Hello, and welcome to our blog! Whether you wanted to learn more about the cultural movements of the 1960s or stumbled upon our blog accidentally, we hope you find what you are looking for and learn something new.
We are four undergraduate students studying rhetoric in our Scholars Intro to English class at the University of Maryland. After learning about the cultural impact that the 1960s had on American history, we decided to write a refreshing take on the Counterculture movement and the Sexual Revolution of that time. Counterculture can be defined as a movement in which a group of people accept a way of life and a set of ideas that differ from that of the prevailing culture. We noticed that this tied in very closely with the sexual revolution which led to accepting sexual behaviors outside of traditional heterosexual relationships as well as embracing sexual freedoms. Together, these two monumental movements changed American values and shaped the society we live in today.
In this blog we have studied and analyzed the poem “Shot Up in the Sexual Revolution: The True Story of Suzy Creamcheese” by Cynthia Huntington and the advertising poster for Woodstock (shown on the right). We have spent weeks breaking down these texts into their rhetorical pieces using academic resources and techniques, and put down explanations of the rhetorical devices on our blog. This includes audience, kairos, ethos, pathos, logos, and stasis. We chose these texts because we felt it was interesting and important to revisit the Counterculture movement and the Sexual Revolution, two important cultural shifts in American society, and connect them with our views on sexuality and “fringe” cultural movements that are prevalent today. With this, we hope you retain a better understanding of the rhetoric present during these movements, and can use this knowledge to deconstruct arguments made on cultural and sexual topics, among others, and make better, more educated analyses and opinions on these complex topics.
Our texts were made in the spirit of rebelling against norms and encourage the audience to free themselves from the grasps of repressive cultural conventions and ideas. The poem illustrates a young woman’s attempt to explore her sexuality. She longs to be liberated from stereotypes of the time and wants to do as she pleases with her body, regardless of her gender. On the other hand, the Woodstock poster appeals to those who believed in a new path of peace, love, and spirituality by partaking in a hippie-centered music festival. At the same time, these texts also shed light on issues concerning the unfair treatment of women’s sexuality and the horrors of war, particularly the Vietnam War.
Despite the difference in their stasis, presentation, and rhetoric, the poem and the poster share the same message of having the freedom to choose the path to take in life. This is a lesson that is still relevant today as we as a society come to grasp with some of our outdated ideas and deal with our modern Counterculture movements, “good” and “bad.” The message about sexuality is especially important, since our society still holds antiquated ideas about sex and gender that need to be addressed. Theses ideas include double standards about of promiscuity in men versus women and stigma surrounding sexually liberal women. We hope this poem will help bring to light a woman’s point of view on these issues that are still prevalent today.
The blog was ordered by rhetorical devices, starting with kairos and ending with the stasis of each of the texts. We prove the major argument for the Woodstock poster of value by analyzing its aesthetic elements and the music festival that the poster itself is advertising for. The stasis of the poem, also value, is to express emotions that were once covered up and kept hidden from society. By publishing a raw piece of literature, Huntington adds to the liberation movement of young women, defining an era of change and equality.
The texts continue to have an important impact on society, as they deal with sentiments and problems that are relatable and still exist. No matter what gender you are or how open you feel about sexuality, there are still many people who feel constrained, confused, and shamed from society’s views on sex and sexual pleasure, which makes people struggle over a normal human need. And as for Woodstock, many of the anti-war politics and sentiments can be seen today with modern conflicts such as in Syria and Yemen, and conversations on the United States’ role in protecting human rights and stopping unnecessary suffering. Apart from that, the Counterculture can also teach us how to respect other people’s ideas on life; the marginalization of one of the most interesting and freeing movements in history by the mainstream prevented the society to accept the hippie’s ideas on sex, war, music, and politics that are more accepted today. This can teach us to be more accepting of others, even when we may vehemently disagree, which is a good skill to learn in today’s divided and tense political climate.
We hope you enjoy reading our thoughts and encourage you to read with an open mind, comment, and think in new ways about this important time in American history!
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