The Beatniks

By: Kelsey Kehlenbeck

Many rebellious youth that refused to conform to the materialistic lifestyle of the 1950’s

resulted in the beat generation. The beatnik culture consisted of simple fashion, poetry,

and jazz. This movement revolved around the expression of feelings and beliefs through

poetry. All of this was brought to life by Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence

Felinghetti, Gregory Corsos, as well as other writers. Many enjoyed reciting poetry while

a steady jazz beat is played in the background. A popular form of jazz during this time

was, Bebop, a smooth swing style of music with a fast tempo. Piano, Drums, Brass and

woodwind instruments all mix together to create this genre. The use of hallucinogens,

sexuality, and spirituality, are common characteristics beatniks convey to express their

opinions about life. Male beats attire would consist of black turtlenecks, berets, dark

sunglasses along with long hair and facial hair to reject the idea that men should remain

clean cut. You could find a female beat wearing a pencil skirt, black turtleneck, black

leotards, a scarf and minimal jewelry. The beatniks chose to have a plain sense of

fashion because of their refusal to adapt to the materialistic fashions of their time.

Andy Warhol was a popular artist from the era.