Anika Huq, Diksha Ratnam, Anastasia Urian 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

The 1980s

Business & the Economy 

          During the 1980s, the economy started off trying to be turned around by American citizens from multiple events in the 1970s that caused America to go into a recession (one until 1982). This was caused by the collapse of Chrysler, businesses failing, oil shortages, and the like. With his new responsibilities as president, Ronald Reagan took an effort to calm the the country with the state it was in. He said that the federal government being involved would not help the situation and instead the best choice would be to reduce its size. If the size of the federal government was to be reduced, then taxes would too, and by slow correction businesses would be able to get back on track. Much emphasis was placed on the significance of independent businesses in the economy, as well as the free market and capitalism. However, even though  tax cuts and the lowering of general social spending was established by Reagan, he had still increased the expenditure of the military --this contributed to the doubling of the previous national debt.

          Because of deregulation, where federal regulations are removed for businesses, Wall Street was heavily affected by uncontrollable activities in the trading sector (such as financiers illegally finding information about their "rivals"; this led to the supported belief that they were legitimate criminals). In other words, the business environment was awfully insecure, and it was not certain that investments would be kept safe. Not only were large-scale businesses affected, but farms as well --because of overproduction of goods and the decrease in land prices, the agricultural sector was in need of government help. Unfortunately this help was not provided in time.

          Aside from the economic crisis, it was clearly evident that the computer industry was rapidly developing. Because of this, the computer market aided in the success of those involved in it. Without the technology of computers, the way communication runs in businesses would definitely not be as efficient.

Education

     In the 1980s, American education was not doing so well.  A study showed that American students in elementary and secondary schools had tested lower than those in Japan, former West Germany, and former Soviet Union. There was also an increasing amount of drug use and violence in schools during this time. It was evident that this was having a negative impact on students. Politicians tried to figure out a way the government could take action. Many said that education had suffered due to the 1970s. At that time, colleges had decreased their standards, thus allowing people to get into colleges more easily. This lead to a looser curriculum for schools, and many essential classes were gone. For examples, electives had taken the place of classes like math and science.

       Parents and politicians were not too happy about the success of students. They had blamed teachers for the poor academics. The teaching field offered a low pay and was not a prestigious field. Thus, it was said that it drew in lower quality candidates. School boards decided to have a merit pay system for exceptional teachers. This would also provide an incentive for some teachers. However, due to lack of funding, this was never carried out. Also, in order to help the low education system, a lot of school districts started to have a minimum capability test that was required in order to graduate. The National Colligate Athletic Association also set academic levels that students must meet before being able to participate in any sports. 

Fashion

          The 1980s showed the decline of the hippie era to the yuppie era. The yuppie was known as the "young era professional". People would dress in ways to reflect their social status and to show the level of wealth that they had. Because of the materialism becoming more popular from higher job positions that citizens had, the look was neat and corporate. For example, women entering the work force wore white blouses, pants, belts, and 'curvier dresses', sporting heels and briefcases as well. Men wore dress shirts, narrower ties, and leather shoes. Accessories became widely popular --watches that were branded by companies such as Rolex were worn, music devices such as Walkmans were carried around, and the use of cell phones became more needed. Professionalism was the dominating theme characterized by the style. To go along with this, the 1980s was the beginning of the preppy look, involving khaki pants, polo shirts, and turtlenecks. Polo shirts became most popular by the polo player Ralph Lauren, and from this brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein were a necessary part of showing off social status. Rebel, or Street fashion, was worn by the youth and those with less money. They would wear multiple pairs of earrings, purposely torn jeans, and then soon break dancers would create the trend of wearing baggy pants, chains, and etc. Also, the gap between what designers created for models on runways and what women actually wore to work became greater, because of the popularity of miniskirts and ruffles, and how women in the workforce thought these were not practical things to wear. It was evident that by the end of the decade, women placed much emphasis on what they wore.

Plugin error: That plugin is not available.

Film and theater

     During this decade the use of special effects became increasingly popular. They started to be used to make movies thrilling and sometimes even violent. One of the movies in the 1980s that used this was E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Star Wars, The Return of the Jedi, The Terminator, and the Robocop took the concept of special effects to further on depict their science-fiction story lines. Also, President Ronald Reagan's opposition to the concept of communism led to a patriotic influence on movies, such as Invasion U.S.A. and Born On The Fourth Of July. Horror movies grew in popularity too --Friday The 13th and Halloween were two movies that followed the cliche plot of psychotic killers going towards women. The 1980s was also the time when comedic stars like Eddie Murphy came onto the scene. Besides film, theater such as larger and bigger productions on Broadway became known, and shows like Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera became known to be one of the most popular and well-known performances for years.

Food &  Drink    

Print Culture

     Since the economy was coming out of the recession, people were spending more money on magazines. The printing companies who were making the magazines flourished with this popular reading material.  The magazines were about lifestyles, technology, celebrities, health, music, parenting and much more. Also, glamour started making its way into magazines during this time. There were magazines for almost all interests.  Discovery, Cooking Light, Millionaire, Que Pasa, Campus Scene, W, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair were all magazines popular in the 1980’s.  Individual newspapers continued to be less prevalent throughout the 1980’s.  Many cities only had one edition of newspaper, usually morning edition.  USA Today was founded in 1982 and was used as an addition to the city newspaper. After four years of the paper, it had 4.8 million readers daily and raised the bar for other newspapers that now aspired to have layouts and news reports just as good as USA Today.  Although all these print media sources were available and widely used, the 1980s was becoming a decade where the population turned to television to get their news from rather than print medias.

Sports &  Games

     In the 1980s, many new records were set and legends were created. Basketball became the most popular American sport in the 1980s through the help of some still now talked about athletes, such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson helped his team get to 8 of the 10 NBA championship games of the decade and Michael Jordan was the second person to score over 2,000 points. He was also a creative player and was one of the most highly paid players during his time. In the world of hockey, Wayne Gretzky set new records for the NHL. He was the first person to get more than 200 points in a season, he won 8 MVP awards and four Stanly Cup Championships. In 1989 he also broke the record for goals scored in a career.

     The Olympics also gave Americans something to be proud of in the 1980s. Jackie Joyner-Kersee gave Americans hope and pride at the Olympics in 1984 and 1988 by winning gold and being the first American woman to ever win the long jump and the first in history to earn over 7000 points in the heptathlon. A miracle happened on ice at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid when the USA team beat the Soviet Union in hockey. This was a very inspiring moment in America's history of the Olympics and hockey. After this remarkable victory, the USA team went on to beat Finland for the gold medal.

     Video games became huge in the 1980s. One of the biggest video games of the time was PacMan, which was created in Japan in 1980. The original Nintendo started making games in 1983. Also, arcades became very popular at this time. Other popular video games in the 80s were Galaga, DigDug, Pinball, Space Envaders, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pong, and Asteroids.

  Plugin error: That plugin is not available.

Music 

     In the 1980's music was huge. MTV, music television, went on air in 1981 playing music videos all day long while bringing many bands and artists into the mainstream music cultures. It was the first time music videos had ever been shown, it was a new form of art in the music culture. Many had dances or short film type things going along with the song to display the message. Madonna and Michael Jackson are two singers who became sensations through MTV showing their music videos. Along with the pop songs, rap artists became popular in the 80s. Groups such as Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, and Salt-n-Pepa finally were able to reach a mainstream audience in the 80s, while groups like Public Enemy kept the more dangerous side of rap still alive. Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" became somewhat of an alternative national anthem to the country.  New Wave music broke into mainstream during the 80's. Popular musicians of this genre are Blondie, The Cars, Devo, and Pat Benitar. The "New Romantics" genre of music also became very popular at this time. Human League, Tears for Fears, and Duran Duran were three of the most popular bands of this genre. There was also a lot of heavy metal, rock, and alternative bands at this time that had a very popular following as well, for example, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, U2, Queen, and Rolling Stones. Most artists and bands of the time who were mainstream of any kind have MTV to thank for their success. A lot of the messages in 1980s songs were protest songs about the Cold War, Nuclear Wars, and the Regan Administration. Not all songs were protest though, many had to do with what was going on in the people's daily lives, such as songs about a girl or a boy, about drugs, sex, relationships, money, and anything else that was in society at the time.

"The Way We Lived" 

     Lifestyles during the 1980s had changed from the decades before. In the 80s, AIDS became popular. It was discovered when doctors noticed that patients had their immune systems failing. Most people who carried this disease in the 1980s were homosexuals and drug users who shared needles. Some people were judgmental of this disease, and others were not concerned. Regan, the president at the time, did not give a lot of support/ funding for AIDS research.  Christian fundamentalists saw AIDS as a punishment because there was a lot of drug use, and gay/ lesbian relations during the 60s and 70s. Many misconceptions started to arise about AIDS too. People thought that it was contagious and could be spread through hugging, kissing, and being sneezed on. Lifestyle had changed for many because they started to practice safer sex methods, or refrained from sex their whole life. In addition, the sale of condoms rose and high schools had begun to give students condoms too.  Many jokes about safe sex came up in movies and television shows too. (Baughman, Vol 9).

     In addition, many Americans started to use cocaine in the 1980s, but they did not know the side effects. Most people thought there were no side effects to its use near the beginning of the 80s.  Cocaine gained popularity since athletes and celebrities used it. In 1982 a survey found that 22 million Americans used cocaine at least once. Also, cocaine was sold for a very high price which made it look even more valuable in the eyes of Americans. Later on researchers started to discover the risks cocaine had. In 1986, a basketball player named Len Bias died after his first use of cocaine. This had heightened the view Americans had on drug use and the use of cocaine had stopped increasing so rapidly. In 1988, Regan founded the Office of National Drug Control Policy which was aimed at reducing drug abuse.  The government tried to prevent cocaine getting into the country and the coca crops in the Columbian fields were destroyed.

     Furthermore, during this time, more money was spent on leisure related activities. The amount of money that Americans spent from 1980 to 1989 had increased drastically. More people were getting cable television and the sale of VCRs went from 475,000 at the beginning of the decade all the way to 11 million by the end of the 1980s. Many also drew interest into watching wrestling matches. Hulk Hogan was a wrestler that was very popular during this time. In addition,  more Americans were eating out. “By 1986, 40 percent of the average household food budget was spent anywhere from McDonald’s to the finest restaurants (Baughmen, vol 9).” Moreover, a group called “yippes” was attracted to health clubs since they could afford it and was mindful of their health. Break dancing also became popular during this time.

Government & Politics

               During the 1980s, America did not lead the world like it had before. After World War II, America was looked at as a world power, but this was not the case during the 80s. Most Americans were aware of the issues that were present with the increasing unemployment rates, increasing interest rates, and inflation. In 1980, there was a presidential election with the three candidates were Carter, Regan, and Anderson. In this election there was a debate about energy sources. Carter was concerned with the oil prices and basically energy saving in general. “Reagan called for “more domestic production of oil and gas” and “greater use of nuclear power within strict safety standard” (Baughman, vol 9).” Anderson had a plan where the price of gas would increase to reduce the use of gas. Most Americans were attracted to Regan since he had catchy slogans such as “Together, A New Beginning.” Moreover, he opposed abortion which increased his standings among some. He ended up winning the election with a 51.6% of the popular vote.

         When Reagan won the election, he instilled hatred toward the Soviet Union by telling Americans that the Soviet Union leaders can do things such as lie and cheat. This is because there was tension already between America and the Soviet Union created from before. They were considered as evil. In 1982, there was a five-year Defense Guidance Plan which said there would be able $1.2 trillion dollars spent on defense. In addition, there was a Strategic Defense Initiative project which was to make and organize a shield that would stop missiles. This plan was also referred to as “Star Wars.” However, some said that this would go against the Antiballistic Missile Treaty.  Regan basically wanted to get a head start in nuclear weapons so that the Soviet Union would not be a large threat. 

Leadership  

     One of the great leaders during the 1980s was Ronald Reagan. He was very optimistic and thought that America could become a powerful nation in foreign policy again though hard work and faith. From when he was elected, he looked down on communism and did whatever he could to stop it. When he was elected, he gave money to other countries, such as Nicaragua, to help with their anticommunist movements. In addition, he had dealt with the Soviet Union. He was not a supporter of the Soviet and said that their leaders could do things such as lie and cheat. Moreover, he tried to help keep peace in Lebanon and wanted a bombing in Libya since they had supported terrorist actions. In addition, “Reagan sought to protect the country and destroy communism at the same time by building up the might of the American military (Carnagie, vol 9).” He had wanted to create a system that could annihilate nuclear missiles that were coming toward the United States and he wanted this system/ shield to help America will a nuclear war. Many did not know how this system would be created, but Reagan did spend over one trillion dollars for new defense. Thus, it is clearly shown that he was concerned about the welfare of the United States, showing he was a good leader during this time period. 

Law &  Justice

      It was during the 80s that the US determinate sentence became a popular crime sentence. It is a sentence to confinement for a fixed or minimum period that is specified by statute.  The reason for the popularity of this sentence in the 80s was because crime dramatically increased and so there was a need for stricter laws to help this problem. The war on drugs was going on during the 80s which was one of the reason there needed to be more arrests and punishments. The war on drugs first started in the early 70s, but made drugs more available and used in the 80s. It was in 1985 that crack became a popular drug in America. In the 80s, it was realized that crime and drug use are directly related which was another reason that drug use was being realized and punished by law and jail time. Unfortunately during the 1980s, headlines were caused by mass murders. Four of the most popular ones of the 80's are James Huberty, John Wayne Gacy,  The Hillside Strangler, and Ted Bundy. James Huberty went to a McDonalds to kill himself and instead shot and killed 21 and wounded 19. He was killed at the scene when a SWAT officer shot him. John Wayne Gacy went to jail because of an assult charge on a 15 year old boy, once he got out of prison he went on a killing spree where he raped and killed many men. In court, he was found guilty of killing 33 people and was executed in a gas chamber. THe Hillside Strangler was convicted of nine murders and was given a life sentence. Ted Bundy admitted killing 30 woman, although it is possible he had killed over 100 women, and was electrocuted as a death sentence. In the 80s, neighborhood watch was formed. It was started by police to keep an eye on suspicious things going on in neighborhoods.

      During the 1980s, "Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman in the Supreme Court Justice" (Lone Star). The supreme court had many laws to create and manage in the 1980s. One of these was the abortion law which caused quite a stir. In 1986 publically funded hospitals were banned to give abortions. Also, by the end of the decade the Supreme Court had gone through a change for the better.

Religion  

     Many, if not all, the religions in the United States were restructuring themselves. There were disputes about the significance of the roles religion played as well as the gradual rise of the amount of people that believed in religious conservatism. Protestantism was still the "dominant faith" kept in America, and so forth in popularity were Methodists after Baptists. The difference between Methodists and Protestants was kept divided by the United Methodist Church --the largest of Methodism, and also having a more liberal stance on issues in society.Also, in the 1980s, Catholics began to obtain more of an "improved socioeconomic status". This led to them trying toincrease the flexibility of what they were meant to believe in and therefore, the independent and liberal Catholics were shown to clash with the more obedient Vaticans. Many of the Catholics were Hispanic, due to the increase in immigration. Aside from these religious groups, Jews began to appear onto the scene more, but they seemed to not be as religiously dependent. On the contrary, they still exhibited concern for the viewpoints of the United States and Israel towards each other. Similar to this, liberal religious activism started and there was criticism by the Catholic Church on how America focused so much on nuclear arms and war while it considered itself to be moral. 

Positive Political Cartoon

Through everything going on while he was in office, his image was upheld and he remained popular.

Negative Political Cartoon 

Herb Block comments: "Reagan continued to call for balanced budgets without ever presenting one and tripled the national debt."

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

           After World War II, the 1980s was a major decade that had helped shape America.  America after the War was much more different than America before the war. The 1980s helped form how America is today though the aspects of culture, events, and leadership.

            The 1980s was far from the time of the Second World War, but you could still see how the culture had changed and evolved since the war.  Fashion had definitely evolved since the time of the war. During the 40s, women wore skirts below the knees and were reasonably covered up. The women working for the war wore more of utility type clothing that was practical, not necessarily stylish.  The 80s was a time of expression and there were many trends and fads people followed. People now had more freedom to dress however they wanted and there was no specific hem length that was aloud.  Film and theater were popular back in the 40s for entertainment, but now in the 80s, cable was available and people could watch movies and television whenever they wanted.  The food of the 80s was more health conscious, when in the war time, people weren’t so health conscious and ate what they could get.  The 40s and 80s alike were major sports fans. The ending of the war gave Americans more spirit and pride, so sporting games became a popular way to spend your day. During the 80s, it was very easy to see these games and sports because now you could watch it on your television. After the war, new music kept appearing. This helped with the 80s because during this time many new styles of music were invented and music had also evolved since the music being played during war time.  When the men of the war came back home, the baby boom happened and people started traveling more and doing family things. This helped shape the 80s because the children that came out of the baby boom were now parents to the kids growing up in the 80s, so these parents used some of the same values as their parents taught them in the post World War Two time.  Women and colored people also gained respect throughout all these times. When the war started, they still were not all respected as they should have been. By the time of the 80s, people were being treated more as equals, still with room to approve, but nonetheless were being treated like human beings. Also, in culture people started being more accepting of homosexual people as opposed to before the war the nation thought it was a disease and that something was wrong with the person if they were gay.  Post World War Two helped mold America into a more accepting, technological advanced, and expressive decade than the war had started in. 

           The events of the 1980s shaped and reflected post-WWII America as well—when Sally Ride became the first woman astronaut, there gave a new sense for accomplishment that women strived for, and it got rid of the stereotype of the majority of women staying at home instead of working. When AIDS broke out, the country was filled with health concerns. Safe sex and abstinence became more common among Americans. This had helped shaped the views American had on sex and waiting until marriage.  Furthermore, Americans used cocaine and were not aware of its health effects in the early 80s.  Near the late 80s was only when people knew that it was a harmful drug. This shaped America because more people are now aware of the effects of cocaine and there are more laws passed dealing with drugs in order for the safety of all citizens. In addition, just as drug issues were a problem in the 80s, they still are a problem today. However, it shows that in the 80s America was more involved in treatment, research, and spreading awareness.  Also, compared to 40 years ago, the country was more patriotic. Students would pledge to the flag at the beginning of the school day.  However, by the 80s, this was not the happening. There were more fights and violence in the schools. In addition, schools were lacking in education, since the standards had been lowered.  After World War II it was evident that the viewpoints of citizens towards their way of life changed and this partly contributed to the new breakthroughs occurring in society.

                Leadership also helped shape and reflect post World War II America. In the 80s, new leaders such as Reagan emerged. Reagan helped boost the American economy and wanted America to return to the world power that is was when it came out of World War II. Before Reagan was president, in the early 80s America was suffering many economic and social problems such as high unemployment rates, inflation, drug abuse, and crime. Reagan wanted a brighter future for America. He wanted America to be on top. For example, he wanted America to win if the instance of a nuclear war was to come up.  This is similar to what was happening before World War II  because then Roosevelt was trying to step up the defense system that America had, and in the 80s Ragan tried to have a stronger sense of security present in the nation. In addition, he was anti communist and tried to go whatever he could to prevent the influence of communism from coming upon America. This helped shape America because it shows the values America is founded on—a democracy.   Furthermore, he showed the Soviet Union in a negative light, which helped shape the views of Americans also.  

               Overall, many changes took place in America during the 80s and this helped make America what it is today. The changes in fashion treads, the outbreak of AIDS, the increased use of cocaine, the increase in violence, and Ronald Reagan becoming president have contributed to the change in America’s identity after World War II. With the culture, events, and leadership changing, America changed too.

Works Cited

"Leisure Time." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 June 2010.

Music Video. American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 9: 1980-1989.  Detroit: Gale, 2001. 

"National Politics: 1980 Elections." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2010.

"Neighbourhood Watch." Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia. 6th ed. Auckland, New Zealand: David Bateman, 2005. 468-469. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 June 2010.

 Pac-Man. Chris Routledge. Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 5: 1980s-1990s.  Detroit: UXL, 2002. p1167-1169. 

Panasonic VCR. Digital image.Http://hd-dvd-recorders.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/panasonic-vcr-dvd-recorder.jpg. Web. 10 June 2010.

"The 1980s Education: Overview." UXL American Decades. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 June 2010. 

"The 1980s: Religion: Overview." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 June 2010. 

"The 1980s Business and the Economy: Overview." UXL American Decades. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 32-33. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 June 2010.

"The 1980s: Law and Justice: Topics in the News." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 June 2010.

"The 1980s Government, Politics, and Law: Overview." UXL American Decades. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 70-71. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 June 2010.

"The 1980s Government, Politics, and Law: Topics in the News." UXL American Decades. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 74-92. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 June 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do0x-Egc6oA&feature=related

"1980s: Film and Theater." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 5: 1980s-1990s. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 1119-1120. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 June 2010. 

"The 1980s: Fashion: Overview." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 June 2010.

"The Cocaine Crisis." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 June 2010.

"The Cold War."American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001.Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2010.

The Olympics: 1980. American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 9: 1980-1989.  Detroit: Gale, 2001.