Culture tends to go through 2 different phases. Party eras and Hangover eras. Party eras are where everything is upbeat, colorful and the general attitude is optimistic, usually, the economy is also doing fairly well but this isn't always true. Hangover eras follow party eras and are more depressing, cynical, angst-filled and negative, people tend to be more hostile, and culture tends to be darker. Colors are also more dull and muted rather than bright and colorful. This is a list of eras which I define as party periods or hangover periods.

Cultural 20th century begins with WW1 and the 19th century comes to an end.
Mid 1910s to late 1910s: Hangover (WW1 and First wave feminism)
Late 1910s to very late 1920s: Party (Roaring 20s, Women get the right to vote, Flappers, Prohibition, Rise of organized crime)
Very early 30s to mid-40s: Hangover (Rise of Fascism and Nazis, Great Depression, WW2, a rapidly changing world)
Late 40s to Early 60s (All of the 50s): Party (Superpower/Pax America, Atomic Age)
Late early 60s to mid-60s: Hangover (JFK assassination, Hippies, Martin Luther King and Civil rights part 1, Height of the Cold war, Vietnam)
Late 60s early 70s: Party (Space race, moon landings, Antiwar protests, Sexual revolution, 2nd wave feminism, First wave of protests, Nixon Era)
Mid 70s to very Early 80s: Hangover (Watergate, Gas lineups, Hostage crisis, Stagflation, White flight, Disco, 1st of domestic terrorism, the Carter Era, Cold war resurgence and anti-nuclear protests)
Early 80s to very early 90s: Party (The 80s, Cyberpunk, Powerhouse Japan, AIDS, Miami Vice)
Early 90s to early late 90s: Hangover (The Gen X 90s, Grunge, Gangster rap and East vs West Coast, 2nd wave of domestic terrorism, 2nd wave of protests Bill Clinton part 1, Civil rights part 2, 3rd wave feminism)
Late 90s to very early 2000s: Party (Columbine, Dotcom boom, teen pop, and boyband era, Y2K era)
Early 2000s to Early late 2000s: Hangover (9/11 and post 9/11, Aftermath era, Iraq, Emo, Great recession and housing bubble pop)
Late 2000s to Early mid 2010s: Party (The electropop era, Obama first term, Wall Street protests)
Mid 2010s to Late 2010s (Right now): Hangover (The 2016 election, Trump era, Obama part 2, Political polarization, 3rd wave protests, 4th wave feminism, Third wave of domestic terrorism)

I know I didn't get everything, but what do you think? If there is anything I missed just mention it in a comment.


 

Culture tends to go through 2 different phases. Party eras and Hangover eras. Party eras are where everything is upbeat, colorful and the general attitude is optimistic, usually, the economy is also doing fairly well but this isn't always true. Hangover eras follow party eras and are more depressing, cynical, angst-filled and negative, people tend to be more hostile, and culture tends to be darker. Colors are also more dull and muted rather than bright and colorful. This is a list of eras which I define as party periods or hangover periods.

Cultural 20th century begins with WW1 and the 19th century comes to an end.
Mid 1910s to late 1910s: Hangover (WW1 and First wave feminism)
Late 1910s to very late 1920s: Party (Roaring 20s, Women get the right to vote, Flappers, Prohibition, Rise of organized crime)
Very early 30s to mid-40s: Hangover (Rise of Fascism and Nazis, Great Depression, WW2, a rapidly changing world)
Late 40s to Early 60s (All of the 50s): Party (Superpower/Pax America, Atomic Age)
Late early 60s to mid-60s: Hangover (JFK assassination, Hippies, Martin Luther King and Civil rights part 1, Height of the Cold war, Vietnam)
Late 60s early 70s: Party (Space race, moon landings, Antiwar protests, Sexual revolution, 2nd wave feminism, First wave of protests, Nixon Era)
Mid 70s to very Early 80s: Hangover (Watergate, Gas lineups, Hostage crisis, Stagflation, White flight, Disco, 1st of domestic terrorism, the Carter Era, Cold war resurgence and anti-nuclear protests)
Early 80s to very early 90s: Party (The 80s, Cyberpunk, Powerhouse Japan, AIDS, Miami Vice)
Early 90s to early late 90s: Hangover (The Gen X 90s, Grunge, Gangster rap and East vs West Coast, 2nd wave of domestic terrorism, 2nd wave of protests Bill Clinton part 1, Civil rights part 2, 3rd wave feminism)
Late 90s to very early 2000s: Party (Columbine, Dotcom boom, teen pop, and boyband era, Y2K era)
Early 2000s to Early late 2000s: Hangover (9/11 and post 9/11, Aftermath era, Iraq, Emo, Great recession and housing bubble pop)
Late 2000s to Early mid 2010s: Party (The electropop era, Obama first term, Wall Street protests)
Mid 2010s to Late 2010s (Right now): Hangover (The 2016 election, Trump era, Obama part 2, Political polarization, 3rd wave protests, 4th wave feminism, Third wave of domestic terrorism)

I know I didn't get everything, but what do you think? If there is anything I missed just mention it in a comment.





Interesting. Never heard of that before. Thank you for sharing it with all of us on this board.

No problem, I enjoy discussing theories like this.

The 1990's was economically upbeat, but pop culturally dark until about 1997 that is.

It's so very hard for me to see the 1990's as a dark era, I'm bias obviously.

I love the thread by the way!

While the late 2000s/early 2010s had a lot of electropop and dubstep party music, I'm not sure I'd describe it as a party era, with the shadow of the Great Recession cast over it. 2009 especially was very dark.

While the late 2000s/early 2010s had a lot of electropop and dubstep party music, I'm not sure I'd describe it as a party era, with the shadow of the Great Recession cast over it. 2009 especially was very dark.


Well, I guess I am mainly referring to Pop culture, which largely revolves around young adults, especially those that are college age.  The peak of the millenial generation (Born 1987-1992) all were of college-age at that point in time and hadn't experienced the effects of the recession until 2011 came around and they marched to Wall Street to protest. This was the beginning of the Hipster era, and the start of the core 2010s culture.  But between (2008-2012/2013) they partied like there was no tomorrow. For everyone under the age of 24, I would say the late 2000s/early 2010s were happy times, especially compared to the mid and definitely the late 2010s.

The 1990's was economically upbeat, but pop culturally dark until about 1997 that is.

It's so very hard for me to see the 1990's as a dark era, I'm bias obviously.

I love the thread by the way!


Well, I guess I am mainly referring to pop culture. So, it was dark for the Gen X teens and young adults who grew up at the time.

My hangover days are over now!  ;D

Well, I guess I am mainly referring to Pop culture, which largely revolves around young adults, especially those that are college age.  The peak of the millenial generation (Born 1987-1992) all were of college-age at that point in time and hadn't experienced the effects of the recession until 2011 came around and they marched to Wall Street to protest. This was the beginning of the Hipster era, and the start of the core 2010s culture.  But between (2008-2012/2013) they partied like there was no tomorrow. For everyone under the age of 24, I would say the late 2000s/early 2010s were happy times, especially compared to the mid and definitely the late 2010s.

Yeah pop culture was all about partying in the late 2000s/early 2010s. The economy was crap but pop culture was still really upbeat. College students obviously don’t have serious responsibilities.

Agreed that the early 2010’s was a very party era, electropop, movies like Project X or Ted, also those were the days of the Weed Craze. Now we’ll see if the 2020s is the next party era