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Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 5)

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers Sinking Values

Elderly Problems by Boomeryearbook.com

Baby boomers have set the standard. In an unprecedented feat of social transformation, baby boomers remolded a culture. They did this without a military coup or untold acts of violence (or at least not much, in relative terms). Social change, therefore, is a possibility given the drive and determination to do so. And yet; as baby boomers prepare to hand off the torch of responsibility to the next generation of Americans, there is much work to accomplish.

Baby boomer have left in their wake a society that is vastly different from the one in which they themselves were raised. The loss of traditional values, especially the destruction of the traditional family structure, has been devastating. The question that lies at the feet of the next generation of echo boomers and their children is what to do next?

In order for social change to take place, there needs to be awareness that there is a problem. Baby boomers, for their part, are a perfect example of this. Baby boomers, during their heyday, recognized the social injustices that troubled this nation and took action. It is only now that baby boomers are realizing the effects that their movement has wrought on a nation. Nevertheless, a recognition that a problem exists is the first step.

In this, it is important that baby boomers take a bit of responsibility for the results of their actions and step up to the plate to facilitate resolution, once again through change. This is important as a result of the attitude of self-indulgence that is prevalent in today’s culture. In other words, the current generation of Americans is so narcissistically self-absorbed, that larger social concerns go unheeded. As such, it is incumbent for someone – in this case, baby boomers – to begin a national campaign of social awareness education.

For real change to take place, this campaign has to be a grass roots endeavor. Most echo boomers are moving into the prime of their lives, taking their parents place in the work force and continuing to promote the social direction their parents initiated. As such, it is the children of echo boomers that have to be made aware of the need for change and the remedies that will bring about resolution to many of today’s problems. There has to be an impetus toward the need for reestablishing effective and traditional family structures as the primary vehicle of social reclamation. What better voice to initiate this campaign than the originators of generational social reform – the baby boomers themselves?

Baby boomers are in a unique position. Baby boomers, in ever increasing numbers, are realizing that in spite of their best intentions America is suffering. They see what American society has become in comparison to what American society was like in the period before the ‘great experiment’ manifested. Baby boomers can see what was good and what wasn’t; what should have been let go and what should have been maintained. It is within this spirit of experience and understanding that baby boomers can once again make a difference.

Elderly Problems: Are Echo Boomers Adapting Baby Boomer Values?

Through the voice of experience, aging baby boomers can impart the wisdom that can only be born through the trial and error of living. This wisdom can be the nectar for the younger generations that are waiting in the wings and hunger for social nourishment. The solutions to the ills that plaque society is deeply rooted and will take a generation to fully manifest. If we have any hope, baby boomers most take action – as they are the only viable and remaining voice that understands and can relate to then and now.

The Psychological Article on
Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 5) is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of articles to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

Tags: baby boomers loss of values, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
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Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 4)

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers Sinking Values

Elderly Problems by Boomeryearbook.com

Baby boomers, known as a force of social change now face an even more daunting prospect than the social injustices they confronted 40 years ago. Coming into the twilight of their own lives, they can now view their legacy with perspective. What they see is a world that is drastically different from the one in which they themselves grew up in. Whereas their futures, built on a foundation of the traditional family and the values that they imparted, were bright and hopeful; subsequent generations face a more uncertain and dire future.

The loss of the traditional family structure has left the American social landscape in shambles. Echo boomers (and soon their children) have carried on the torch that was passed on by their baby boomer parents to the nth degree. Fueled by advances in technology and higher degrees of hedonism, our families are growing further apart and any sense of cultural values are being replaced by advertisement jingles.

Indeed, everyone wants to “be like Mike,” but very few people have any idea of how to systematically achieve this. Instead of embracing ideas of hard work and sacrifice, baby boomers have instilled in their children the concept of instant gratification. Is there any surprise? Baby boomers have taken the parent equation out of the developmental loop. With the demise of the traditional family structure, one parent is not saddled with the almost impossible task of doing the job of two parents.

The task has placed a tremendous burden on single mothers who are, more often than not, the parent that is asked to be mother, father, and financial provider – not uncommonly to multiple children. In these circumstances, survival is of paramount concern and the passing on of time honored values – God, country and duty – are only afterthoughts and stuff that takes place on black and white sitcoms like the “Andy Griffin Show”.

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers Loss of Traditional Family

The absence of fathers within the family structure has been simply devastating to the American society. The statistics literally scream in pain as children of non-traditional families are becoming a lost generation. Children from non-traditional homes are more likely to engage in greater sexual activity at increasingly younger ages. Children from non-traditional homes face increased risk of drug and alcohol abuse. The suicide rate among children from non-traditional homes is above 60%. Baby boomers are now realizing that the society they have created is destroying future generations.

The grand social experiment, while combating social injustices that needed to be challenged, has nevertheless failed. The lack of a definitive moral standard has left a society adrift and subject to its own individual whims and desires. The results have been predictable. The only course of action is one that baby boomers are well familiar with; an understanding that change is needed and a determination to take action. The baby boomers have shown us that social change is possible. But the needed change will not be a quick or easy. Much in the same way that baby boomers transformed the landscape of their parents; it will take a generation to change the current one. But boomers beware; as a failure to do so, may well result in a failure of the fabric of American society!

The Psychological Article on Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 4)
is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of articles to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Elderly Problems, the baby boomers generation | No Comments »

Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 3)

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Elderly Problems of Baby Boomers: Generational Problems

Elderly Problems by Boomeryearbook.com

American stands at precipitous juncture in its continued progress. There are numerous social issues that plaque the nation. Economic disparity, increases in crimes of violence, and a host of other issues have illustrated troubling times ahead. Baby boomers, as the primary architect of the current social structure are now taking a hard look at their handy work. For several decades, baby boomers have ridden the wave of social transformation. Gone were the restrictive traditions of their parents and a new acceptance of personal indulgence took its place. The question, however, is whether the bad outweighs the good.

Baby boomers were a staunch adversary of social injustice. Racial and gender equality and the strides that have been made in these areas are a testament to efforts of baby boomers. There was a concerted effort to remold the mindset of the citizens of American into a culture that was accepting of differences, so long as those differences did not impinge on the rights and liberties of others. There was a deliberate move away from rigid morality and traditional value standards, in favor of self-gratification and personal success.

The major casualty in this social upheaval was the traditional family structure. As the traditional institution of marriage and the idea of social responsibility to family began to wane, the idea of traditional families also began to dissipate among baby boomers. As America ushers in the 21st century, fully 1/3 of all children in this country are now born into single parent homes. This reality has had a devastating effect. Consider the following:

Children that are raised in single parent homes are five times as likely to live in poverty. Children that are raised in single parent homes are two times as likely to drop out of high school. Males that are raised in single parent homes have a greater percentage of ending up in prison, being unemployed and exasperating the current problem by not being involved with their own children, than ever before in the history of this nation. Echo boomers, the children of baby boomers have personified this trend with their ‘me first’ attitudes. These statistics, which are alarming, are only a very small sample of the disastrous results of the loss of traditional family structures.

Baby boomers, ironically, were themselves not subjected to the social dilemma that they have created. Baby boomers were fortunate to be born predominantly into two parent homes. It is not surprising, therefore, that as a generation they are the most educated, wealthiest and healthiest generation America has produced. Why? Because of the firm foundation that was provided them to build upon by having the advantage of a stable upbringing.

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers loss of family values

The traditional family structure has long been the primary source where societal values have been passed from generation to generation. It was the family unit that instilled religious morality, cultural norms and national identity into the children. Other institutions, such as schools and churches – far from being the primary sources of these concepts – were institutions that reinforced the ideas that were ingrained at home. As psychological articles inform us, children in a two parent home, are afforded the proper role models of adult behavior and conduct.

The alternative, as baby boomer roles and attitudes have shifted away from the family structure, is to depend on secondary outlets to provide the social foundation that was previously developed within the family. Unfortunately, these outlets – religious and educational institutions – are ill prepared to function in this manner. As a result, baby boomers’ children are being raised by day care centers, television and the internet. The images and ideas that children are being bombarded with, unfiltered, has left America stumbling towards an uncertain future.

The Psychological Article on Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 3)
is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of articles to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Tags: baby boomers, boomers generation, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles | No Comments »

Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 2)

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers Loss of Values

Elderly Problems by Boomeryearbook.com

The End of American Values and Way of Life

The American way of life as it has been known for centuries is in jeopardy. As a result of the actions of baby boomers and the continuation of the ideas that they have espoused in echo boomers (the children of baby boomers), American traditional values are in danger of becoming an historical afterthought. With the need for definitive social change, baby boomers took the helm of transformation; resulting in reform. But their actions also have had unexpected consequences that are only now being realized. The erosion of traditional values; specifically the demise of the traditional family structure, signals the end of the continuation of the American idea and way of life.

The traditional family structure – the so-called nuclear family – has been an American staple for generations. The nuclear family consists of a mother, father and children. The number of children is insignificant, as the number could be one or ten, or any number in between. The main requirement is that the family unit be able to sustain itself. This has been the traditional structure that constituted American households since the formation of the nation itself. While the roles of the various members have shifted over time, generally as a result of economic pressures, the fundamental structure remained consistent until contemporary times.

In the generations prior to that of the baby boomers, America was primarily an agrarian society. As such, it was common for every member to be involved in providing for the family. Fathers, mothers, and children all contributed to some degree in the maintenance of the family. One could argue that it was an economic and survival imperative for the family unit to be structured and function in this manner. It is instructive to note that whether this argument is accurate or not, the results were successful as America developed into a progressive society.

The industrial age began to change the economic dynamics as the nation shifted away for an agrarian society. With industry and better wages, there was another shift in the gender roles within the family structure. Mothers/wives, no longer needed to provide their labor for the maintenance of the family, and therefore shifted to a domestic role. The Father/husband became the primary provider for the family. The father/husband went to work, the mother/wife stayed home to care for the children. This was the life that was introduced to baby boomers. This is the life that would pass on the values and norms of the previous generations to the baby boomer generation.

Baby Boomer Children

Baby boomers grew up in this environment and found it wanting. Indeed, they would come to believe that many of the social injustices that the nation was facing were a direct result of this perceived constraining mindset. Women were saddled, they believed, to a situation that allowed for the continuation of male dominance and a minimization of a woman’s ability. Baby boomers, as time progressed, would actively set out to completely redefine family and its role within society. They were very successful.

A quick look at the empirical data is both insightful and alarming. In 1950, baby boomers were born into very stable homes. At this time, only about 6% of children lived in homes without a father. Baby boomers thus had the benefit of both parents, and subsequently well rounded upbringings. By 2004, the number of children in fatherless homes had mushroomed into as high as 35%! Over one third of today’s Americans are born into single parent homes. These are the children of baby boomers and their children’s children.

The situation for baby boomers and echo boomers is reaching critical proportions. The data is alarming concerning the affects of children being raised outside of a family structure. It is ironic that baby boomers have subjected their children to a lower social standard than that which they themselves had experienced. While boomers and their children have done remarkably well financially, educationally and medically – this house of cards was built on a foundation unable to sustain continued progress.

The psychological Article on Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 2):The End of The American Way of Life?
is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of articles to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

Tags: baby boomers loss of values, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Elderly Problems, the baby boomers generation | No Comments »

Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 1)

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Elderly Problems of Baby Boomers: Loss of Generational Values

Psychological Articles on Elderly Problems

by Boomeryearbook.com

Baby boomers, as a generation, are heralded as a force of change. As a result of their efforts, a society confronted and to significant degrees, overcame racial and gender injustices. In the process, however, baby boomers found themselves at odds with not just the biasness of previous generations, but an entire cultural mindset. For baby boomers, the traditional values of their parents were a constraining ideological force that was to be resisted on every front. The struggle was ultimately successful against the injustices that shamed a nation, but boomers also rejected needed cultural elements that facilitated social progress of a nation as well.

Traditional values are a term that is bandied about by politicians and religious figures quite frequently. The general argument is that American society has suffered a loss of these values as time (and baby boomers) has progressed. As a result, society is trapped in a downward spiral of violence and immorality. Those who hold to the premise of the loss traditional values point to the prevalence of pornography, pre-marital sexual relations and the break down of the traditional family structure as evidence of its demise.

Young Baby Boomers

From a morality stand point, there is definitive evidence that American society has adopted wide spread acceptance of social norms (i.e. homosexuality, pre marital relations, etc.) that were previously unacceptable. One can certainly, however, argue the rightness or wrongness of these concepts and the degree that they have had an effect on American society. What is not debatable is the literal disintegration of the traditional family structure and the social crisis that is manifesting as a result.

Baby boomers, for their part, are known for their overall rejection of traditional values. This was, as noted, a reaction to their efforts against the social injustices that were apart of the culture of their parents over which they were rebelling. Additionally, this was an Anglo-Saxon, male dominated, religiously influenced culture. For baby boomers, their resistance was complete. The problem that manifested is that boomers rejected the good and the bad in equal proportions.

Baby boomers have a mindset of acceptance that allows for lifestyles of preference. What this means is that as long as a preferred way of living doesn’t necessarily have a direct or obvious detrimental effect on anyone else, then it’s acceptable. There is an underlying connotation that the purpose of life is to enjoy oneself and therefore do whatever is most enjoyable or pleasing to self; contributing to a rise narcissism, nihilism, and wanton sexuality. Certainly, these issues have always been in existence, but contemporary times have seen their acceptance as a social norm, therefore allowing increased participation by the masses.

However, the more significant result in this self-gratification ideology that baby boomers espouse is a minimization of social obligation and responsibility. One aspect of previous generations is the idea that every individual has an obligation to both self and community. There was a social standard that stood as a point of reference for direction. For America, this was the family. The family structure stood as the point of reference, the focal point from which the fundamental ideas that America was founded on originates, is taught, internalized and manifests into action that allows for progressive momentum on a national scale. The loss of family is not just an elderly problem and blow to baby boomers, but to the continuation of the traditional American society.

The psychological Article on Elderly Problems: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 1) is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of articles to alleviate elderly problems and keep our hearts and brains young. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Tags: baby boomers, boomer generational values, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Elderly Problems | No Comments »

Baby Boomers Guide to The Toxic Parent Trap

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Defiant Disorder: a.abcnews.com

Psychological Articles by Boomeryearbook.com

Parenting is an adult skill described and advised upon in hundreds of psychological articles featured in specialist magazines, web based help centers and advisory groups that target parental needs.

Psychological articles containing in depth advice on acquiring the parental skills best utilized to deal with ‘toxic’ problems in their children do not always deal with the subject brutally enough to achieve an effective program of control.

Control is the way forward for parents caught in the ‘toxic parent trap’. Children displaying the symptoms of toxicity, according to psychological articles that target these difficulties and the solutions to them, are sometimes thought to be beyond the reach of amendment and the psychological articles concentrate not so much on curing the problem but diminishing its effects.

Children unfairly marginalized as being ‘toxic’ by psychological articles are often the victims of toxic parents and poor parenting skills. Children are the end product of a regime they have no part in devising; innocent passengers in a sometimes poorly serviced vehicle driven by an inadequate driver. It is unacceptable for psychological articles to label children as ‘toxic’ and advise parents on how to survive the toxic parent trap, when the children are the ones most deeply affected by the absence of vital skills in those adults entrusted with their welfare.

The toxic parent trap is something created by the parents, not the children. Symptoms of toxicity include all kinds of unsociable traits linked with poor people skills, inadequate manners, rudeness, obnoxious behavior and general downright unpleasantness. Few psychological articles address the real root of the problem, which is the parent’s inability to see himself or herself as the failure and the child as the victim of his or her woeful attempt at raising another human being.

The parent seeks help first from relatives and friends and some time later from professionals to try to repair the damage caused to the family unit by the toxic affects of poor parenting, never considering that the problem may lie not with the child but even closer to home.

Few professionals are prepared to face their clients with an unpleasant reality and continue to subscribe to the parent’s theory of having a toxic child with toxic problems, both seeking to find a formula to correct toxic behavior in the child. Usually this toxic behavior takes the form of extreme naughtiness or in more clinical terms, opposition; the only method of strong objection a child has access to.

At the heart of the matter, seldom acknowledged by psychological articles relating to this well debated subject, is a basic truth, which is that there are no toxic children; only toxic parents with insufficient qualities to impart fundamental behavioral and social skills to their kids.

The Psychological Article on The Toxic Parent Trap is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Tags: baby boomers, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles, toxic parents children
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Psychological Articles | No Comments »

Toxic People and Where to Bury Them: A Baby Boomers Guide

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Psychological Article on Burying Toxic Demons

Psychological Articles by Boomeryearbook.com

Psychological articles provide an in depth profile of the unfortunate sufferers of toxicity. The theory on the causes of this painfully unsociable outlook and the sufferer’s associated inabilities to enjoy life vary from dysfunctional insecurities carried forward from childhood to unpleasant experiences in adulthood.

Toxic people find optimistic and well balanced friends irresistible. Psychological articles describe a compelling urge on the part of toxic people to seek the company of those with the exact opposite attitude to life. Toxic plus benign equals satisfaction, it would seem, and in copious quantity! No matter how much exposure to optimism toxic people have, they seem to seek more; not to rub against positive emotions, in the hope that some of the happy dust will transfer, but to fuel their own reserves of criticism and complaint. Psychological articles discuss the dangers of exposure to toxic people in general but do not tend to outline in any detail the gratification gained by the toxic person in seeking that exposure.

The advantages of understanding exactly what makes toxic people tick arms those who must come into contact with them with a set of skills that best deflect toxic fallout and the resulting depression! Psychological articles that adequately inform and prepare readers for the kind of effects toxicity has provide a successful formula for surviving all manner of relationships with toxic people, from friendship to closer family ties.

In the course of day to day life, we must all deal with people who might not come within our ideal companion choice. Psychological articles list the symptoms of toxicity and we all read them with interest but sometimes do not associate the symptoms with the people nearest to us and those with the deepest influence on how we work and conduct our lives. It is important to carefully note the outward signs of toxicity and associate them accurately with those who display them, so that we may (figuratively) bury them and try to start over with a more positive set of values.

Burying toxic people empowers us to reinvent the sufferer in our own image! Psychological articles that make careful studies of the effects of toxicity always advocate a positive program of interaction to offset the negative side of a person fighting the effects of toxic syndrome.

Take the time to assess whether a friend or relative is suffering with toxicity. If they are, reading psychological articles that explore the problem is beneficial and can provide an in depth understanding of how to help the person to accept their negativity and perhaps move forward to limit the effects of toxicity, on not only themselves but all those who come into contact with them.

Baby Boomers Guide to Burying Toxic People

The Psychological Article on Toxic People and Where to Bury Them is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Tags: baby boomers, coaching toxic people, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Psychological Articles | No Comments »

The Baby Boomers Guide to Toxic Relationships

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Baby Boomers Alert: Psychological Article on Toxic Relationships

Psychological Articles by Boomeryearbook.com

Psychological articles that deal with this extremely deep and frequently explored subject tend to recommend a withdrawal from all toxic influences that touch upon our lives. Toxic behavior may be described in psychological articles as unsociable; unfriendly; negative; non-productive; non-beneficial – you get the general drift…

It would be a simple matter to cut off, as psychological articles recommend, from every single person who exhibits toxic attitudes. However, life does not work that way for those who are unfortunate enough to be saddled with toxic characteristics. To begin with, it is highly likely that many of those people are close friends or relations. Severing contact with them would be like cutting loose from the roots that hold your life together.

Psychological articles are full of exaggerated descriptions of toxic attitudes. Some of them describe having a good moan about day to day aggravations as ‘toxic’. Everyone has a gripe about the things that upset them or even just the things that are a pesky part of humdrum routine. Pointing out these things surely does not qualify a person to be ‘toxic’. Yet according to many psychological articles on the subject of toxicity and toxic people; it does! What then? Does one keep quiet about the injustices of life, worried that to speak about them might label one as ‘toxic?’

Toxic relationships are a two way street. Everyone knows the kind of people described in psychological articles as ‘toxic’ or being ‘prone to toxicity’. They are the harbingers of bad news; usually the bearers of bad fortune; the voices of doom, gloom and despondency; the permanent holders of the cup that is half empty instead of half full. But toxic people speak to non toxic people – they cannot have a conversation by themselves!

They are also part of life and part of the rich combinations that comprise the diversities of the human race. Psychological articles correctly point out that these people moan and groan and find fault with everything and everyone they come into contact with but what would we do without them? By comparison we are cheerful and sunny and enjoy life to the full but that is exactly the point: it is that comparison that throws an optimistic approach into pleasant relief and provides us with the comforting thought; “Thank heavens I am not THAT miserable!”

Toxic relationships exist for all of us, whether we like it or not. We necessarily must socialize with toxic people every day at home and at work but we need not necessarily emulate them or buy into their outlook. We can detach ourselves and watch such behavior from a safe distance without cutting off our noses along with our toxic friends and relations. Take a ringside seat instead and view toxic people as a friendly spectator…

Psychological Article: Toxic Relationships

The Psychological Article on Toxic Relationships is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Tags: baby boomers, coaching toxic people, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomers Psychological Articles and Coaching, Psychological Articles | No Comments »

How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:5)

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Psychological Article on Baby Boomer Comic Book Anti-Heroes

Psychological Articles by Boomeryearbook

By the eighties, comics and baby boomers had established themselves as part and parcel of American culture. The seventies had set a stage of social transformation that manifested an acceptance of cultural diversity, gender empowerment, and a general attitude of liberalism that affected most walks of life. This transformation wasn’t without challenges that continue to this day. Trends toward violence and sexual exploitation concerns (naming just two), are among some of the issues that many point towards as manifestations of the baby boomers attitudes and the mediums that promote their ideas such as comics.

Comics in the eighties began to shift toward darker (and some would say realistic) story lines. Two seminal works, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, highlight this shift. Comics would become more violent, and more sexually explicit. Women were portrayed in ever increasingly roles; exemplifying strength and overt sexuality. Female Superheroes such as Storm (of the X-men) and Witchblade are examples.

Feminist applauded the movement toward more female characters, but not their general use as powerful sex objects. Unfortunately, this was a trend that was being mirrored in other mediums as well. Women were increasingly becoming more prevalent in leading roles in movies and television, for example, yet their sexuality was nevertheless a key contributor.

This trend was due in part to the demands of readers who were not the slightest bit interested in reading light hearted comics. Of course the majority of comic readers by this time were young males (there was a time the majority of readers were women), as well. Baby boomers were now dealing with the realities of the various problems that troubled a nation. However, their open mindedness was still a dominant trait, and this was reflected in the mediums that they enjoyed. Readers demanded storylines that were every bit as reflective of the society that they were dealing with everyday. One could argue that comics and baby boomers reinforced in each other the ideas that were defining them.

It was during this period that the anti hero began to emerge. These were ostensibly heroes who didn’t mind “getting dirty” to accomplish their goals. Heroes of this variety would actually kill another character if necessary. These heroes, in essence, began to blur the line of what was right and wrong, and in many ways personified the concept that the end justified the means. Characters such as Wolverine and surprisingly Batman would epitomize this line of new heroes. Pure idealism, such a hallmark of early incarnations of comic books has been replaced by ultra realistic portrayals of society.

These ideas would begin to play a role in society at large, as many baby boomers accepted this same concept in pursuit of the various professions that they found themselves engaged in. Critics would argue that the idea of community obligation was being replaced by individualism. The argument that has been put forth is that baby boomers, unlike their parents and grand parents, were only concerned about their immediate welfare and professional growth. Baby boomers, while triumphant in transforming a society, are now struggling with recapturing many of the facets of past generations that have been lost in the process, such as strong family structures. The struggle to find a workable balance continues.

Both baby boomers and comics have aged and are approaching their twilight years. Baby boomers are reaching retirement age and are coming to face with end of life issues. Comics are dealing with dwindling audience as other mediums such as the internet capture the attention of traditional young readers. Nevertheless, regardless of what the future holds, both comics and baby boomers have made their contributable imprints upon American society.

The Psychological Article How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:5) is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of fun articles to alleviate elderly problems and keep our hearts and brains young. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

Tags: baby boomers, comic book anti heroes, Elderly Problems, Psychological Articles
Posted in Baby Boomer Comic Books, Psychological Articles | No Comments »

How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:4)

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Baby Boomer Comic Books: Championing Women and People of Color

Psychological Articles by Boomeryearbook.com

The sixties had been a trial by fire experience for baby boomers and comic books. In both cases, a defiance of established norms had resulted in significant change. Baby boomers understood that as generational force, they had the power to effect real change in society. The comics industry, as a popular medium recognized that their stories were a source of influence for the young generation that was now coming of age. As baby boomers and comics flexed their respective “muscles of influence”, the seventies would illustrate the results of social change.

Even a child of the seventies will have trouble attempting to describe the decade. Simply put, it was different than any other previous decade. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good (terms which are relative to whomever you are speaking too); just different. In reality, the cultural mindset of the seventies was a direct result of the actions that baby boomers had taken in the previous decade. The seventies are a period in which baby boomers were entering the workforce en masse and their recognition that they held the keys to transform a society wasn’t wasted.

Whereas a wave of conservatism had swept the country in the fifties, the seventies would see a similar wave of liberalism. Needless to say, older generations were aghast at the changes that were taking place. And the changes were reflective everywhere, including the mediums that baby boomers sought entertainment in.

From music to television to comic books; the ideas and behavior that so personifies the seventies were promoted. Comic books continued to advance such ideas as racial equality in not so subtle stories about the struggles of being a minority. For the first time, heroes of color such as the Black Panther and Black Lightening made their appearances in their own comic books, as comics became more culturally diverse. These early images of minorities in strong positions would help to serve as inspiration and role models for many minorities struggling with racial adversity.

Along with heroes of color, comics also took note of issues of gender equality issues as well. Baby boomers of the seventies, especially the ladies, began to assert that women had an equal place in the world with their male counterparts. From sports to the work place, women were demanding and gaining better treatment. Title IX, for example, introduced legislation in 1972 that provided equal opportunity for women to participate in school athletics.

Comics, at this point, would portray women in strong secondary roles in contrast with major characters – Lois Lane to Superman, Carol Farris to Green Lantern and others. Women were shown as capable professional individuals and not sex objects or placed in stereotypical situations. Like minority superheroes, women heroes began to emerge from supporting roles to star in their own books as well, such as Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel. Young women would embrace these concepts whole heartedly.

The seventies can be seen as a transition period. Women and minorities would soon assume greater roles in society at large, but those gains were as a result of the ideas that were being set forth in the mediums of the seventies, including comic books. Baby boomers and comics in this time period openly experimented with the ideas that would begin to shape the decades to come.

This Psychological Article on How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:4) is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of fun articles to alleviate elderly problems and keep our hearts and brains young. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

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Archive for June, 2009

Generational Woes: Baby Boomers and the Loss of Traditional Values (pt. 5)

Baby Boomers Guide to The Toxic Parent Trap

Toxic People and Where to Bury Them: A Baby Boomers Guide

The Baby Boomers Guide to Toxic Relationships

How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:5)

How Comics and Baby Boomers Influenced the World: A Comparative Study (Pt:4)

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