The 1950s were a time of considerable cultural change in America. Although this decade is often remembered for its battles; the physical war in Korea and the ideological war with the Soviet Union, the politics of the 1950s revolved around opposition on the domestic front as well, especially as new gender roles were being defined in preparation for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
Although Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (released in 1963) remains to be the first and most revolutionizing piece of media to procure the theme of women's liberation, the origins of the social movement and its themes of feminine equality and heightened social status can be found in prior works of media, and specifically, in music. The top-40 song "Whatever Lola Wants" by jazz-singer Sarah Vaughan illustrates this presence. Vaughan's success as a performer was directly attributed to "her 'one of the boys' attitude" as stated by a musical scholar at Duke University. (http://www.duke.edu/~omn) This status"ensured tha
So I'd pick my guitar with a great big grin
Such gender struggles as the dichotomy between Vaughan and Presley's lyrics however, existed under the radar of the general listening audience. Rock and Roll swept the nation in the 1950s primarily due to its popularity among the youth and not its politics. Even the care-free be-bop kids could not escape the politics of war and rising unrest though as evidenced by Bill Parson's hit song "The All American Boy" released in 1958. In this song, Parson's capitalizes on the attitudes and Rock culture of the time, when he sings:
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