Life in the 1990's June 2014 | Page 5

Cultural Issues in the 1990s

By: J.K.

One cultural issue that came into play during the 1990’s was television. All sorts of new sitcoms were put on TV for entertainment in family’s leisure time. The issue was the some shows were violent and not right for kids of certain ages. One example is of a show called “Beavis and Butthead” that was on MTV. This show was blamed for one child burning down his family’s mobile home.

Another social issue in the 1990’s was a style called grunge. The grunge crowd included

mostly teens. The grunge wardrobe

included:

•Plaid Flannel Shirt

•Ski cap

•Thermal Shirt

•Combat Boots

•Ripped Jeans

Grunge was not only the way you

dressed but also your attitude. The

attitude of grunge was withdrawn

and kind of dark, almost like trying

to pull away from society. Grunge teens may have tried to be withdrawn but it didn’t take much since they were already looked at as different and not a part of society. There was even grunge music, bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in chains helped push the grunge movement.

Another Issue was racism. Many white Americans thought they were better than the African Americans even ones that had been born in America. One incident that caused huge controversy was the Rodney King incident. An African American man named Rodney king was arrested after a high speed chase. A neighbor of his gave a video to a local television station showing three white police officers beating Rodney. The court found the cops not guilty. This caused a HUGE uproar, African Americans and Liberalists across America were outraged of the court’s verdict. In poor Los Angeles neighborhoods riots broke out. More than 50 people died before police got the rioting under control.

The 1990s had many issues within its culture whether it was a new style, new television shows, or racism that shaped American and its people to be what they are today.