peerpoint
Fifties or seventies?
by Ted Friedman/AFS
There seems to be a theory loose in the land about a return on campus to the
(silent) fifties. While news of ^is trend first appeared in a recent page one story in
the NEW YORK TIMES, anyone could have seen it coming long ago.
(Reprinted from the Mary Washington College Bullet, Feb. 14, 1972.)
'iShat!k* ■■■ revival?'
Vwn3%out., "
First came the popularity of all those corny love-story-type movies; then soft,
acoustical guitar music won out in popularity over blaring acid rock, and the
lyrics became embarrassingly romantic, some would say mawkish. Concurrently,
there was a wave of nostalgia which encompassed the fifties and included more
than a passing interest in such fifties phenomena as Bill Haley and the Comets.
Next, lots of people started wearing sneakers, which were the number one
footwear in the fifties, some in combination with corduroy sportscoats, a dead
giveaway. The sneakers aroused a lot of suspicions about a return to the fifties.
The rest of the theory about a return to the fifties revolves mainly around
historical and economic comparisons. The forties, the theory goes, produced a
generation in the fifties which felt the need for respite from years of war and
personal displacement; and we are seeking the same thing in the seventies,
produced by the sixties.
The lagging economy contributes to the picture by freaking out students who
fear they won’t get a job, so they have to bear down and study hard, thinking
—rightly or wrongly— that this will help them land a gig. (Students in the fifties
were bearing down for more or less the same reasons.)
Since students have to study harder to get a job, they also need to relax harder,
which means —as most students understand it— getting loaded one way or
another. But the pressure to blow grass is no longer as strong as it used to be,
according to the fifties theorists, so it's no longer necessary to do dope (as if there
were no reasons other than social pressure), and students are returning to th'eir
number one love, anyway-the juices. Because they're juicing, they're compared
to students of the fifties.
So much for the theory. Now for the evidence. A sophomore at Brandeis
University named Josh Peckler, of Massapequa, Long Island, observes. "It seems
like a return to the nineteen-fifties." That's not all he says, but let's stop here a
minute and examine his amazing statement. Being a typical sophomore, Peckler
was born in 1952. Well, he miss^ the first two years of the decade about which
he is commenting, but never mind, he was a wizened seven-year-old boy by 1959.
Once you realize this about Peckler's precociousness, the rest of his observations
should take on more authority.
'There's more booze," Peckler continues, "more nice clothes, the music is
become less radical and softer — Carole King and James Taylor — and people seem
to be getting into their middle-class shells and not worrying about the future."
Peckler stops short of saying whether this situation is good or bad, but a fellow
sophomore, by the name of Susan Giavaris, is less restrained. In what may well go
down in cultural history as the birth of the "new hip," Giavaris gushes, "Socially
speaking, Brandeis is coming together, which is incredible. It's getting straight,
baby. There's a whole new influx of skirts and sweaters. It's an incredible
freak-out. All of a sudden this summer I went out and bought dresses. Why? I felt
like feeling good."
Now Giavaris' observations raise more questions than they answer. What does
she mean by 'straight'? What does she mean by 'baby'? How would she define
feeling good? But suffice not to say that she has a well-developed sense of irony
and that when she says straight, she really means hip — a new kind of hip.
What all this comes down to is the seemingly-confusing notion that what used
to be considered straight is now hip, and vice versa. Now clearly this sort of
standard is going to catch a lot of people up short, namely all the people who
thought they were hip. But for all the people who considered themselves
hopelessly straight, it should prove a stroke of good fortune. In fact, unlike
Giavaris, who had to run out and buy skirts and dresses to make the scene, some
of these people by firtue of never having been anything else than what they
are—will be ultra hip; or, to borrow a phrase from the late fifties, so far out
they're in.
For example, three years ago, the student government at a small college in,
Kentucky circulated a petition denouncing the school's liberal administration for
pressuring students to "do our own thing." Said the students, "We don't know
what our own thing is but even if we did, we doubt that we'd be able to do it." I .
mean, can you imagine how hip, ultra-hip, those people would be today?
Following are further examples oof the new ultra-hip. The names of students
and their colleges are suppressed to spare both of them any embarrassment.
You’ve got to understand that these people don't know yet that they're ultra-hip.
—At a small college in Ohio, a student complained, "I have been disturbed by
the amount of hostility I sense between the guys and the girls. Not only are we
separated physically on opposite ends of the campus, but there seems to be
psychological separation as well. Girls complain that they don't get dates and then
« i
Mia^s china shambles
^ press corps traveled 16,000 miles to
always hear interpreter Nancy Tang
) rtiiilk" , Mao Tse Tung, looks "far prettier and
■ rid is "drab," and Pat Nixon wore a
Asking Hotel, a red-fur lifted coat to kiss
Wall and a beige fur coat for shooping
'LarnL,r’®?5K:how.
^’'ssident lovesChinesefood but usually
Hoi % h aod NBC reciprocated with the
jfor'Ct ® ®99 roll for his first Peking breakfast
“J,jC«hsoup.
‘ jytiy *®chnological sense of providing live color
event of Nixon's administration - and
pa*!? set additional milestones only in the
arrogance of its coverage,
the first media extravaganza we have
having paved the way before -but it was
jjis'v P'’ess has been thrown back on its own
j°'*®’^®9® of a sustained major event The
f’ecidedly lacking.
those of the electronic media whose
is ® camera or the value of saying
j iroW ^V. the printed reports emanating from
lien people from whom most of us get our
,(jia*® phenomena their media has created
®Ptl the quick analysis, the distortion of
, to "hve, now" images and commentary...
LsO''i|(jJP^P'03ie but without official feeds of
^erdi^P®^ l^nowledge of the situation.
liit'P’Vr^^^P confusion and irrelevance. NBC's John
Chou-En-Lai's handshake while Stanley
^ pn'’Pted to read world significance into the
n Daily coverage of the event. An
Evening Star (Feb. 23) weighed in
‘Pj^cond paragraph lead:
,stii*V® ”®®n thin so far pointed to previously
. “®®n limited to just being meaningless,
si tra' **®’i'n9 would not have been that
j lent themselves as showcases for the
American reporters -and in this
! ^ previous records.
history -all couched in the
in rf’'®®P*ions, but the rule.
gi °®ihara Walters of NBC sat her Chinese
9''ill him on his recent experience at
Hi* 1^0 -j?*' Dver and over again Ms. Walters
^tt’®ffK"'|'o®.s children -even after he had told her
(led ®^S^'®P’.ilv's hometown.
grs P.® ®iiPation was made obvious by the
( h ’PPidcPfallv. is under the care of a
I her for a few hours in the evening when in
iVi •
jPi^hhent according to The American
contemptuously cited "
ajatciWK®^ for not commenting editorially on the
ji®“fo®*V 24 while failing to mention that his
« comment since the President's arrival in
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by linda hanley
programmed to behave according to a scenario prepared in advance." Similarly,
the first reaction of the Washington press to Chinese dress was a resounding
"drab." Later in the week, sightings of more colorful clothing were suggested to
be "plants" by the Star's reporter.
Occasionally reporters would not even go through the motions of playing
down their disdain for China's political lifestyle as when Hugh Mulligan of the
Associated Press described Ms. Nixon's hotel kitchen visit in a February 23
report:
"All the little chefs in their little white Mao caps beamed with revolutionary
pride as the President’s lady tasted at random in the spotless white kitchen."
NBC's Herbert Kaplow toured a People's Liberation Army encampment
outside of Peking toward the end of the week and omenously warned the vievving
audience that this army "does more than shoot guns and throw hand grenades." It
turns out that their other activities include the raising of their own lovestock and
food and attendance at political education classes.
They are, in other words, self-sufficient. But Kaplow concludes that these are
somehow controls designed to guarantee that each succeeding Chinese Army "will
be dedicated Communists."
If Kaplow knows of another military system in the world that does not
encourage devotion to national p>olitics, he is apparently keeping the information
to himself. The value judgment on China, however, is clear.
What the American Press in Peking demonstrated it knew of history and
revolutionary movements in particular, was matched in presumptuousness only by
its ensuing clash with an Oriental Culture openly viewed as alien.
Since virtually no one in the U.S. group knew Chinese, interpreters vyere a
necessity. Chafing at this reportorial disadvantage, Herbert Kaplow proved himself
not above racial epithet when he complained on the air:
"The description of inscrutability is true." Kaplow, it seems, could not figure
out if his interpreters were telling the truth simply by monitoring their facial
expressions." u l.
The encounter with a society where Western sex roles and inequality have been
eliminated met with similar hostility. Barbara Walters, though far from being
liberated herself, did on a occasion attempt to raise the issue of women s equality
in her reports from Peking. More than once she found the subject being suddenly
changed by the anchormen back home and at one point, vvhile discussing the
questions Chinese women put to her about the situation in America, Frank
McGee sneered half-way around the globe: And what did you tell them
Barbara?" . j • ..-i-u
At other times Ms. Walters herself chimed in on the ^neral derision. That s
what's known as (sexual) equality," she said in describing a group of men and
women working against the snow storm together. You can all chop ice
toQ6th©r,*'
Even more shaken by the scene, Herbert Kaplow offered this prediction for
"That will probably be the biggest difference between East and West - the
ability to tell men from women on the streets. . ..- -r i.
Quite possibly an incident during the Presidential visit to the Ming Tombs will
go down as most representative of the American presence in Peking last week. An
audio newsman, eager to catch Nixon's every word as a sigh^r at the tomb,
went so far as to rest his long microphone on the head of Chinese Deputy
Premier, Li Hsien-Nien, where it remained until another People's Republic official
reached over and removed It.
f,v9C''liall''
,, . small Chinese coverage of the visit on
he impression that some sneaky Communist
gtioi^S p. .
rage regime in Taiwan had completely
id \ o ®''®hf and banned foreign magazines and
duration of the visit was reported in a two
®hil in some cases, the Asian scholars
iiell *®*! hs that both the Chinese ballet
everything else in sight) were "by our
ihfl ^ii^lho^ '.*’® American standard was politics.
I 1*^6 Evolutionary theory or practice of China,
°^1®h inconsistently. If crowds seemed
' 1. this was viewed as the result of a
I
people, the Post's analysis was not
ported "apparently been selected and
go to meals with their security blanket of 20 other girls. Guys complain that there
aren't enough tough girls on campus and go out and get potted. I feel that the
raids (panty, etc.) that have gone on are an expression of the frustration that
results from this segregation."
—At a small college in Rhode Island, a student says, "The big issue on our
campus today is that of whether or not the students feel there is need for a pet if
only to relieve. There are many cases in which keeping a pet has stimulated the
student."
—At a college in Washington State, students celebrated homecoming with a
Volkswagen stuffing contest, pie-eating contests, bed race. Pep Rally and bonfire.
Greek weekend at a Maine college began with a smoker and ended with an
all-Greek keg party. At an Illinois school, homecoming was celebrated with a tug
of war and a three-legged race. Sigma Nu, however, didn't have a Homecoming
Queen entry because they mistakenly entered a sophomore when the rules
required either a junior or a senior.
—At a New Jeisey scfiool, a fraternity and sorority paired up to present their
first annual Las Vegas Party; and an Iowa school held an after game dance
entitled, "Hot Pants Nite." The same school had a successful hay ride, Nov. 6.
Now that all these people have finally arrived, there is the danger that, in their
headlong rust towards progress, they will catch up with everyone else just in time
to be straight—againi
(Reprinted from the Mary Washington College Bullet, Feb. 28, 1972.)
This afternoon, representatives of the Dow Chemical Company will visit MWC
campus in anattempt to recruit seniors for the military-industrial complex job
market. And seniors, panicked about moving into the real world, will trade their
blue jeans for a dress and try to out-impress each other out of a job.
It is understandable that seniors should be concerned about the increasingly
narrowing job market and its effect on how they will live. But to allow normal
self-concern to control how or whether others will live, its criminal.
Dow Chemical has long been the main producer of napalm used to murder and
mutilate Vietnamese women, men, and children. As such, it should be completely
shut down. Whether one works in the typing pool or in the research iaboratory,
one is still supporting murder and mutilation.
The BULLET has always supported every individual's right to choose, whether
between birth control ro children, marriage or independence, etc. But choice is
not so absolute that it should be allowed to jeapordize people's lives. The Dow
Chemical Company should not be on this campus. No student should even
consider working for them.
Sadly, many of those who will show up this afternoon will probably be the
same ones who support civil rights, peace, welfare, and all those other "liberal
causes." But those are things that are safe during these four years of limbo when
we don't have to worry about eating or paying the rent. When we can afford to
take an extended vacation to think and act; to be free and to stand up for what
we believe. But these are all qualities which don’t make it in the real world.
Things which don't make money or make friends, which don’t get you elected or
don't get you a promotion. It’s fun to play the compassionate free thinker and
student activist, but that's all a part of the ivory tower existence where everything
is a little easier.
If we haven't learned to respect the lives of others, then we haven't learned
much. If we haven't learned to respect our own selves, then we haven't learned
anything.
So go ahead ladies, show up to politely express your burning desires to work
for Dow Chemical Company. Go ahead and spread your fingers, not in a peace
sign, but to reach the "a" and the "f" on the typewriter keyboard. And if you're
really Ibierated, maybe you'll get a job developing more effective napalm instead
of just filling orders for it. It's your life... and thousands of others.