Overview of the Hippie Movement
The mid- 1960’s marked a period of cultural turbulence; normally-held societal values, behaviors, and practices were eroded by a countercultural movement that led to the adoption of a new subculture (M.D, 2012, p. 156). The new counterculture, known as the Hippie movement, had distinct thoughts about society and values. The Hippie movement emphasized community, authenticity, and individualism. In turn, the three ideals led to the adoption of norms and values that were different from the practices of mainstream American culture. Besides, the Hippie countercultural movement was spearheaded by the youths of the time, notably, the baby boomer generation. The latter was an overwhelming majority in society, giving the Hippies an upper hand in the move to usurp the mainstream beliefs and practices.
During the same period, the American dream had just been achieved. The majority of the whites in this generation felt the privilege. Nurtured in the suburbs, and weaned in the media through television. Contrastingly, not every individual enjoyed the right, specifically, the African Americans who were denied the opportunity of democracy, liberty, and happiness. In turn, the youthful generation of the time (baby boomers) started to openly protest against the marginalization by taking part in the civil rights movement. Soon, the marginalized Americans, mainly African Americans, became increasingly defiant after the events that took part in Vietnam- the Vietnam War. They seized the moment and aggressively took it to the public to protest against the system, institutions, war, and weapons. In turn, they proposed to institutionalize sexuality as a liberation, environmentalism, and the use of drugs. The majority of the youths became activists, coined slogans such as “Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out” to demonstrate their urge to isolate themselves from the norm. As a result, this generation of boomers invented new and alternatives ways to life and art in the United States. By drawing inspiration from the Beats and the Rock n’ Roll music, the Hippies decided that the only road to change was to “drop out” from the mainstream culture altogether. This marked the birth of a counterculture, new lifestyles, beliefs, and practices were introduced in America. Aspects such as a communal way of life, the use of drugs to raise one’s consciousness, sexual liberation, and the Rock n’ Roll became part and parcel of the American culture. The Hippies dominated the urban neighborhoods, Haight –Ashbury in San Francisco, and East Village in New York (Forman, 2016).
Aspects of Culture as seen Among the Hippies
As seen in the Hippie countercultural movement, the alteration of mainstream norms, values, customs, and traditions led to the introduction of a new subculture. The Hippies introduced new values in the society, as seen in their subculture, which was tied to the Beat. This was seen in the Hippies practice of overindulgence in sex and drugs, growing of beards, and preference of alternative music (rock) to mainstream music. These were the primary aspects of a culture that led to the inception of the Hippie subculture In America.