In the middle of the twentieth century, a period characterized by the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, the United States sought to reinforce and emphasize traditional American values and increase patriotism. The 1950s represented an era of post-war economic prosperity, and the decade is historically noted for its socially conservative yet materialistic tendencies. Men returned stateside from war, and many women retreated from the workforce and assumed their former positions in the home. Families settled in monolithic suburbs, and their children were taught to be conscious of the looming threat of communist takeover. However, a group of East Coast academics became quickly disillusioned with this monotonous ideology of the American Dream. Together these intellectuals formed the Beat Generation, an antiestablishment literary movement that explored and experimented with controversial topics and rejected the conservative principles dominating social standards. They were writers, poets, and artists. They had sex and discussed it openly, used drugs recreationally, drank alcohol frequently, combatted heteronormativity, condemned imperialism, and refused to conform to the desires and expectations of the mainstream culture. The movement contested the limitations of traditional poetic and literary structures, but it more broadly opposed the concept of a conventional, homogenous society, helping to later influence the larger counterculture movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
Although the Beat Generation strayed from conservative tendencies and included a range of diverse thought from varying demographics, most of the attention directed at the movement surrounded the works of white men who were exposed to prestigious higher education. Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and Jack Kerouac quickly became household names, whereas the female members were typically left in their shadows and not given proper recognition. Their works, while equally brilliant, were not taken seriously, and this lack of respect “relegated women to the role of sexual surrogate, muse or mom; it did not raise them to a position of artistic equality” (Davidson, 175). This blatant dismissal of human potential and accomplishment did not discourage female members of the movement, but it instead led to the creation of many profound works dissecting traditional gender roles and expectations. However, little could be done to remedy the disempowerment within the literary school without larger cultural action. Many of the women in the movement gained access to the group and connections to publishers through their relationships with the male writers. The male members “were only liberal in a way that would benefit them” and rejected “the institute of marriage to gain more freedom, rather than to benefit the women in their lives.” Beat poet Anne Waldman recalled her female peers as being “more troubled characters—driven, desperate, fighting against the constraints of culture, family, education, and often dwelling in the twilight of a ‘great’ man’s personality or career” (Women of the Beat ix). These women worked tirelessly to break the constricting limitations placed on them in their industry as well as in greater society, but they still found themselves inherently reliant on the support of their male counterparts. This frustration created a delicate balance between traditional and revolutionary roles; many of the women accepted their roles as accessories to the men so that they could remain relevant within the movement and have a guaranteed following for their works. Four of the most prominent female members of the Beat Generation included Diane di Prima, Joanne Kyger, Hettie Jones, and Joyce Johnson, and together they created their own beat.
Diane di Prima is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Beat Generation regardless of the obstacles she faced as a woman in the literary movement. In an interview discussing her involvement with the group she stated, “I wasn’t a woman; I was a beatnik”. Di Prima completely rejected the separation between male and female members, and she refused to be denied an opportunity in the spotlight due to her expected role as a background character. In an effort to prevent conflict, she avoided monogamous relationships with male members of the movement and instead developed intimate friendships. Many of her works depict the complexities and allure of the feminine mystique, and her writings aimed to destroy the idea of a female monolith. One of her most popular works is an epic poem spanning over 100-pages that discusses womanhood. “Loba” gives a multifaceted portrait of a female creature and her powers, and the following excerpt from the poem expresses this romanticism:
she is the wind you never leave behind
black cat you killed in empty lot, she is
smell of the summer weeds, the one who lurks
in open childhood closets, she coughs
in the next room, hoots, nests in your hair
she is incubus
face at the window
she is
harpy on your fire-escape, marble figurine
carved in the mantelpiece.
In a time when women were applauded for their simplicities and instructed to merely be vessels for male satisfaction, her works encouraged women to embrace their deeper thoughts and more complicated personas. Di Prima validated female passions and intellectual pursuits, and her poems were published alongside those of men. When asked about her inspirations and motivations for writing “Loba” she stated, “I wanted everything—very earnestly and totally—I wanted to have every experience I could have, I wanted everything that was possible to a person in a female body.” Di Prima was one of the Beat’s most empowered minds, and she promoted this autonomy and dominion towards her audience.
Joanne Kyger was not as much of a champion against gender oppression, and she charted her own successes in more peculiar ways. As an environmentalist, follower of Zen Buddhism, and proponent of psychedelics, Kyger sought a more spiritual experience. Unlike Diane di Prima, Kyger was romantically involved with a male Beat, Gary Snyder, and they eventually married. Similar to di Prima, Kyger viewed herself as being equal with the male members; however, she did not view the other women to be as passionate as she was about writing. She often dismissed their intellectual capability and was consumed by her own interests. When asked about her position as a woman in the male-dominated movement, Kyger responded:
I get asked this question often, and to be honest I never noticed I was in “male-dominated” groups. There were always women I was friends with associated with these groups. But few were interested in poetry and writing to the degree I was. I loved the company I was in—poets—who took my writing seriously because I did.
While Kyger was not intentionally invested in increasing female empowerment within the literary sphere or in more general culture, she still added validity to the female intellectual movement. Her poems garnered applause from critics and were well-received by the general public. They were published with equal acclaim and respect as works written by the male Beats, and this status helped other women to gain confidence in their writing.
While Diane di Prima and Joanne Kyger were published simultaneously with the male Beats, other female members did not receive such immediate attention. Di Prima and Kyger had unique relationships with the male members, and they were able to strategically fit into the desired narrative. Hettie Jones. In an interview with, Jones discussed the importance of the female Beats group and their influence on the third wave of the womens movement.
“By physically taking a stand, rather than intellectually, or through any particular writing. Simply by saying, ‘Okay, I'm going to live on my own. I'm going to acknowledge that I am a sexual being and I'm going to have sex and I'm going to practice birth control. I'm going to be a responsible person comparable to a man- I'm going to live what is generally regarded as a man's life. I'm going to have my own apartment and I'm going to have a job and I'm going to be self-supporting.”
Blahblah
Joyce Johnson
Despite the movement’s goal of abandoning monotonous aesthetics and uniform ideologies, the Beats maintained a specific, unifying style characterized by
This need to uphold a standard of cool created a uniquely misogynistic culture. While women were given the opportunity to share their works and contribute in intellectual debate, they were still not necessarily seen as equivalent to their male counterparts. Joyce Johnson, an author and member of the and states that the female associates “are all beautiful and have such remarkable cool that they never, never say a word; they are presences merely.” More flamboyant characters such as Ginsberg and Kerouac created a fraternity setting, polarizing their