2 - Society, 1963–1965: The Beatles and Modernity

Summary

Transformation was the leitmotif of coverage of the Beatles from 1963 to 1965. The band and their fans served as symbols of modernity who tested established institutions’ capacity for change. Scrutiny of institutions broadened out into questions of identity. Attitudes towards class and religion, gender and generation, region and nation, morality and sexuality were articulated and debated in reaction to the Beatles. Their transformative powers, whether actual or potential, led contemporaries to contemplate the possibility and desirability of social, cultural and political change in 1960s Britain. The Beatles did not carry all before them during this period, however. Beatlemania incited Beatlephobia and contemporary commentary revealed sixties Britain to be decidedly less permissive and more averse to change than its most famous sons. The Beatles nonetheless had a significant impact on discussions of social issues, both directly through their art and interviews and indirectly by generating discourses about them and what they represented. Mass culture, Americanisation, secularisation, meritocracy, female sexuality, the ‘youth question’, the ‘generation gap’ and the North-South divide looked different in light of the Beatles’ stardom.