I was listening to the Jumping Monkeys podcast—“Parenting in the digital age”— yesterday and the guest made an interesting comment that parenting is hip now, which is strange because parents are the definition of unhip. She said, that cool is always defined by kids.
But that hasn’t always been so. In fact, it is only recently that popular culture has been defined by those who are not yet adults. In every era until the mid-20th century, popular culture was aimed at and provided by adults. In the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s that was true, but in the 50s—with the rise of rock’n’roll—the shift began. And now all pop culture appears to be aimed at 14-year-olds and ironically it’s the adults who are changing their behavior to act like kids instead of kids acting like adults as in the past.
An interesting look at all this is MArk Gauvreau Judge’s book “If It Ain’t Got That Swing: The Rebirth of Grown-Up Culture”. You can get the book for just $5 direct from Spence Publishing.
Technorati Tags: pop culture | adolescence |
