"It's a Man's World" was "ahead of its time": it depicted the restlessness, idealism, and increasing iconoclasm that began to emerge among American youth during the early 1960s. Broadcast at the family hour, "It's a Man's World" did not shy from the themes of premarital sex, feminism, and the gulf between adults and adolescents, which began to be known as the generation gap. The program coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights disputes, and the emergence of protest singer Bob Dylan. It attracted a minor cult following on college campuses, but it failed to attract mass audiences.