Golden State, Golden Youth

The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955-1966

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, State & Local, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture
Cover of the book Golden State, Golden Youth by Kirse Granat May, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Kirse Granat May ISBN: 9780807898963
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: March 15, 2010
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Kirse Granat May
ISBN: 9780807898963
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: March 15, 2010
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Seen as a land of sunshine and opportunity, the Golden State was a mecca for the post-World War II generation, and dreams of the California good life came to dominate the imagination of many Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Nowhere was this more evident than in the explosion of California youth images in popular culture. Disneyland, television shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club, Gidget and other beach movies, the music of the Beach Boys--all these broadcast nationwide a lifestyle of carefree, wholesome fun supposedly enjoyed by white, middle-class, suburban young people in California.

Tracing the rise of the California teen as a national icon, Kirse May shows how idealized images of a suburban youth culture soothed the nation's postwar nerves while denying racial and urban realities. Unsettling challenges to this mass-mediated picture began to arise in the mid-1960s, however, with the Free Speech Movement's campus revolt in Berkeley and race riots in Watts. In his 1966 campaign for the governorship of California, Ronald Reagan transformed the backlash against the "dangerous" youths who fueled these actions into political triumph. As May notes, Reagan's victory presaged a rising conservatism across the nation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seen as a land of sunshine and opportunity, the Golden State was a mecca for the post-World War II generation, and dreams of the California good life came to dominate the imagination of many Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Nowhere was this more evident than in the explosion of California youth images in popular culture. Disneyland, television shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club, Gidget and other beach movies, the music of the Beach Boys--all these broadcast nationwide a lifestyle of carefree, wholesome fun supposedly enjoyed by white, middle-class, suburban young people in California.

Tracing the rise of the California teen as a national icon, Kirse May shows how idealized images of a suburban youth culture soothed the nation's postwar nerves while denying racial and urban realities. Unsettling challenges to this mass-mediated picture began to arise in the mid-1960s, however, with the Free Speech Movement's campus revolt in Berkeley and race riots in Watts. In his 1966 campaign for the governorship of California, Ronald Reagan transformed the backlash against the "dangerous" youths who fueled these actions into political triumph. As May notes, Reagan's victory presaged a rising conservatism across the nation.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Santa by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book The Greensboro Reader by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book In the Cause of Freedom by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Within the Plantation Household by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Strikebreaking and Intimidation by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book A Measure of the Earth by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Black Soldiers in Blue by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Running Steel, Running America by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Good Girls, Good Food, Good Fun by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Urban Green by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Cattle Colonialism by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Complex Justice by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book "Boomtown Rabbits": The Rabbit Market in Chatham County, North Carolina, 1880-1920 by Kirse Granat May
Cover of the book Modern Food, Moral Food by Kirse Granat May
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy