Alternative Masculinity in the 1950's

During the 1950’s most of America lived in a state of normalcy, and standard life styles. It was “the age of the grey flannel suit, suburbia, and other sterile forces” (Mailer 1957). However, even in this age of standardized suburban lifestyles, there were still those who went against the social norm. Perhaps the best examples of people who go against society’s norms in the 50’s are jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. According to Mailer these jazz musicians offered an alternative model of masculinity in these times.

In order to understand Mailers statement we need to first understand what he means by masculinity. In “The White Negro” Mailer elaborates about how those who go against society are hipsters, and they are only interested in themselves and bodily pleasures. He says that hipsters seek love as “as the search for an orgasm more apocalyptic than the one which preceded it” and later says that “jazz is orgasm” (Mailer 1957). This leads to the impression that Mailer sees jazz musicians as a major part of the hipster community. When Mailer talks about a new masculinity in the country, he is talking about these hipsters who go against the social norms.

Charlie Parker Is the embodiment of everything that Mailer describes when he talks about hipsters. Charlie Parker was a heroin addict, who abused women and used them for his pleasure. In Mile Davis’ autobiography, Miles describes how Charlie Parker received oral sex in the back seat of a taxi while eating chicken and high on heroin, even though Miles was in the seat next to him (Miles 1989). Not only did Charlie Parker go against social norms in his methods of indulging himself, he also went against social norms when it came to music. Charlie Parker both lived his life, and played his music how he wanted, not how society told him to, and because of this he became an icon of independence and gave rise to this new type of masculinity in the 50’s.

On the other hand, Thelonious Monk went very strongly against the social norms in his music, but not as much so in his social life. Thelonious Monk helped create bebop, and filled his music with disjoint rhythms, and dissonant chords. His music was unique and became on icon of change and the hip movement, even though Monk himself did not base himself around physical pleasures in the way that Mailer says hipsters live.

Monk and Parker did exhibit the new masculinity that Mailer describes in “The White Negro”, Monk through his music and Parker through both his music and his life. Because of their lifestyles and music they became icons to much of America after World War Two. However, it should be noted that this is nothing new for jazz. When jazz first started, it was played in brothels and jazz has always thrived in areas where social vice ran rampart (Storyville, Chicago and Kansas City while under mob control). If anyone was to go against social norms, and live a life based around physical pleasure, it would be expected for that person to be part of the jazz scene. So yes Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk were social icons, and they did live their lives in contrast with social norms, but when one considers the background of jazz, it would be more surprising if jazz musicians and followers went along with the social norms of this time than against them. The new masculinity that jazz musicians embodied was more of a property of jazz than of the musicians.

Jazz in the 30’s: The Rise of Racial Tension

There have always been racial tensions in the world of jazz. There was racial tension between the creoles and blacks in New Orleans, tension in Chicago from the mob bosses controlling the lives of the musicians, and racial tension in New York from the segregation in the clubs. However, even though there was racial tension throughout the history of jazz, it was never a serious issue until the 1930’s. There were three major reasons for the increase of racial tensions in jazz: the high unemployment due to the depression, the increase in the number of white musicians as jazz became main stream, and new technology that changed the way the people listened to music.

Since coming to America, blacks had been treated as inferior to whites. They started as slaves, and even after gaining their freedom, were never really given equal rights. In spite of not having equal rights, after being freed the living conditions of African Americans in America was slowly increasing (or at least remaining constant), so they did not see a need to complain. Even if they did not have the opportunities of the white counterparts, at least they were free, were able to get some jobs, and had the right to vote; a significant improvement over slavery.

This changed after World War 1. During World War 1 the economy in the U.S. exploded, especially in the north. This led to a mass migration of blacks to the north where they were able to improve the quality of their lives. The problem is that after WWI when the depression hit there were no longer extra jobs available in the north, so white people took most of the jobs back from the blacks. As the economy collapsed, blacks lost most of the jobs that were previously available to them. This felt like a step down to them, which led to increased racial tensions.

Jazz also became much more main stream in the 1930’s. According to Gioia “if jazz ever enjoyed a golden age this would be it…Never again would popular music be so jazzy or jazz music be so popular”. This increase in popularity (possibly along with the simpler style of swing) led to the rise of more white jazz musicians, such as Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, and white critics, such as John Hammond. Although white jazz musicians had been around for quite a while (The Original Dixieland Jazz Band), the rise in prominence of white musicians in a previously African American style contributed to racial tensions.

The final reason for the increase in racial tensions in the 1930’s was the development of new ways to listen to jazz. In the 30’s live jazz declined, and most jazz was either heard on the radio or over records. For the most part, white people had better access to both radio shows and record companies, and because of this they had an easier time in the jazz industry. Since it was harder for blacks to get on the radio, the number of black jazz musicians declined. Many popular black musicians (such as Billie Holiday) were only able to become popular with the help of John Hammond, and musicians such as Duke Ellington suffered because of his criticisms. The ability of white men to control which black musicians were heard/successful caused tensions between the races. There had been racial tension since the start of jazz; it just became a more prominent issue due an evolving society that was going through a depression, the rise in its popularity, and new the new technology of the 30’s.