Beatnik visual signifiers deviated from the common fashion for popular American culture. As Hebdige explains this was the classic case of “style as refusal” (Hebdige, 6). Beatniks wanted to refuse and refute materialism, and the traditional idea that you must be extremely put together to present yourself. Especially for women, they refused to adorn themselves in classic female clothing. Instead of being flashy and fancy, women Beatnik’s aimed for a more gender-neutral look and sported a lot of understated greys and blacks. In fact, both genders wardrobes were predominately monochromatic. Women wore leotards and black or striped turtlenecks. They kept their hair long unkempt, and unadorned. Men typically sported facial hair, black clothing and sometimes berets. Additionally, men often played bongos, which went along with many beat poetry performances. Stripes, dark sunglasses and hand-rolled cigarettes were very common among both genders (Gair, 11).
Identifying features of the Beatnik community include a variety of common norm violations. Beatniks were known for their use of profane language as well as their jargon. The Beat’s prided themselves on their new age slang and while many of their phrases easily translate to their meaning, some seem to have no connection to their respective connotations. For example, while ‘focus your audio’ meant listen carefully, ‘varicose alley’ referred to a run away in a strip club. A particularly strange idiom used by Beatniks was the phrase, ‘threw babies out of a balcony’, which was meant to indicate a great success, whether it be a poetry performance or a party (Gair, 37).
Identifying features of the Beatnik community include a variety of common norm violations. Beatniks were known for their use of profane language as well as their jargon. The Beat’s prided themselves on their new age slang and while many of their phrases easily translate to their meaning, some seem to have no connection to their respective connotations. For example, while ‘focus your audio’ meant listen carefully, ‘varicose alley’ referred to a run away in a strip club. A particularly strange idiom used by Beatniks was the phrase, ‘threw babies out of a balcony’, which was meant to indicate a great success, whether it be a poetry performance or a party (Gair, 37).
Another identifying feature of the Beatnik Generation was their recreational drug use. Marijuana was extremely popular within Beatnik culture, and some ventured so far as to engage in other forms of recreational drugs such as benzedine, morphine, and some psychedelic drugs like peyote and LSD (Campbell, 26). Beatnik’s common drug use contributed to existing negative views of the Generation, however Beat’s saw their recreational drug habits as a form of spiritual and intellectual exploration, as opposed to deviant and defiant behavior. Another extreme norm violation was the Beatnik’s acceptance of gay culture. Some Beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg were known to be gay, and this open expression of sexuality was new to society, especially within published literature. These norm violations divided the Beatnik Generation from common American culture and they utilized these displays of deviance to identify themselves (Hebdige, 10). However as previously discussed, Beatniks were not limited to debauchery as a form of identification within the community. Beatniks were intellectuals, writers, artists and poets. They loved to explore and ponder hypothetical questions and were constantly questioning common ways of thinking (Gair, 2). This was the first time American society began focuses on the existential questioning of reality. While Beatniks were heavily stigmatized and created moral panic, they created far-reaching establishments and were heavily immersed in academic pursuits, they not only embraced the negative stigma surrounding them, but proved it wrong.
Jazz/Beatnik explanation and performance from 1959 broadcasting. Beatnik explanation begins at 5 minutes.