Beat Poetry (and more 60s TV)

The NY Times article made a beautiful tribute to Mary Tyler Moore and really highlighted her impact on millions of young girls who were coming of age in the 70s and thereafter. She was an incredibly talented person (not just woman which individuals from the 60s would have referred to her as). I imagine many people told her “you’re pretty funny for a woman” when she was growing up. The show was crazy at the time – “a single career woman who could plot her own course without reference to cultural archetypes.” Like Marlo Thomas, she too dated without marrying, and worked hard to get to the top of her dreams. It must’ve been extremely difficult for women at the time to make anything of their careers in a man’s world.

In December 2016, one of my friends from Baruch invited me to his poetry reading (which turned out to be beat poetry). I like to read poetry, as I mentioned in my post about Gil Fagiani, but only during certain times when I want to feel a certain way. I ended up going and was incredibly moved. He spoke with such rhythm. He embraced the oral nature of poetry by speaking of his struggle about being an African American in America now. On stage, he says, there are no boundaries. Outlets like beat poetry provide a safe and public space. Beat poetry was central to the battle against social conformity.

Skinner provided a good historical context about the sixties counterculture and its evolution. I was particularly struck by his paragraph about Norman Mailer’s 1959 essay, “The White Negro.” His analysis on the hipster, and how the appeal of being hip lies in its existentialist appeal, in its abandonment of a traditional centered lifestyle, and the adoption of social dangers.

I’m not sure who Mailer was trying to target as his audience. It’s a bit dated – some of the sections are quite offensive and potentially *racist.* But it made me question what “cool” is and if being “hip” just means going against the norm.