FREE ESSAY ON THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF THE 1960S HIPPIE MOVEMENT

THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF THE 1960S HIPPIE MOVEMENT

The Politics and Culture of the 1960s Hippie Movement As the nineteen fifties turned into
the early sixties, the United States remained the same patriotic, harmonious society of
the previous decade; often a teen's most difficult decision was choosing what color
lipstick to wear to the prom. Yet after 1963, a dramatic change slowly developed in the
cultural, social, and political beliefs of America, particularly the youth. The death of
President Kennedy, the new music, the quest for civil rights, the popularity of
mind-altering drugs, the senselessness of the Vietnam War, and the invention of the birth
control pill reacted like an imbalanced chemical equation to formulate a new American
counterculture: the hippie. Contrasting with ever-dominant mainstream society, the layed
back hippie nobly tried to change the world not by force, but through peace and love.
Though not entirely successful, the hippie movement clearly marked the mid- to
late-nineteen sixties and early seventies as a mixture of peace and brotherly love with
sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The formal definition of a hippie is one who does not
conform to social standards, advocating a liberal attitude and lifestyle. However, the
true definition of a hippie in unclear; no interpretation could categorize every person
who fits into the ambiguous category of a hippie. According to Phoebe Thompson's
definition, being a hippie is a choice of philosophy. Hippies are generally antithetical
to structured hierarchies, such as church, government, and social castes. The ultimate
goal of the hippie movement is peace, attainable only through love and toleration of the
earth and each other. Finally, a hippie needs freedom, both physical freedom to
experience life and mental freeness to remain open-minded (12-13). In the view of some
historians, thus, Thoreau and Ghandi were hippies, and hippies continue to exist today
(25). Yet what unique qualities characterized the American hippies of the nineteen
sixties, and how did this movement gain enough power to influence millions of teenagers?
The nineteen fifties was one of America's most prosperous (and dull) decades. Conformity
and nationalism swept the nation; television sitcoms reinforced old-fashioned family
values; the typical teenager aspired for the all-American look and personality. Yet music
had already planted the seeds of rebellion; Rock and Roll began to sweep the nation. Kids
wore leather jackets, violated curfews, and considered themselves rebels, though oddly
with no cause. The rebellion craze was epitomized by Marlon Brado's role in the film The
Wild One. When asked: What are you rebelling against, he responded: Whatta you got? The
music of Elvis and other rock bands caused the rebellion; all the teens needed was a
cause (Manning 32-34). The Vietnam War began as President Kennedy's effort to protect the
free world from Communism. Kennedy, a well-liked president, received little war
opposition from the people. He was young and supported free-spiritedness,
open-mindedness, and equality; at his assassination in 1963 only 15,000 troops were in
Vietnam. Under Lyndon Johnson the number of soldiers skyrocketed, however, reaching
500,000 in 1966. Television broadcasts from overseas became more gruesome and the deaths
more tragic. The nightly news counted the dead and described compiling destruction, and
many political and literary figures began to speak out publicly against keeping US troops
in Vietnam (Harding 56-9). Though Johnson continually promised a swift end to the war,
the Tet Offensive of 1968 finally proved otherwise. A surprise attack on American
soldiers caused a significant loss of land and life; the Communists were apparently
nowhere near defeat (Buchholz 861)! Shiploads of American boys came too and from Vietnam,
only too many of those returning home were riding in a coffin. 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). Disgusted by conformity, culture, and politics, some hippies abandoned society to
live in isolated communes; by 1970 over 200 communes existed, maintaining 40,000 youths.
However, many hippies also took a political stance against the war. The Vietnam War
conflicted directly with the hippie belief in peace and love, so the counterculture
protested the war throughout the nation. The flower children held love-ins to celebrate
their rights, spoke out publicly, formed protest groups with the slogan: Hell no, we
won't go!, burned flags, and tore up draft slips (858). To avoid the Vietnam draft, some
pacifists took extraordinary measures. Many claimed insanity, lied about homosexuality,
pretended to be physically unfit, or fled to Canada (19). Yet far too many peace-loving
hippies were sent to jail for refusing the draft call, maintaining their principles and
integrity (Gottlieb 55). Faced with family dejection, exile, arrest, and imprisonment,
they nevertheless continued to stay firm to the opposition to that war (Tollefson 4).
While the government drafted their brothers, the remaining hippies protest the war at
home. Considering most hippies were under thirty, the greatest concentration of them was
in colleges throughout America. Protests began in Columbia University and Berkley
University, California. A demonstration against Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia led
to violence at Kent State University; the National Guard killed four students. Finally,
the University of Virginia, founded by America's forefather of freedom Thomas Jefferson,
was raided by two hundred baton-waving policemen who arrested sixty-eight students
(Thompson 66-8). The greatest expression of the hippie belief, whether pro-peace or
pro-pot, was their music. Rock and roll was their voice. Led by Bob Dylan, the Grateful
Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and the Beatles, rock and folk music overtook the airwaves.
(Manning 102) Bob Dylan used the lyrics of folk music to convey a social commentary and
protest. In a civil rights march in 1963, he sang the following lyrics: How many years
can some people exist Before their allowed to be free? The answer, my friend, is blowin'
in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind (102) Folk artists did not sing simply to
sound pleasant, but more importantly to convey a message. Most song lyrics addressed the
wart or the civil rights movement, and the crowd would sing along in a chorus. Existing
in harmony with folk music was rock, which adopted a style known as psychedelia, or mind
expansion. Rock's lyrics were less important, with the overall sound dominating as an
expression of the soul. And with many band members high on marijuana or LSD, hardcore
acid rock became a means of escaping the world-for both the band and the audience
(102-103). The ultimate orgy of rock and folk music occurred at Woodstock in August of
1969. Located in New York State, Woodstock the concert was a three-day long event in
which 400,000 people got high, had sex, and listened to some very beautiful and
psychedelic music. The roster included some of the most famous rock bands on earth, as
well talented amateurs looking for a start. An attendee described it as: Three days of
love, peace, and rock! (Thompson 89). The concert epitomized the music and, indirectly,
the hippie lifestyle of the sixties, and paved the way for the more diverse, drugged-up
musical style of the early seventies. Illicit drugs were a prominent influence on hippie
lifestyle and culture. By the mid-sixties, LSD and marijuana had overtaken America
overnight. These hallucinogens were a social activity at least experimented with by
virtually every groovy teenager in America. Numerous books were written both condemning
and justifying the new drug phenomena. Drug proponents referred to Native Americans
religious ceremony, spiritual and medical references in ancient texts, and Aldous
Huxley's book The Doors of Perception to defend their drug use. Eventually more toxic
drugs such as cocaine, heroin, barbiturates, and amphetamines followed, used for
recreation and often leading to fatal consequences. Drugs became incorporated into the
music industry as well; most musical artists used narcotics, often writing and performing
songs while high (Harding 29, 31). The hippies' social status as nonconformist, doped-up
outcasts was paralleled by their fashion and lifestyle. Devout hippies lived modestly in
communes and were strict vegetarians, respecting not only human but also animal rights.
Modest living also applied to clothing. Hippies in the sixties did not consider fashion
important enough to spend much time on, and on the contrary tried to look bad according
to society's standards. Women dressed like peasants and wore psychedelic colors; makeup
and perfume were almost sinful, and clothing was loose, comfortable, and unique (Michaels
328). Bright, swirling patterns for both sexes paralleled the acid rock style of their
music. Both men and women grew long, unkempt hair and the men often grew beards as well.
To outsiders, the hippies seemed dirty, drugged, and disrespectful to their elders; it
was exactly what they wanted (329). The hippie philosophy preached peace and toleration.
Thus, they were supportive of all civil rights movements, supporting females, blacks,
homosexuals, and foreigners on attaining rights and equal treatment. Hippie women wanted
to be free. To relieve themselves of society's burdens, many stopped shaving their arm
and leg hairs. Further women's liberation came with the invention of the birth control
pill in 1960 and its perfection in 1963; women were finally sexually free. Female
philosophy changed overnight; instead of waiting till marriage for intercourse, many
women now making love to the first guy she saw. Dating virtually vanished; hippies had
sex first and got to know each other afterwards. With increased sexual freedom and the
lack of widespread sexually transmitted diseases, promiscuous sex flourished during the
1960s (Thompson 44). Having gained sexual freedom, women were now fighting for rights
outside the bedroom. Betty Friedan forms The National Organization for Women (NOW) in
1966 to gain women the same rights as men. Courses in women studies were instated at
universities, men realized (as part of the hippie movement) that women should be treated
more fairly, and efforts were made, unsuccessfully, to add an amendment to the
Constitution to guarantee women's equality. Though mainstream women also participated in
these protests, both hippie men and women took an active role in ensuring equality for
all (Buchholz 851-3). Another significant group, the black community, sought after its
civil rights during the 1960s. Numerous protests, both peaceful and violent, were held by
black Americans to end centuries of discrimination, branded upon them since their
ancestors arrived four hundred years earlier. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
eloquently led the black protests, and most hippies enthusiastically participating in
peaceful demonstrations for black civil rights (854-7). The Age of the Hippies,
fortunately or unfortunately, did not last forever. In the early 1970s, somewhere between
'70 and '74, the entire movement died almost as abruptly as it had begun. To many the
entire hippie movement was just a fad that was no longer in. The Vietnam War, the main
force driving the social revolution, was concluding; an anti-war march on Washington and
San Francisco in 1971, accumulating over one million participants collectively, finally
persuaded the government to end the bloodshed. A protest sign read: The Majority is Not
Silent. The Government is Deaf (Manning, 177-9). Yet there were other factors. The
hippies were getting too old to be hippies; almost all of the counterculture started with
participants under thirty, yet those who began the movement had been in involved for ten
years. These were the baby boomers, and the next generation was no nearly as large to
form its own youth society. Furthermore, the music had gotten drugged-out; the performers
were so stoned that their songs quickly became meaningless garble with no message. And
what message was there to preach without the War? Drugs had destroyed the lives of many,
and after realizing the negative effects many hippies no longer admired drugs, but feared
them. Worst of all, little had been accomplished-dreams of world peace had failed. The
Hippie Revolution lasted ten years with participation around the world, from the USSR to
Great Britain. Yet they accomplished so little. The teens were tired of waiting (Thompson
99-107). Women shaved their legs and piled on makeup. Men traded in their long hair and
love beads for a business suit. There were those who remained hippies and moved to
isolated communes, but they were relatively few. Life essentially returned to the days
before the Hippie Revolution. In actuality, only a minority of the youth of the sixties
actually entered the counterculture, but those who did left a lasting impression upon
society, and most of all themselves (108). The hippie movement of the mid- and
late-nineteen sixties and the early nineteen seventies attempted to create a global
society founded upon love and peace. Through nonviolent protests the hippies helped end
the Vietnam War, gain black, women's, minority, and homosexual civil rights, and spread
friendship and harmony around the globe. Not in vain, the era lives on through their
music, their peace sign, and their memories; Woodstock was even recreated in 1994. The
hippie influence is even prevalent in America's society of 1998, which still possesses a
youthful counterculture of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. 
Bibliography
Works Cited Buchholz, Ted, ed. The National Experience: A History of the United States.
New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers: 1993 Gottlieb, Sherry Gershon.
Hell No, We Won't Go! New York, Viking: 1991. Harding, Ryan. The 1960s: Politics and Pot.
New York, Anchor Book: 1992. Manning, Robert. The Vietnam Experience: A Nation Divided.
Boston, Boston Publishing Company: 1984. Michaels, Lisa. Making a fashion statement.
Glamour Magazine (May 1998). Thompson, Phoebe. The Flower Childern. New York, Prentice
Hall: 1989 Tollefson, James W. The Strength Not to Fight. Boston, Little, Brown and
Company: 1993