The Counter Culture of the 1960's

1117 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the hippie movement of the 1960s

The 1950‘s was a time noted for its high expectations and widespread conformity. The children growing up in the 1950’s were from the baby boomer generation. By the 1960’s some of these children began to migrate away from the ways of their upbringings. These children called themselves the Hippies. Even though the Hippie kids had grown up in the richest economy America had ever seen, they sought an alternative lifestyle to the one their parents led. This trend spread and eventually progressed into a nationwide movement, popularly known as the Hippie Movement. The Movement created its own entirely new sub culture that enthralled the nation. The Hippie Movement of the 1960’s transformed people’s perspectives on cultural matters, moral values, and created a new unique genre of fine arts. The Hippies were driven by many motivations both socially and politically. They wanted a peaceful and tolerant country with equal civil and social rights for everyone. Socially their motivations were for tolerance, anti material, and love. The birth of the movement was when the Hippies started to question the conformist materialistic system they were raised on in the 1950’s. This social crusade is accurately described by Jefferson Airplane’s song, Volunteers: “One generation got old. One generation got soul. This generation got no destination to hold... Hey now it’s time for you and me. Got to revolution” (Jefferson Airplane). People started a “revolution” against the conformist ideals and pushed for a more tolerant and free minded society. The Hippies created a motto for the migration away from the oppressive society, “Turn on, Tune in, Drop out” (Timothy Leary). They wanted people to “tune in” to their movement and drop out of the society. Mo... ... middle of paper ... ...ansformed people’s perspectives on cultural matters, moral values, and created a whole new genre of fine arts. Today Hippie culture is still scene particularly music and fashion. The Hippies successfully loosened the strict sexual, religious, and cultural values from the 1950’s. People gained open minds. The movement also left lasting negative effects like the overzealous rebellious attitudes, mindlessness, and anti establishment. Works Cited http://www.mortaljourney.com/2011/03/1960-trends/hippie-counter-culture-movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJABGpyoJ20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZB7Mbhstqo https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/34205/1/gupea_2077_34205_1.pdf http://www.florian-kunkel.de/fa.pdf http://legacy-hippie-movement.e-monsite.com/blog/ http://oldhippie.jimgreenlee.com/hiphistory.html http://1960s-counterculture.tripod.com/id1.html

Show More
Related

  • Music During the Vietnam War

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Counter Culture of the 1920's

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    The counter culture of the 1920’s has affected the way the American lifestyle is today. Counter culture is a culture that primarily consists of younger people, with values and lifestyles opposing those of the original established culture. (Dictionary.com) A need for change. The 1920’s are also known as the “Jazz Age,” which was coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the “Roaring Twenties.” It was a decade of change. (Hakim, 41) The counterculture of the 1920’s resulted from the Age of Jazz, Flappers, and the Harlem Renaissance.

    Read More

  • Woodstock Counterculture

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The American Culture of the 1950s

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.

    Read More

  • The Hippie Movement

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movement that began during the counterculture era in the 1960s, also known as the youth movement, rebelled against the conformity of American life. The main goal the hippie movement was trying to accomplish was being able change views and ideas politically, socially, and culturally. However, they mainly aimed at changing cultural points and everyday values. The movement started after the assassination of President Kennedy, led into protesting against the Vietnam War, civil rights movement, usage of psychoactive drugs, sexual liberation, a new taste in music, such as the rock genre from bands like The Beatles, and more.

    Read More

  • Counterculture During the Vietnam Era

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Counterculture

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the sixties Americans saw the rise of the counterculture. The counterculture, which was a group of movements focused on achieving personal and cultural liberation, was embraced by the decade’s young Americans. Because many Americans were members of the different movements in the counterculture, the counterculture influenced American society. As a result of the achievements the counterculture movements made, the United States in the 1960s became a more open, more tolerant, and freer country.

    Read More

  • The Hippie Counterculture

    2095 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Hippie Movement changed the politics and the culture in America in the 1960s. When the nineteen fifties turned into the nineteen sixties, not much had changed, people were still extremely patriotic, the society of America seemed to work together, and the youth of America did not have much to worry about, except for how fast their car went or what kind of outfit they should wear to the Prom. After 1963, things started to slowly change in how America viewed its politics, culture, and social beliefs, and the group that was in charge of this change seemed to be the youth of America. The Civil Rights Movement, President Kennedy’s death, new music, the birth control pill, the growing illegal drug market, and the Vietnam War seemed to blend together to form a new counterculture in America, the hippie.

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Hippie on American Society

    2364 Words  | 5 Pages

    American society and culture experienced an awakening during the 1960s as a result of the diverse civil rights, economic, and political issues it was faced with. At the center of this revolution was the American hippie, the most peculiar and highly influential figure of the time period. Hippies were vital to the American counterculture, fueling a movement to expand awareness and stretch accepted values. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely.

    Read More

  • Summer Of Love: The Hippie Movement

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Flower Children of the 1960s

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hippie movement may have been short lived but they lived their lives in fun, they tended to use drugs, and they enjoyed going to festivals such as Woodstock. The hippies was a once and a lifetime movement that our world may never experience again. Now you can see why 500,00 hippies attended the Woodstock music and arts festival.

    Read More

  • Woodstock: A Peaceful Rock Revolution

    2686 Words  | 6 Pages

    To some, the 60s were a decade of discovery as Americans first journeyed to the moon. Others remember the time as a decade of America’s moral decline with the advent of rock and roll and its representation of "sinful", inappropriate ideals. Yet for many people, the 60s symbolized a decade of love and harmony. Hippies exemplified these beliefs, and in 1969 they gathered at a music festival known as Woodstock to celebrate their music, their love, and their freedom in a concert that has remained on of the most influential events of the 60s. The youth of the 60s were known as the "Love generation". They made love promiscuously and openly, and preferred open to formal marriages. Weekend "love-ins", free form gatherings, communal living quarters, and rock festivals were held in response to the "love movement". The "love movement" was the hippie belief for peace and harmony. It reached its peak in the summer of 1967, and by then it had over 300,000 followers who referred to themselves as the "love children" or the "gentle people". They gathered in San Francisco, the hippie center of the world, during the summers. During these "Summers of love", they lived on the streets of Haight-Ashbury, sitting in groups along the street and strumming their guitars (Frike 62). These "love children", otherwise known as the hippies were the result of the antiwar movement that was sweeping the nation during the Vietnam war. Hippies were resolutely against the war. They participated loudly, and often violently in countless anti-war protest rallies and marches. They were known to publicly burn draft cards, and some even renounced military service for prison (Hertsgard 124). Hippies were not only antiwar, they were predominantly antiestablishment. The status symbols of their elders were decisively rejected: wealth, social position, culture, physical attractiveness, and economic security. They held in disdain, cosmetics, expensive jewelry, nightclubs and restaurants and all other refinements of the affluent society. Wealth meant nothing to them. Personal freedom to express oneself was believed to be the most important thing in life. They were antiauthority, antirace discrimination, and antipollution, in short they were rebels against the society, fighting against the moral standards of America they felt were unjust (Hertsgard 153). Events such...

    Read More

  • The Hippie Subculture

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Hippie Movement

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Hippies

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    Surprisingly, over fifty percent of the Hippies were known to be teachers, despite their free-spirited life philosophy. The Hippies are the group of people who want to live differently from the conventional American lifestyle, to leave societal restrictions, and live with freedom. Hippies first emerged in 1960s and later attracted enormous masses of young American.

    Read More

More about The Counter Culture of the 1960's

Open Document