Long Road To Peace
When someone hears the word “hippie” they are most likely to think of the scene in Forrest Gump or even the groupies that followed The Beatles on hand and foot. Hippie culture is much more than that. Some aspects of this sub-rebellious culture are the concept of free love- you know, that bumper sticker that reads “make love not war”? That would be a relic of the 1960-1970’s. The hippie lifestyle was uncanny to older generations- this created the phenomenon of the “generation gap” (Feinstein). Younger people, early to mid 20’s, started to pursue the “counterculture” of using marijuana and LSD to free their minds and be closer to nature. Typically, the tradition hippie attire was ripped up blue, bell bottom jeans, with tie-dyed shirts, long hair and headbands. Communal living was a lesser known part of the culture. Young hippies who desired to “get in touch with nature” moved to rural communities were other hippies resided. They felt that this area would provide them with a more natural lifestyle- mellow (Feinstein). What followed the seemingly small culture, was a...
Hippies used music to express themselves spiritually, emotionally, and politically. The hippie movement came around about the same time as the Vietnam War. It was a celebration of youth, love, peace, and individuality. So naturally, hippies would disagree with the Vietnam War. They adopted the slogan “make love not war,” which summed up their beliefs on peace. During the hippy movement, draft cards and American flags were burned as a presentation of their discontent with the American government and its ideals. They also showed their rebellion to the war by protesting and singing anti-war songs at the rallies.
What was known as the ‘Summer of Love’ occurred in 1967 in San Francisco. Considered to be the climax of the hippie movement occurring all over the world in the sixties, it was a time of rebellion against conformity, a desire for peace, and a soaring sense of individualism. However the media were responsible for the negative portrayal of the Summer of Love and still to this day, the media plays an important role in forming the attitudes of outsiders towards the ‘Hippie’ movement, commenting on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. In the end this came to have a negative impact on how others viewed the movement, creating an incorrect portrayal of 1967.
On the evening of February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their American television debut and shook Americans by storm. The four lads from Liverpool redefined American culture, popular music, and traditional standards of living. After The Ed Sullivan show, The Beatles became a worldwide household name, and millions of people around the world began to get sucked into a world where The Beatles were like royalty. For the ten years The Beatles were collectively together as a group, they changed the way people dressed, thought of music, changed cultural views of sex, and race, and ultimately changed music and culture permanently. The Beatles never realized the effect that their influence would have on the public, they just wanted to play music in America. As an avid Beatles fan, I have always been intrigued about The Beatles influence on the world, especially in America. I pondered different issues within The Beatles change, and I found myself asking: how did the Beatles’ dependence on counter-culture change and image change music industry and The American public? Although The Beatles did not intend to change American culture, The Beatles changed America by helping bridge the gap between set gender roles, helping shift public opinion towards the civil rights and anti-war movements, and their devilishly good looks and marketing team were able to transform The Beatles into a band everyone knew and loved.
Hippies, also known as the counterculture, were longhaired people who wore bright colors and held up peace signs. The counterculture came to be in the early 1960s. They lived mostly in hippie districts located in San Francisco, New York City, and Old Town Chicago. Gardens, head shops, and music
John Lennon was a famous musician in the mid 1900’s. John’s full name is John Winston Ono Lennon (John Lennon Biography). He was born on October 9, 1940 in England. John died due to a gun shot when he was only 40 years old. He married twice, and had a child with each of his wives. John Lennon was a legend first found with the Beatles, and then he became a very popular solo artist.
The article “From counterculture to Sixties Culture” clearly demonstrates that the hippie movement was not just founded on pure rebellion from what their parents had prescribed. The article reveals that the 60s culture was a product of many factors including the youths reaction to the Vietnam War, the outpouring of self expression on college campuses around the continent, the constantly dynamic civil rights, and especially the rejection of the counterculture by the mainstream society.
More than any other countercultural group, hippies reflected a deep discontent with technocracy- society’s reliance on scientific experts who ruled coldly and dispassionately and who wielded enormous power. Hippies said good-bye to that and hello to the mystical spirit, oneness with the universe- life as passion, passion as life, harmony, and understanding. The...
These young people were growing their hair long, participating in free love, and flexing their flower power. The hippie generation was not all about rebelling againsed their parents or doing drugs and having sex, Hippies are people who believe that the way to peace is love. They believe that in order to love one another it is important that they accept one another for who they are but the people in their time others did not see this. They just saw kids that were breaking the law. They did many wild things that people other than the hippies frowned upon like, doing many different drugs and experimenting with sex, listening to loud music and holding war protests.
Hippies were known for their large amounts of drug consumption and at the time the anti- war movement contained a bulk amount of younger people. In the 60’s, drugs were not seen as corrupt or as a threat. They were seen as a cure for disease. Specifically, drugs were seen as pain relievers, they help with sleeping, they lessened worry, etc (Hippies and drugs). Also, in the 50’s, there was lots of cigarette use. Citizens did not know the influence cigarettes’ had, causing people in the 60‘s to naturally not realize how unacceptable drugs were. Additionally, hippies mostly used hallucinogenic drugs, particularly marijuana and lysergic acid diethyl amide (LSD). In the article “Hippies,” it mentions how hippies were “justifying the practice as a way of expanding consciousness” (hippies). Moreover, hippies undertook the largest drug use in human history that was completely uncontrolled (Hippies and drugs). Youthful people were exposed to the kind of b...
Unlike the society before this movement, the hippie did not try to change America through violence, the hippie tried to change things through peace and love. The Hippie Movement was a moment during the mid 1960s through the early 1070s where sex, drugs and Rock-n-Roll, was at the forefront of mainstream society. No one really knows the true definition of a Hippie, but a formal definition describes the hippie as one who does not conform to social standards, advocating a liberal attitude and lifestyle. Phoebe Thompson wrote, “Being a hippie is a choice of philosophy. Hippies are generally antithetical to structured hierarchies, such as church, government, and social castes. The ultimate goal of the hippie movement is peace, attainable only through love and toleration of the earth and each other. Finally, a hippie needs freedom, both physical freedom to experience life and mental freeness to remain open-minded” (Thompson12-13). Many questions are asked when trying to figure out how this movement reached so many of America’s youth, and what qualities defined a hippie as a hippie?
The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life. Hippies were often portrayed as criminals, subversive to the morals and best interest of the public. Although misunderstood, the hippie had a great impact throughout the country, still surviving today in American culture. The term “hippie” itself became a universal term in the late sixties. It originated in a 1967 article in Ramparts, entitled “The Social History of the Hippies.” Afterward, the name was captured by the mass media as a label for the people of the new movement. (Yablonsky 28) Even before this, the word “hip” described someone who was “in” and “down”, wise to what was going on around him. By the 1960s, some of America’s youth created a gap between themselves and their parents. They grew their hair long because it was natural and therefore considered beautiful.
During the summer of love, the diggers helped out and spread the trend of being a hippie. Hippies are always so recognizable then and now with their “long flowing hair, bright clothes, and flowy dresses.” (The Sixties Chronicles 2004) With their noticeable look the hippies believed strongly in individualism. Again shown with their clothes, but also something else. “...where the hippie cry, "Do your own thing!" served to incubate a new cornucopia of causes…” (Stein pg.1) There are all sorts of causes that they fought for then that we have now that is better than what it was before. Some of the causes they fought for were gay rights, the environment, women's liberation, saving the whales, saving the forests and so much more. It had a, “...widespread impact in fashion, art, in the use of illicit drugs…” (Ventre pg.1) They also helped out creating a counterculture movement. During the summer of love there was also bad things happening during this time, Vietnam war was going on. The Summer of Love was a backlash to the war. Most of the people there wanted progress and there were tons of anti-war protests. Although there were still some who resisted and didn’t care that thousands of people were being drafted into the war. “Some methods of change proved healthy, others were damaging, depending on which social observers are to be believed.” (Summer of Love That Changed Music and Culture 2007) While the hippies were out and trying to change the world, some did it while doing
The sixties was a decade of liberation and revolution, a time of great change and exciting exploration for the generations to come. It was a time of anti-war protests, free love, sit-ins, naked hippie chicks and mind-altering drugs. In big cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, there was a passionate exchange of ideas, fiery protests against the Vietnam War, and a time for love, peace and equality. The coming together of like-minded people from around the world was spontaneous and unstoppable. This group of people, which included writers, musicians, thinkers and tokers, came to be known as the popular counterculture, better known as hippies. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the late sixties was more than just a musical orgy. It was a time of spiritual missions to fight for change and everything they believed in. Freedom, love, justice, equality and peace were at the very forefront of this movement (West, 2008). Some wore beads. Some had long hair. Some wore tie-dye and others wore turtle-neck sweaters. The Hippie generation was a wild bunch, to say the least, that opened the cookie jar of possibilities politically, sexually, spiritually and socially to forever be known as one of the most memorable social movements of all time (Hippie Generation, 2003).
When people hear the term hippie, they think of men and woman in loose clothing with flowers weaved in their hair. Although these men and women did in fact wear these things, they left a significant impact on society. Hippies were a part of the Counterculture movement, which basic ideals were to reject the ideas of mainstream society. The movement itself began with the protesting of the Vietnam War. Eventually, the movement was more than just protesting the war. Hippies promoted the use of recreational drugs, religious tolerance; they also changed society’s views and attitudes about lifestyle and social behavior. The Counterculture movement was the most influential era in the 20th century because the people of this time changed society’s outlook, and broached the topics of drugs, fashion, and sexual freedom.
The 1960s was a time period where the United States was divided, there were those who were against civil rights and those who were fighting for prompting equal rights rather than “separate but equal.” The Hippies from the Counterculture Movement were a very open-minded group, which believed that diversity and equality were key elements for a perfect society. The same United States who fought wars abroad to protect the values of democracy, was the same one who established “separate but equal” in the homeland of “equality.” It basically stated that all Americans were equal, but others weren’t as equal as the others, simply because they were minorities or were colored. Aren’t we all supposed to be equal, apparently we weren’t. The Counterculture Movement proved how the power of non-violent protests and treating others with respect would lead the United States to a more democratic society. The Counterculture Movement did not only questioned the values on which American was built, but it also questioned the traditional values of the parents on the youth. It helped young people realized that it was time for them to think for themselves rather than other people tell them what is best for them. “Displaying frank new attitudes about drugs and sex, communal lifestyles, and innovations in food, fashion, and music, the counterculture youth of America broke profoundly with almost all values their parents held dear.” The Counterculture Movement broke many of the fashion norms “Changes in fashion proved more fleeting. Long hair on young men was standard, as were Afros. Women often wore flowers in their hair. Ethnic or peasant clothing was celebrated... Beads, bellbottom jeans, and tie-dyed shirts became the rage, as each person tried to celebrate his or her own sense of individuality.” This showed how fashion norms began to change not only for women but for men as well, this forever