Hippies Counterculture

Consequently, today, almost all of these practices are today seen as acceptable. Hippies truly began the fight to making gay marriage legal. The organic food trend is continuing to rise, an aftereffect of the hippie counterculture influence over fifty years ago. They believed in respecting and giving back to nature. Today, many people support many of the ideals that were once appealing to most people. Hippies believed challenging societal norms was the only way to live out a better

The second half of the 1960’s seen another upsurge of young adults; a subgroup opposed to the fundamental thoughts of others and their social and economic supports; mainly because they believed that dominant mainstream culture was crooked and flawed; and needed to believe as they did in a way(s) of life geared to protect something they could not earn, buy, or passed on. The something philosophy is compromised in a complex egotism based on criminality; with an ulterior (self-preservation) motive of exacting some form of Utopia for it and with others relative to its concept. These groups of tie dyed conformists are anti-establishment and commonly known as hippies. They first gained a reputation in the U.S and then England, and are the extent

Hippies represent the ideological, naive nature that children possess. They feel that with a little love and conectedness, peace and equality will abound. It is with this assumption that so many activists and reformers, inspired by the transformation that hippies cultivated, have found the will to persist in revolutionizing social and political policy. Their alternative lifestyles and radical beleifs were the shocking blow that American culture-- segregation, McCarthyism, unjust wars, censorship--needed to prove that some Americans still had the common sense to care for one another. The young people of the sixties counterculture movement were successful at awakening awareness on many causes that are being fought in modern

This counter culture that developed in the 1960s was an alternative lifestyle chosen by individuals who would eventually become known as hippies, freaks or long hairs (Richards, 2003). Members of the counter culture held a conviction similar to that of the new left wing movement, in that they wanted to overhaul domestic policy within the United States (MacFarlane, 2007). Hippies were generally dissatisfied with the consensus culture that had developed after the Second World War and wanted to distance themselves from American society hence the counter culture (Debolt, 2011).As a result,

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

The members of this movement obtained the nickname, hippies, which were greatly inspired by the beat movement back in the 1950’s.

“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.

The “counterculture” developed during the 1960’s into the 1970’s and during this time period the American mindset questioned normal values and institutions. Over half the population was under 25, many of whom associated themselves with the Hippie Movement. Hippies were all about rejecting and rebelling against monumental societal institutions and were the focus group in the counterculture. The hippies set themselves apart from the “stereotypical man” and wanted to be untamed and wild. They valued the beauty in naturalness and stripping away “the securities of civilization that normally intervene between humans and elemental challenges (Nash, p. 267). They wanted independence and felt that the GNP was not the best indicator of American success.

It is readily apparent that a willingness to enter into relationships with other people characterizes the respondents. Intellectual concerns, politics, drugs, and sexual permissiveness received much less support. Hippie counterculture, while affirming, albeit implicitly, the benefits of an industrial society, has no place either in its normative structure or in its social structure for their production. The hippie movement is countercultural rather than political. (Westhues) This movement wasn’t just in opposition to the war. It was a lifestyle that the Hippies started. It was a culture and a way to live kind of like a community. The drastic social change led by the Hippies provided for a very interesting time during the 1960s.

Through the songs came many messages and ideas that would have been looked down upon by previous generations. Groups like the hippies became prominent during this time period. This group promoted the idea of being closer to nature and to love one another. They took part in drugs such as marijuana, acid, LSD, and other illegal drugs. Some bands and songs promoted this lifestyle whether it was through their songs or simply through spoken support of use of the drugs, lifestyle, or both.

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

All they wanted was for everyone to live happy and free in utopian society. Another major influence for the hippies was the music. There were multiple types of music that they would listen to, ranging from Rock and Roll to Pop. “There were many popular artists during this decade, including: The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Supremes, The Everly Brothers, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Sonny and Cher, The Who, the Doors, and Pink Floyd” ( “Hippies in the 60’s 5).

‘The hippie movement germinated in San Francisco, with the Vietnam War at its core. The movement eventually spread to the East Coast as well, centralized in New York's East Village in addition to the Haight-Asbury district of San Francisco and Sunset Strip of Los Angeles” (Buchholz 858). Many hippies were angry over the conformist lifestyle that Americans were living in, and wanted to live how they wanted to live not how their employer or television wanted them to live. Hippies also took a political

Their movement died out but they are still around and they have had a much more lasting impact. Their ideas and values back then and today were quite similar, almost the same in fact, to those of the beatniks. They also express free love, peace, free drug use, and sexual experimentation. Their movement influenced a lot of popular music, television, literature, film, and poetry. One area where hippies were widely accepted and had a huge impact on was the city of San Francisco which was also the location of the first large hippie gathering, The Summer of Love.To this day people are more openly accepting of homosexuality, religion is more accepted as well, and they even had influence on the fashion that's around today. People still make tie-dyed shirts and wear them on days to celebrate gay pride and other significant dates to celebrate the acceptance that we now have in our society. Unfortunately the impact they was not all great. Some people think that their movement caused a lot of controversy surrounding drug use and other political issues that surround today's youth. Overall, the hippies had a lasting impact on society and they will continue to have an impact on people in the future as

The second reason why the film captured the characteristics of America in the 1960s was because there was a seek for freedom. The goal of Wyatt and Billy was to get away and retire in Florida with the money that they made from the drug deal. They wanted to live freely and live the life they wanted to live. This was a direct portrayal of the 1960s in which there were the hippies and Civil Rights movements. The hippie movement was to get out of the “establishment” called by younger people, in which it was a system of older institutions and values (Pendergast, 2005). The fact that it was the privileged young people that went against the “establishment” for a freer lifestyle filled with peace and love. This was the focus on the discovery of oneself serves a strong example for freedom. The hippies’ wanted to seek for freedom was similar to the blacks seeking for their freedom. An example of that was when the nonviolent Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized a peaceful school walkout in 1963 to protest for freedom and equality (Turner). In addition, no violent was shown in the film from Wyatt and Billy because they do not want to be involved in any kind of violent that will hinder their way of free life.