Contrasting the Contemporary Hipster with the Classical Hippie

In this essay I will be discussing the ‘hippie’ culture and style, their impact on the 60s and their continued impact in modern life. In today 's world, hippies are known because of the distinct way in which they behave, dress and their overall lifestyles. There are also some who have come to believe that hippies are synonymous with drugs or that they have radical political views on environmentalism, capitalism, religion e.t.c. The dictionary defines a hippie as "one who doesn’t conform to society’s standards and advocates a liberal attitude and lifestyle". What I am interested in is whether this definition is true. Polhemus (2007) says "who is real? Who is a replicant? Who cares? Life is a fancy-dress party, Enjoy”. I will be discussing this quote in more depth, relating it to the hippie culture as well as explaining how the hippie culture developed and what it means to be a hippie today.

The counterculture and hippies are becoming extremely popular in our society today. The hippie culture focused on outward signs of nonconformity. The counterculture promoted rock music, free love, and the use of psychedelic drugs. Haight-Ashbury is the place is if you want to be a part of the culture, and go to San Francisco and be a part of love. The counterculture is about new ideas, and going against the social norms. The bright colors, feathers, leather, and hair. There are pop art and rock music. Go have fun, and be a part of the

“Hippies were called Flower Children because they gave flowers to communicate gentleness and love” (Salge). The Hippie Movement was a popular counter culture during the 60’s-70’s. Hippies are best known for their practice of psychedelic drug use, interesting political views, where they took up living quarters, and their unique fashion sense.

Growing up in a generation with high expectations of identity that are constantly altering whether it’s the latest trends, styles and even mind-set principles, can be over whelming. When asked to describe one-self, we often are stuck thinking of what particular word could fully describe who we are as a person. We have such a hard time of coming with just one word because there is no form of describing one’s self. How we see ourselves, we may not want to be that the next day. “Looks can be deceiving” or “the first impressions are the most important” is commonly instilled in our mindset which it is true to some extent. Our work

The Hippie Movement began in the 1960’s and is viewed as a resistance towards mainstream America as a whole. The movement was a response to the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The Hippie Movement initially blossomed on college campuses in the United States and continued spreading abroad to parts of Europe and Canada (“Hippie Subculture”). Throughout the decades, the purpose of the Hippie Movement has changed, and its prominence has decreased. This movement began in the 1960’s with the intention of bringing social change. Today, the Hippie Movement is practiced to find a sense of identity. The Hippie Movement’s exact purpose has changed throughout several years, and today the meaning of the movement is rapidly fading.

The 1960s Hippie movement was a major point in the American history. In the 1960s a certain class of young people associated their lifestyles with the ideas of freedom, peace, and love. Hippies acted against white upper middle class lifestyle because they thought it was based on the wrong ideology. Hippies were against consumerism and American suburban life of the late 1950s and early 1960s was embodied in itself the idea of consumerism. Hippies, on the other hand, felt better about communal life with equal distribution of social goods. Traditional “bigger share” and consumerist greed as concepts of American society were despised by Hippies.

The Hippie Counter Culture began in 1960. The hippie era was influenced more by personal happiness in which books, music, and fashion followed as result of their personification of a blissful society. Hippies did not care what others thought of them and their motto was “if it feels good, do it”. Hippies were seeking a utopian society. They participated in street theater and listened to psychedelic rock. As part of their culture they embraced more open sexual encounters amongst each other in their community and believed in use of psychedelic drugs which consisted of marijuana and LSD. The fashion choice that hippies dressed in was due to set them apart from the mainstream society. They choose to buy their clothing from thrift shops and flea markets (Haddock, 2011). Clothing choices are described as “brightly colored, ragged clothes, tie-dyed t-shirts, beads, sandals (or barefoot), and jewelry” (Haddock, 2011, para 7). Hippies also referred

Over the next half century what followed was an evolution of different subgroups of young individuals, who sought to further express themselves and make themselves aware in society with their own unique values and lifestyles. Prejudice:

The subcultures “Beatniks” and “Hipsters” have proven to media and society that they have an urge for individualism. This is not something that has gone unnoticed by anyone, especially in the 1950’s with the beatniks. As a rise in each of their cultures, they have both experienced harsh criticism, attacking their style and how they approach life. There are many different views on how beatniks and hipsters lived/live their lives. Today, it is easy to tell the differences and similarities between beatniks and hipsters, because there are many of them.

A famous quote from Buddha states “Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” Many quotes from Buddha represent the Hippies way of life and what their movement was all about, peace. The Hippie Movement in the 1960’s was trying to get people to break away from the values society was putting on them, gain a happy life, and promote peace.

The rise of the hippy culture in 1960s challenges the cultural normativity of America. According to Blouin & Shipley (2013) that, this hippy phenomena is an extension of human individualism. This has been the trend, not just in America but also in western Europe and people view this new formed group rather unique because it is deeply rooted in; “rock music, greater sexual freedom….[and] drug culture among young people” (Risch 2005, p.566). According to Carrier (2011) that, by understanding post-modern deviant behaviour, it is unnecessary to use the old criteria in deviance and crime, as it will only lead to negative side-effects. Thus, new set of theory was formed to make sense on what was happening on 1960s and all fall under the

The emergence of alternative cultures and movements during the 1960s were remarkably distinctive in which it contributed to the overall characteristics of the 1960s America. In particular, the hippie counter-culture was developed and it was popular amongst the younger Americans because they believed in peace. They wanted to live differently and wanted to be free from the mainstream society. In the film Easy Rider, it portrayed the hippie culture and at the same time, it portrayed the rejection of the culture by the Americans in the 1960s. Hippie culture and other movements alike were the reactions to the changes in society and political atmosphere in the 1960s.The film was an excellent film work that captured the characteristics of the

The major trend of the American hippie movement from the 1960s had a major influence on the way New Zealand used drugs and how international trends still influence drug use today. Drug use patterns in New Zealand are very similar to other countries in the western world but also shows how some popular trends of ‘Hard Drugs’ did not become a huge problem due to the isolation of New Zealand and how hard it was to bring in illegal drugs such as heroin. How international trends and ideals reach New Zealand show how easy it is to influence a large percentage of a population to try drugs, legal or not. The ideals of rebellion highlights the use of drugs because of the moral values and rules set by mainstream society and the government. It is and was an easy way to reject mainstream rules if you didn’t want to live by them. The 1960s created a culture of mass following that rejected mainstream life and rules that promoted peace and love making the use of drugs morally okay because that is what they believed. As society moved on from hippie culture it introduced drugs that were highly addictive and dangerous, in comparison to the drugs that were widely used in the 60s and early 70s LSD and Marijuana have been the safest drugs to use. Popular culture that grew in the 70s and 80s were punk and rock that are easily recognised with being linked to drugs. Rebellious ideals became popular as it went against mainstream society but also made a ‘bad guy’ seem cool. This

The Beatniks created art, music, and literature that is now hailed in its daughter movement, Hipsterism. The hipsters of

Street style fashion is a dressing manner, which is not following what the catwalk dictated. It consists various subcultures, which stand for the spirit of individualism. The characteristic of being unique can firmly be seen especially in the hipster group. This popular subculture was known for its un-mainstream ways of dressing. They keep updating their styles when what they wear becomes something ordinary. In this modern day, there are many kinds of hipster’s style, which are differing in each area. This essay is to explain how hipster keeps changing from style to style, and finally reaches the point where they actually lost their originality in the end. Nowadays, their styles were hardly described in one defined word. All these uncertainties happen refer to the subculture itself that is not just avoiding what others wear, but also try to be stand out within their own group.