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2 books match the query 'Roberts, Benjamin B.'
Sex and Drugs before Rock 'n' Roll
Youth Culture and Masculinity during Holland's Golden AgeBenjamin B. Roberts
Amsterdam University Press, 2012
Sex and Drugs Before the Rock ’n’ Roll is a fascinating volume that presents an engaging overview of what it was like to be young and male in the Dutch Golden Age. Here, well-known cohorts of Rembrandt are examined for the ways in which they expressed themselves by defying conservative values and norms. This study reveals how these young men rebelled, breaking from previous generations: letting their hair grow long, wearing colorful clothing, drinking excessively, challenging city guards, being promiscuous, smoking, and singing lewd songs.
Cogently argued, this study paints a compelling portrait of the youth culture of the Dutch Golden Age, at a time when the rising popularity of print made dissemination of new cultural ideas possible, while rising incomes and liberal attitudes created a generation of men behaving badly.
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Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll in Rembrandt’s Time
Benjamin B. Roberts
Amsterdam University Press, 2024
Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll in Rembrandt’s Time focuses on the generation of rich young men that grew up in the seventeenth century in the Dutch Republic. These men had more money to spend on clothes, music, and recreation than the generation before them. This fascinating account of male adolescence in the Dutch Republic reveals how young men including Rembrandt van Rijn disregarded conservative values and rebelled against the older generation, and consequently created a new youth culture that was similar to the one of the 1960s. They had long hair, wore colorful and extravagant clothing, and started taking drugs. Theirs was the first generation in European history to smoke tobacco. Moreover, they defied conventional norms and values with their promiscuity and by singing lewd songs in their free time.
With his engaging storytelling-style filled with humorous anecdotes, Roberts convincingly shows how deviant male youth behavior is a feature of all ages, especially in periods when youngsters have too much free time and money.
With his engaging storytelling-style filled with humorous anecdotes, Roberts convincingly shows how deviant male youth behavior is a feature of all ages, especially in periods when youngsters have too much free time and money.
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