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The success of "Disco Libido" provides another striking pop culture parallel to 1969. For the relevance of society’s re-visitation of this period see Sociotimes entries and additional references on July 21,  September 15 and February 16 (third paragraph of the “Reference Materials” section). Amidst the initial sexual revolution in 1969, a very similar one-hit wonder called "Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus" by British singer Jane Birkin and Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg climbed the charts. Accroding to a musical website, the pair teamed “to provide probably the most controversial release ever. So controversial was it that even after it debuted at 2, the record company dropped it, and they had to find a new record label (which they did pretty easily) to continue releasing it. The hit basically consisted of some slow seductive music with Jane and Serge simulating the moans and groans of sexual intercourse over the top of it. Naturally there was a public outrage that anyone could release such a shocking single, but shocking it was, and they always say that sex sells.” It’s not as controversial now, which may be a symptom of a transition to a much more meaningful bear market.

The articles above also reveal a rising sense of social revulsion with the phenomenon, another sign that the downturn is likely grabbing hold. The backlash should become more intense as the authoritarian impulses of the falling trend intensify (see our “Hemline Police” entry of November 21).

July 2005, EWFF
Can you feel it now? In May, The Elliott Wave Theorist observed that the change to a Primary-degree decline is expressing itself across the cultural realm. June brought a wide array of cultural changes that shine an even brighter light on the path of the social mood. A hard swing down is clear in everything from the biggest backward move in the 55-year history of the European Union, a “no” vote against an EU constitution by France and the Netherlands, to a sudden nose dive in President Bush’s popularity and “almost daily signs of growing trade tensions,” as discussed above. EWI has fully anticipated and discussed each of these trends in past issues and books. Another shift that follows as a natural consequence of the bear market is a reversal in the public consensus from “for” to “against” the war in Iraq. A similar reversal to greater than 50% against occurred with the Vietnam war in 1968, when new all-time highs in many of the small-cap averages accompanied the Dow’s test of its Cycle wave III peak. The same variety of small-caps were among the only stocks to carry to new all-time highs in 2005.

Back in November 2003, EWFF fully discussed parallels to a similar cultural transition in 1968/1969. One trend in the fall of 2003 that EWFF traced “straight back to the vibrant pop scene of 1969” was a fashion preference for bright colors. That trend is now giving way. According to the latest headlines, the transition is to darker tones. “In fashion for the coming fall, black is back,” says a June 2 Wall Street Journal column headlined, “Going Over to the Dark Side.” In an effort to “boost sales,” U.S. retailers are pushing “more shirts and jackets in dark tones including black and burgundy after bright color fashions lost some appeal last year.” This Saks catalogue cover expresses the extent to which darker, bear market styles are taking over. It is completely filled with hollow-eyed, disinterested models striking somber poses in dark pant suits and skirts, which have fallen below the knee. In a December entry titled “Skin is On the Way Out,” EWFF stated that a cover up is an “inevitable” consequence of the bear market.

In a related shift, the “macho man is an endangered species.” This fits perfectly with EWT’s 1985 treatise “Pop Culture and the Stock Market,” which noted that the “falling transition” phase of a bear market is characterized by “feminine caring men.” “Today’s male is more likely to opt for a pink flowered shirt and swingers’ clubs than the traditional role as family super-hero.” “All the traditional male values of authority, infallibility, virility and strength are being completely overturned,” says a consultant to the French fashion industry. On June 19, The New York Times notes the move to pastel shirts and other “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” looks and says, “You can’t rely on gaydar anymore.” “Many men have migrated to a middle ground where the cues to pigeonhole sexual orientation are more and more ambiguous. The poles are melting fast.”

August 2003, EWFF
The Sleaze Factor
A common bear market paradox is that even as procreation wanes, promiscuity and the raunchiness of sexual imagery rises. For some reason, society seems to compensate for the decline in human reproduction by ramping up the frequency and dosage of overtly sexual messages. In recent weeks, this “anything goes” syndrome has produced a wave of headline-grabbing sexual content that ranges from Skin, a new Fox TV drama about the porn industry to the first video to show nudity on the country music channel to Hunting For Bambi, a new ‘adult’ paintball game in which men pay large sums of money to hunt naked women [ed. note: this news item turned out to be a hoax]. A whole new genre of “racier” cable TV cartoons and many of the latest reality TV shows are now aimed at this baser bear-market impulse. A character on the TV series Stripperella performs an animated lap dance. According to the Los Angeles Times, erotica has gone “mainstream.” A convention that used to be populated almost exclusively by men and a few adult film industry stars is now being targeted toward women and couples. In an effort to “reflect the changing demographic of the sex consumer,” the conventions’ slate of events now “reads more like an episode of Sex in the City than a porn star parade.” Sex In the City premiered in 1998, a few weeks after the peak in the NYSE advance/decline line, and has been a trend setter in the popularization of sexually explicit fare. It is in its last season, but Sex remains a critical smash, with 13 Emmy award nominations for 2003. If anything, it may not be racy enough for the next phase of the bear market.