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Hippie Counterculture Research Paper

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The emergence of hippies in society allowed for the exploration of new values, beliefs and practices. The numerous elements that comprise the identity of the hippie subculture are what makes the counterculture quite so unique. In this essay, I will discuss the hippie subculture with relation to identity. With this regard, I will examine numerous factors that comprise the identity of hippies including the rejection of consumerism, the use of drugs as a means of musical and philosophical inspiration. I will also discuss the musical gathering’s with particular reference to the Woodstock Festival as well as the rock and roll and psychedelic rock that shaped the movement. Subcultures were a likeminded group of individuals who essentially shared …show more content…

Other elements that comprised the identity of the hippie include sexual liberation, drugs, style and communal gatherings. Consumerism essentially defined the way of life for the counterculture and influenced the core values that they represented including peace, love, equality, racial harmony, liberated sexuality as well as communal living. In Miller’s article, ‘The Hippies and American Values,’ he begins by stating the unnecessary nature of money for the hippie subculture. He states that while the hippies resided in the real world, they pertained a direct rejection for the materialism represented by society in America. Linda Welters enforces this concept in ‘The Natural Look: American Style in the 1970’s’ in stating that hippies inflicted upon themselves, what Welters calls a ‘self-imposed poverty.’ (Welters, 2008). Hippies attempted to defer from mainstream values, particularly with regards their alternative demands involving concepts such as ‘authenticity, sustainability, or fair trade.’ (Klimke and Scharloth, 2008) They even often rejected any sort of technology in the communes where they lived, residing without

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