Through My Mother’s Eyes: Pop Culture of the American 1970’s

In America the 1970’s was a time of peace, music, and looking natural. Some trends included blown out hair, bell-bottom jeans, rock and roll, disco, and appearing very natural. In an article written by Linda Welters it is stated, “The natural look arose from antagonisms in several oppositional cultures at different times, each involving a rejection of mainstream fashion” (489). In other words, the natural look was based off of the uprising popularity of rebellion during the 1970’s. Mariellen Perla, my mother who grew up during the 1970’s, was asked to explain her experience of the rebellious decade. I will use her first-hand experience of the American 1970’s to learn more about the pop-culture of the decade so that others who have not lived during this time can get a sense of what life was like.

Farrah Fawcett, a huge 70’s icon, sporting her famous blow out hairdo. Source: "Hanna/Skateboarding Babe."

Fashion

What was fashion like back in the 70’s? For us youth that have not lived during the time period we only have images we have seen through the media or perhaps photographs from our parent’s childhood. From what you can research about the 70’s you can learn that the style was very natural looking with natural-toned make-up, clothing, and hair. “I didn’t wear much make-up, we wore bell-bottoms or cut offs and peasant shirts,” said my mother when I asked her about her usual attire, “No one dressed up for school like they do now, we all wore t-shirts.” Continuing with the natural look, she also added that it was not common for girls to wear bras and no one except lifeguards wore one-piece bathing suits. Her favorite thing to wear was just jeans and a t-shirt because she could not wear pants to school until she reached high school. The girls had to wear dresses and fishnet stockings and sometimes they could wear dress pants on Friday’s (Perla).

The men from the 70’s also wore t-shirts and bell-bottoms. The men Mariellen was friends with were mostly those who were into rock and roll. She mentioned that the boys in bands always wore very tight clothes. Sometimes they would wear their girlfriend’s t-shirts.

The hairstyles changed during the 70’s at first girls had long hair and then everyone cut it to layered shags. There were not really any styling tools during that time. My mom knew a girl who burned her hair trying to straighten it with an iron. For the most part hair was very natural and not styled. Most men had long hair also, and some had afros.

My mother and her friend at the beach. Source: Perla, Mariellen.

In Mariellen’s opinion the best trends of the 70’s were bell-bottoms, hip huggers, and mini skirts. She prefers them to the types of pants worn today. She also misses platform shoes and hot pants. Her least favorite trends were high-rise pants, baggy jeans, and when mini skirts turned into long skirts. “I followed the trends in the 70’s,” she said, “I was really into fashion” (Perla).

My mom wearing a classic 70's outfit, cut-off jeans and all. Source: Perla, Mariellen.

Music

Music was very important to the youth of the 70's and many songs released during this time had very meaningful lyrics. One article on the music of the 70's states that music during this decade "Frequently exhibited subversive qualities, both culturally and musically" (Bennett 21). At my mother’s high school there were three popular genres of music: disco, soul music, and rock and roll. The people who loved rock and roll usually hated the other two genres. My mom was one of those people. When I asked her what kind of music she listened to she named, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, and many other popular rock bands during the time (Perla). When I asked her what other kinds of music she liked she simply replied, “Nothing else" (Perla).Rock and Roll was significant for her and many others, as stated in a website about 70’s rock, “There were extremely talented composers of 1970s rock music, and many were even considered to be Masters” (Norm). She said that many other girls like the song “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor and they would “scream it in the hallways after their boyfriends broke up with them" (Perla). This song and “You Light Up My Life” by Debbie Boone were the two songs she said she hated most.

For fun, she and her friends would follow bands and go to concerts. Along with a lot of famous bands she saw live she also saw many local bands. All of her friends would drink alcohol and go to concerts to dance and have a good time. Although she admitted to smoking marijuana occasionally she insisted that it was not very often and not even close to how much others did. From her experience it was mostly men who smoked marijuana.

A photograph of a local band taken by my mom. Source: Perla, Mariellen.

Life

Not only fashion was different during the 70’s, the way people decorated their houses was also unlike they way we do nowadays. When I asked my mother about how interior looked she had a lot to say, “You know that green shag carpet your grandparents have? Well, we bought the house like that” (Perla). She knew a lot of people who had yellow appliances in their kitchen but said her kitchen was mostly green and orange. Was she a fan of the coloring? Her response was, “Even back then I knew it was ugly” (Perla). Needless to say one type of trend she did not like during this time was house décor.

In her home they had one television so she did not watch anything too often. I asked her if this was common in the 70's and she answered, “None of my friends really watched any television, and whenever we did it was with the volume up and the radio on” (Perla). Even for those who watched television the shows that played were not even close to how many play now. Some popular television shows at the time were “The Mod Squad,” “The Smother’s Brothers Variety Show,” “Dick Clark,” “Sesame Street,” and “Mr. Rogers.” The two main topics in the news at this time were the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. When I asked her if there was anything else she said, “From what I can remember that was basically all that anyone was talking about” (Perla).

When she was not following bands and going to school my mother was working hard to make money. She had a few small jobs and saved her money the best that she could so that she could buy a car. Eventually she bought a 1964 mustang for two hundred and fifty dollars. When I asked her to describe the car for me she said, “It was falling apart” (Perla). This did not bother her though because she was just happy to own a car. Back then it was not as common as it is now for high school students to have cars. Most people had rusty, junk cars. It was not very common to see any nice cars, “Everyone wanted Camaros and Firebirds but you would never see anyone driving anything nice around town” (Perla).

A picture of my mother's 1964 Mustang. Source: Perla, Mariellen.

Conclusion

Year after year things change. There are certain time periods that greatly effect some while others who have not lived during that time have no knowledge of it. That was me before interviewing my mother, I had no concept of the way things were in the 1970’s other than what I have seen on television and in movies. By questioning my mother I was able to get a better understanding of what it was like to live in a different generation. The music and lifstyles were very different from today and treasured by those who favor the way of life shown by the 70's. In some people's opinions, "The 1970's rock ear looks more and more like the last great era of rock music experimentation and creative upheaval" (Norm). While others disagree with the significance of the 70's calling the natural fashion, "sloppy and unfeminine" (Welters 509). I asked my mother how she felt about the trends of the 70’s her response was, “I really love the music it doesn’t get any better, and I’m excited that the fashion is coming back into style, it’s even more comfortable now!” (Perla).

Works Cited

Bennett, Andy. “The Forgotten Decade: Rethinking the Popular Music of the 1970s.” Popular Music History. 2.1 (2007): 5-24. Web. 3 May 2011. http://web.fitchburgstate.edu:2083/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=95dae1d6-a8b7-43bc-bd67- 455fbaa2f3f1%40sessionmgr12&vid=5&hid=24

“Hanna/Skateboarding Babe.” Hearty Magazine. Hearty Magazine, 7 May 2011. 7 May 2011. http://heartymagazine.com/blog/farrah-fawcett-skateboarding-babe

Norm. “Rock Genres.” Classic 70’s Rock. Classic 70’s Rock. Web. 7 May 2011. http://www.classic70srock.com/1970srock.php

Perla, Mariellen. Personal Interview. 1 May 2011.

Welters, Linda. “The Natural Look: American Style in the 1970’s.” Fashion Theory. 12.4 (2008): 489-510. Web. 3 May 2011. https://docs.google.com/a/student.fitchburgstate.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B8FFOFAnNeroODhhMjRkM2YtYjUxYS00MWFjLTg3NzctMjM5ZDhkODljMmZh&authkey=COeMl1o&hl=en