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Culture of the 80’s

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Culture of the 80 s Unit VI- U.S. Cultural History 1980 s The 1980s became the Me! Me! Me! generation of status seekers. During the 1980s, hostile takeovers ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Culture of the 80’s


1
Culture of the 80s
  • Unit VI- U.S. Cultural History

2
1980s
  • The 1980s became the Me! Me! Me! generation of
    status seekers.
  • During the 1980s, hostile takeovers, leveraged
    buyouts, and mega-mergers spawned a new breed of
    billionaire. Donald Trump, Leona Helmsley, and
    Ivan Boesky iconed the meteoric rise and fall of
    the rich and famous.
  • If you've got it, flaunt it You can have it
    all! Binge buying and credit became a way of life
    and 'Shop Til you Drop' were all watchwords.

3
FACTS about this decade
  • Population 226,546,000 Unemployed in 1980
    National Debt 1980 - 914,000,000,000 National
    Debt 1986 - 2,000,000,000,000 Average salary
    15,757 Life Expectancy Male 69.9 Female 77.6
    Minimum Wage 3.10 BMW was 12,000 Mercedes
    280 E was 14,800 Attendance Movies 20
    million/week

4
Interesting events
  • Toxic Shock Toxic shock syndrome is a rare,
    life-threatening bacterial infection that has
    been most often associated with the use of
    superabsorbent tampons and occasionally with the
    use of contraceptive sponges.
  • In 1980, an outbreak of toxic shock syndrome
    occurred that mostly involved young women who had
    been using a particular brand of superabsorbent
    tampons. The cause of the outbreak seemed to be
    toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph)
    bacteria
  • Medicare-our countrys health insurance program
    for people age 65 or older. Certain people
    younger than age 65 can qualify for Medicare,
    too, including those who have disabilities and
    those who have permanent kidney failure. The
    program helps with the cost of health care, but
    it does not cover all medical expenses or the
    cost of most long-term care. Medicare is
    financed by a portion of the payroll taxes paid
    by workers and their employers. It also is
    financed in part by monthly premiums deducted
    from Social Security checks.
  • Just Say No! Nancy Reagans active campaign
    against drug and alcohol abuse.
  • Vietnam Veterans Memorial-The official name of
    the Memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It
    is sometimes referred to as VVM or "the Wall".
    The figures are called "The Three Servicemen".
    This is not a war Memorial but a Memorial to
    those who served in the war, both living and dead.

5
Interesting people
Sandra Day OConner
Wayne Williams
Nancy Reagan
  • Wayne Williams- From October 1979 to May 1981,
    Wayne Williams killed twenty-seven young black
    boys in Atlanta. At trial Williams was found
    guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • Sandra Day OConner- first woman supreme court
    justice.
  • Geraldine Ferraro-first woman vice-presidential
    candidate.
  • Jesse Jackson- first black presidential
    candidate.
  • Rock Hudson- famous actor who died of AIDs
  • Jim Bakker-televangelist who was sentenced to 45
    years for selling bogus lifetime vacations.
  • Nancy Reagan- President Reagans wife and first
    lady who started the Just Say No to drugs
    program

Jim Bakker
Geraldine Ferraro
Jesse Jackson
6
Education
  • 1980 study by UCLA and American Council on
    Education indicated that college freshmen were
    more interested in status, power, and money than
    at any time during the past 15 years. Business
    Management was the most popular major.
  • American education came under fire during the
    1980s. Liberals cried out against budget cuts and
    rising student costs. School districts offered
    teachers exams and exit exams became a part of
    graduating for Education majors.
  • Conservatives like E.D.Hirsch, Jr. and William
    Bennett advocated a return to the classics for
    college students and back to the basic skills for
    public school students. An attempt was made to
    improve the teacher quality by raising salaries
    slightly. Efforts to censor books tripled in the
    eighties. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ,
    The Grapes of Wrath, and Catcher in the Rye were
    among books banned in New York State. Roget's
    Thesaurus banned sexist categories mankind
    becamehumankind countryman became country
    dweller. Columbia University, the last all male
    Ivy League school, began accepting women in 1983.
    President Reagan endorsed a constitutional
    amendment to permit school prayer. It was
    defeated.

7
Medical Advances
  • Research money allowed for studies and new
    treatments for heart, cancer, and other diseases.
  • Major advances in genetics research led to the
    1988 funding of the Human Genome Project. This
    project will locate the estimated 80,000 genes
    contained in human DNA.

8
Sports
  • Team sports for kids were really popular
    beginning in the seventies and going through the
    present. Eighties' mothers ran carpool after
    work, kids had after school and week end
    cheerleading, baseball, football, soccer, gym,
    dance, jazz, you name it!

9
Fashions
  • 80's Flops Ra ra and bubble skirts
    Fluorescent socks and t-shirts Drop waisted
    dresses Lace gloves Fergie bows - in the
    hair White leather fringed cowboy boots - Not
    unless you're Dolly Parton and you're boot
    scooting!80's FabulousTie sleeve and Batwing
    tops - Drop earrings - Micro minis - Big gold
    earrings - Multiple belts - Coloured tights - and
    This time round, pair coloured or camel toned
    fishnet tights with a knee length skirt, knee
    high leather boots and a turtleneck for a subtly
    funky effect. Leg warmers.

10
Fads
  • Big Hair
  • Skater hair and flat tops and Punk
  • Painter hats and pierced ears.
  • Michael Jackson Thriller coat
  • OP, Izod, Argyle- Hawaiian and Rugby Shirts.
  • Parachute pants.
  • Converse Hightops
  • Pegged jeans
  • Jelly shoes
  • Zubaz and spandex
  • Valley Girl
  • Michael Jackson glove and Miami Vice look
  • Swatch watches
  • Rubiks cube
  • Pacman, Nintendo, and Gameboy
  • Smurf, ET, and Cabbage Patch Dolls
  • Sneakers

11
Music
  • Cable TV and MTV
  • Slam dancing and break dancing
  • Vogueing (posing)
  • Pop, rock, new wave, punk, country, and
    especially rap or hip hop
  • Milli Vanilli, M. C. Hammer , Vanilla Ice, and
    L.L. Cool J.

12
Movies
  • Nerds- Revenge of the Nerds, Lucas, Stand by Me,
    and Peggy Sue Got Married. TV joined the nerd
    ranks with ABC's hit series Head of the Class
  • In 1981, VCR sales rose 72 in 12 months.
  • By 1989, 60 percent of American households with
    televisions received cable service.
  • Huge or memorable movies of the decade included
    On Golden Pond, Tootsie, Arthur, Stephen
    Spielberg Movies like E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL,
    The Big Chill, Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Out
    of Africa, Back to the Future, Cocoon, The
    Breakfast Club,Platoon,Star Trek, Good Morning
    Vietnam, Fatal Attraction, Rain Man, and Driving
    Miss Daisy.

13
Television
  • Anti-family sitcoms like Roseanne and
    Married...with Children
  • Tabloid tv with Geraldo, Phil, Sally, and Oprah
  • Stand up comics included Gary Shandling, Jane
    Curtin, George Carlin, Jackie Mason, Bill Cosby,
    Jerry Seinfeld, and Tracy Ullman
  • Info-tainment includedNightline with Ted Koppel,
    CNN Cable News,and 20/20 with Hugh Downs and
    Barbara Walters. 60 Minutes which had first aired
    in 1968 was bigger than ever.

14
Foods
  • Food of the 80s included the popular fast food
    places like Taco Bell and
  • McDonald's McDLT and McRib. Kids loved Sweetarts,
    Skittles, Nerds, Runts, Hubba Bubba Chewing Gum,
    and Five Alive.

15
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
  • The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a 10-year
    war fought between the Soviet Red Army, Afghan,
    and foreign fighters in Afghanistan. The
    'shooting' war is generally held to have started
    December 24, 1979. Soviet troops ultimately
    withdrew from the area between May 15, 1988 and
    February 2, 1989. The Soviet Union officially
    announced that all of its troops had left
    Afghanistan on February 15.
  • The CIA invested US2.1 billion over a 10-year
    period to create an anti-Soviet resistance.
  • USSR- 15,000 Killed,53,000 Wounded
  • Afghanistan- 90,000 Killed, 90,000 Wounded,
    Roughly 1.3 Million Civilian deaths.
  • One of these benefactors of the war was Osama bin
    Laden
  • Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the
    Christian or atheist Soviets controlling
    Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as
    of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a
    "jihad"(holy war), they gained the support of the
    Islamic world. The US gave them weapons and
    money. The mujahidin employed guerrilla tactics
    against the Soviets.
  • U.S stops grain sales to USSR and boycotts Moscow
    Olympics.

16
Iran Hostage crisis
  • The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of
    Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government
    earlier in the year had led to a steady
    deterioration in Iran-U.S. relations. In response
    to the exiled shahs admission (Sept., 1979) to
    the United States for medical treatment, a crowd
    of about 500 seized the embassy. Of the
    approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52
    remained in captivity until the end of the
    crisis.
  • On Jan. 20, 1981, the day of President Reagans
    inauguration, the United States released almost
    8 billion in Iranian assets and the 52 hostages
    were freed after 444 days in Iranian detention
    the agreement gave Iran immunity from lawsuits
    arising from the incident.

17
John Lennon shot and killed
  • John Lennon was shot and killed in New York. The
    gunman, Mark Chapman, apparently shouted 'I am
    the Catcher in the Rye' just before dropping to
    the ground and firing the weapon.

18
Challenger Tragedy
  • January 28, 1986- Just 73 seconds after liftoff,
    the shuttle exploded. Debris rained into the
    Atlantic Ocean for more than an hour afterward.
  • All seven members of the crew were killed in the
    accident.
  • Teacher Christa McAuliffe was chosen from more
    than 11,000 applicants to train for the mission.
    She was to teach classroom lessons from space by
    satellite TV.
  • Reagan created the "The Presidential Commission
    on the Space Shuttle" on February 3, 1986 to
    investigate the accident independently from NASA.

19
Chernobyl
  • In the early morning hours of 26 April 1986, a
    testing error caused an explosion at the
    Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern
    Ukraine. During a radioactive fire that burned
    for 10 days, 190 tons of toxic materials were
    expelled into the atmosphere. The wind blew 70
    of the radioactive material into the neighboring
    country of Belarus. Almost 20 years later, the
    people of Belarus continue to suffer medically,
    economically, environmentally and socially from
    the effects of the disaster. These are the facts
    The Accident The Chernobyl power plant is
    located on the border area between Ukraine and
    Belarus. The explosion of the reactor at
    Chernobyl released 100 times more radiation than
    the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
    (1) At the time of the accident, about 7
    million people lived in contaminated territories,
    including 3 million children. About 5.5
    million people - including more than a million
    children - continue to live in contaminated
    zones. (2)Thyroid cancer, Leukemia, Childhood
    diseases, Cancers, Birth Defects, Genetic
    mutations and Heart disease.

20
Tianamen Square
  • On May 13, 1989, several students began a hunger
    strike at Tiananmen Square in the afternoon and
    formal talks with the government began a day
    later but they quickly broke down. Among the
    demands of the students and workers were more
    democracy, less corruption, and accurate press
    coverage. Days later, after no conclusion was
    reached, the government prepared to declare
    martial law
  • On June 3, 1989, troops received orders to
    reclaim Tiananmen Square at all costs.
  • Due to a lack of witnesses, the exact number of
    people killed in this so-called "Tiananmen Square
    Massacre" is not known. Some say that it was as
    few as 500 and as many as 3000.

21
The Berlin Wall and the end of Communism
  • Mikhail Gorbachev- head of the Communist party in
    USSR in 1985 at age 54. Introduced new policies
    of reform.
  • Glasnost- (openness) a policy to encourage Soviet
    citizens to openly exchange information and
    ideas- to criticize.
  • Perestroika- (restructuring) a policy to
    restructure the economy, with less government
    control over business.
  • End the dominance of the Communist party-
    democratization.
  • New thinking in foreign affairs.
  • Collapse of the Soviet Union
  • Nationalist unrest
  • Lithuanian independence movement
  • Coup by conservatives- army refuses and communism
    fails
  • 1991- Dec. 25 Gorbachev resigns as president of
    USSR
  • East German Crisis
  • Honecker of East Germany opposed reform (he had
    helped build the wall in 1961)
  • East Germany ran up a huge debt trading with the
    West.
  • East Germans began to learn of western products
    and democratic reforms.
  • Honecker replace and East German borders opened
    and the wall was taken down
  • October 3, 1990 East and West Germany reunited.

22
Yugoslavia
  • 1980- Tito Dies and the people demand multiparty
    elections.
  • 1990 Elections held- Communists lost everywhere
    except Serbia and Montenegro.
  • Serbian Leader Slobodan Milosevic calls for
    creation of a Greater Serbia.
  • Croatia and Slovenia declare independence from
    Yugoslavia.
  • Serb send Yugoslav army to stop Croatia and
    Slovenia from leaving federation.
  • Cease fire in 1992, Croatia independent.
  • 1991- Macedonia declares independence.
  • 1992 Bosnia-Herzgovina declares independence and
    Bosnian Serbs begin ethnic cleansing to get rid
    of Bosnian Muslims. Serbs control 70 of Bosnia.
  • 1995- Peace Treaty signed. Bosnia-Herzgovina
    independent.
  • Kosovo- Province of Yugoslavia. Wants
    independence. Milosevic attacks.
  • NATO and UN intervene in Kosovo and Yugoslavia.
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