More handpicked essays just for you.
Contributions of the hippie counterculture
Contributions of the hippie counterculture
Violence and contemporary society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the 1960s the Americans were looking for a President who could fix the issues that Eisenhower had caused. The people of the United States wanted a President that would bring the country together and unite them through an active but productive leadership position. The Democrats introduced a candidate to the United States that they hoped would bring the country the united nation that they had been longing for. John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s campaign promised the American people the “New Frontier.” Kennedy was able to get approval for tariff reductions and wanted to cut taxes so within time he could create prosperity through economic growth.
During the late 1950s and 1960s the southern states in America were segregated. Black and white people were separated from bathrooms to schools and therefore, blacks had to use their installments or they would be punished by whites. While this was happening, two African American men, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, wanted segregation to come to an end. So they proclaimed their ideas and started to form groups to protest against segregation in America. Consequently, Martin Luther King Jr’s civil rights philosophy made the most sense during the 1960s because integrated schools was the goal, nonviolence could have a huge impact on the enemy and nonviolence was the only practical strategy.
During the 1950s, movies and TV were both a force for conformity and rebellion, depending on the specific content and audience. On one hand, the dominant narrative of movies and TV during this era tended to reinforce mainstream values and promote social conformity. Many films and TV shows portrayed idealized versions of American life, featuring characters who conformed to traditional gender roles and family structures. These narratives often emphasized the importance of conformity and adherence to societal norms, portraying those who deviated from these expectations as outcasts or villains. On the other hand, some films and TV shows challenged these mainstream values and promoted rebellion against the status quo.
The 1960’s was one of the most tempestuous decades in American history, remembered for its nationwide protests against the vietnam war and strive for political change. During this decade, a group of people called hippies, emerged and created their own liberal counterculture by refusing to participate in mainstream society. Hippies were white, well-educated, middle class adolescents who were products of the “baby boom” generation. As Hippies entered their early twenties in the late 1960’s, they began to advocate for individual freedom and highly promoted people to “do their own thing”. At the same time, they rejected any ideas of conformity and materialism that their parents had constructed and abided by the decade before them.
The sixties was a decade unlike any other. Baby boomers came of age and entered colleges in huge numbers. The Civil Rights movement was gaining speed and many became involved in political activism. By the mid 1960s, some of American youth took a turn in a “far out” direction. It would be the most influential youth movement of any decade - a decade striking a dramatic gap between the youth and the generation before them.
Others just “dropped out” and separated themselves from the mainstream culture through their appearance and lifestyle. Women began to protest about the traditional roles of housewife roles that society had put on them and viewpoints toward sexuality appeared to loosen as they protested. Members of the counterculture were usually known as hippies, shared some beliefs about materialism, technology, and war with the New Left Movement. Hippies would protest against wars such as the Vietnamese War, or they would choose to protest against society by completely leaving it. Many would drop out of school or college to create their idealistic community of peace, love, and harmony.
Moreover, immediate and lasting results were also achieved in the field of freedom of speech. The right to free speech and political activities on college campuses has been pushed for by hippies and remains in place to this day. Even though it is not accurate to reduce the Civil Rights Movement to hippies, the latter were clearly major actors in that political framework. Moreover, the embrace of further progressivist ideals such as the use of marijuana and same-sex relationships by hippies continued to influence the sociopolitical discourse in America years after the movement virtually came to an
With every new generation of teenagers or young adults, there always seems to be this negative look towards the youth culture. What really strikes me is that it happens with every new generation. It seems like once a person hits their teenage years they suddenly become “rebels” of society, and for what reason? How do most adults see the younger generation? They are young people who have bad manners, no respect for the elderly, they are real tyrants, they do not stand up when elders walk in, they do not listen to their parents or teachers, they talk in the presence of adults, and they eat gluttonously (Socrates).
In the years following the Civil War, many people had formulas for how to revive the South. The land below the Mason-Dixon line had suffered greatly, from the physical destruction of the plantations and fertile farmland to the more abstract collapse of the plantation system and the relationships of servitude. After the unification of the country, there was divide in the government. The Radicals in the Congress had a far different plan than President Johnson. With the executive and legislative branches struggling for power and getting little done, the South unfortunately decomposed from the proud, wealthy land it once was before the war to a land not only wounded from battle but scarred from weak politicians as well.
This specific group of people believed in love, peace, and freedom. “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”(FLOWER POWER). For example, hippies experimented in several sexual partners, including those of the same sex. They also did not hold their sexual relations to one specific number, but rather a surplus of a diverse
What We Really Miss About The 1950s In her essay, “What We Really Miss About the 1950s”, Stephany Coontz talks about the myth of the 1950s. She begins her argument by stating some reasons why the nostalgia for the 1950s exists. The main thing Americans miss about the those days is the stability. She acknowledges that this fallacy is not insane.
Categorizing people’s acts is never easy and especially highly controversial, since there is no point, which decides, whether you belong to the first, second or even no group. However, below are some representational examples of artists and bands, who effectively contributed to the Sixties’ rebellious Counterculture movement. 4.8.2 Rock bands with political content: The Fugs (New York City): With the regular changes of line-up, the stable core ones had been drummer Ken Weaver, beatniks Tuli Kupferberg and Ed Sanders, the only remaining member until today.
The 1967 Summer of Love is remembered as the peak of the peace oriented hippie movement of the 1960s. Although this utopian like community’s sense of appeal seemed to fade over its short lifespan, it began as a showcase of love, community, as well as a new way to think and live. The participants of this newly emerged youth counterculture hoped to spread their central message to, “turn on, tune in, and drop out.” as Timothy Leary urged his audience to do in his memorable speech at Golden Gate park in San Francisco. The 1967 Summer of Love caused a catastrophic shift in the youth culture of this era, contributed to all forms of the arts, created new ideals, senses of spirituality, and overall changed the way the members of this new counterculture viewed themselves, and viewed the world.
These ideas gave birth to greater movements with organised people spreading hippie-ideals partly through the arts; personal knowledge shaping shared knowledge through emotion, imagination, language, and other ways of knowing. The fact that the movement took long periods of time to be something recognised was precisely because individual knowledge is harder to transmit. What spread and fastened the growth of this movement was the socio-economic situation of the
Youth subculture is often defined or distinguishable by elements such as fashion, beliefs, behaviours or interests. Many subcultures are related with specific music genres, a telling example is that Mods like Soul&Jazz and Rockers prefer Rock&Roll. Also, vehicles have played an essetial role in youth subcultures. During the 1960’s in the UK, mods were associated with scooters while rockers were associated with motorcycles. What are mods?
