Baby Boomers and Narcissism

The sixties were times of great economic growth and cultural movement.  There began to be more of a focus on the individual, and just as we are seeing in the me generation, that can lead to the rise of narcissism.  With the Civil Rights Movement going on and first-wave feminism taking off, women were especially focusing on themselves. In times where they couldn't open their own bank account, start a business, serve in juries, and do countless other things, dissatisfaction was prevalent among women.  Then, with great influence from The Feminine Mystique, and later, Sex and the Single Girl, women began to be more proactive and daring in their fight for equality.  This single-minded goal and  ultimate focus on ones-self definitely comes off as narcissistic. In Tyler's article, Freud is quoted, saying "Narcissism, in this sense, describes a process of self-management; it is the means by which the subject adapts to sociocultural ideals." In reference to this, women of the sixties might have seemed narcissistic, but only in a process of self-managemet, and by means to adapt to cultural ideals.  Through this narcism, many strides were taken.  Reproductive freedom, The National Organization of Women, ivy leagues opening doors for women, and an overall challenge of patriarchy occurred.  Overall, what may seem like a bad thing can actually make a change.