The “Me” Decade: Life in the 1970sChapter 19, section 4

Many Americans were optimistic about moving beyond Watergate and the

Vietnam War.

People sought to cope with what was going on in our nation through,

Laughter

Fads

Entertainment

Spiritual movements

Tom Wolfe coined the phrase the “Me” decade to refer to American’s attitude in the 1970s.

Popular books of the day:

I’m OK, You’re Okay: How to be your own best

friend

Looking out for #1.

New Age Movements:Zen

Yoga

Martial Arts

Tai chi

Crystals

Transcendental Meditation

One fad of the day was transcendental meditation – a way to meditate and seek release from the grind of life.

The most well known gurus was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

The Beatles followed him for a while, which made it even more popular.

Changing family dynamic:

One of the most significant cultural changes of the day was the changing role of women.

1970 – 60% of women between the ages of 16 and 24 joined the workforce.

In the Work force:

1970 – 1980 Women between the ages of 25-34 were the largest annual percentage of growth in the workforce.

The impact of the more women in the workforce:

Lower birth rates

Children spending less time with their parents – babysitters, latch-key

kids

Increased divorce rate.

Television:

TV began to portray women in a different light, more modern, less traditional roles.

Independent

Single mothers

Mary Tyler Moore show - single women, making it successfully in the workforce.

More uncomfortable “issues” were dealt with on television. Topics like:

AbortionRacismPoverty

The ground breaking sitcom to deal with many of these issues with a funny “in-your-face” approach was All in the Family.

Spin-offs from All in the Family

Music

Hard Rock

Barry Manilow

John Denver

The Eagles

Jackson Five

The Bee Gees

Disco

Fashion and Fads

Personalized Messages on T-shirts

Mood Rings

Skateboards

Fitness – Aerobics and gyms

Cultural

Trends

Of the

70s