosperity and consumerism. Factories, discharging waste material, polluted rivers and the sea and oil tankers were responsible for the appearance of ugly oil slicks on beaches; chemical fertilisers and insecticides upset the balance of nature in the countryside; noise from aircraft and traffic made life unbearable at times. In 1979 the Conservative Party won the general election and its leader Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister.  The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British subculture of young men wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period who performed the new music sound – rock’n’roll. As a subculture, teddy boys had a reputation for being troublesome and violent, clashing frequently with authority and famously ripping out seats at concerts. Drape jackets, drainpipe trousers, skinny ties and creepers were compulsory attire.  Rockers are members of a biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centred on British café racer motorcycles and rock 'n' roll music. Rockers bought standard factory-made motorcycles and stripped them down, tuning them up and modifying them to appear like racing bikes. Their bikes were not merely transport, but were used as an object of intimidation and masculinity projecting them uneasily close to death, an element exaggerated by their use of skull and crossbone-type symbolism.  Mod is a subculture focused on music and fashion; it has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz. Elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music (including soul, rhythm and blues, ska, jazz, and later splintering off into freakbeat); and motor scooters (usually Lambretta or Vespa). During the early to mid 1960s, as mod grew and spread throughout the UK, certain elements of the mod scene became engaged in well-publicised clashes with members of rival subculture, rockers. The mods and rockers conflict led sociologist Stanley Cohen to use the term "moral panic" in his study about the two youth subcultures, which examined media coverage of the mod and rocker riots in the 1960s.  A skinhead is a member of a subculture originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the 1980s. Motivated by social alienation and working class solidarity, skinheads (often shortened to "skins") are defined by their close- cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high-rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain.  The hippie movement of the 1960s based itself on the concept of not conforming to socially approved patterns of behaviour and indulging in a form of gentle anarchy. Nakedness was celebrated and shopping for pre-worn items at jumble sales and charity shops was commonplace with long-discarded military uniforms and ethnic dress mixed and matched to create a unique style.