hippies in the 60's verus today

Hey everyone! I’m Sara and I’m currently taking a class called Youth Cultures. We have been discussing different subcultures throughout the semester such as punk, hip hop, hippies, etc. Throughout the semester we’ve been assigned papers and asked to choose one subculture for our 3 papers. I have chosen the hippie subculture. My final paper is on fieldwork in the subculture, interviewing people who were part of the culture in the 60’s or people who still follow the ways of life today. However it is hard to do so in a short amount of time. So I’ve come to you guys. I’d really like to know from everyone who is from the 60’s and 70’s, what was it like growing up then? What were key factors that lead you to becoming part of the hippie culture? And do you still live like a hippie back in the 60’s or have times changed? I hope to get a good discussion going. Feel free to talk about the music, drugs, and sex during that time, for these are main topics I talk about in my papers. You’re welcome to ask me questions as well.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate it.

 

It's good that you're trying to learn about this, but if you focus solely on music, drugs, and sex, then you're missing the main point of the counter-culture movement, at least in the beginning. It was a political and societal movement. It wasn't about drugs and sex. That stuff came later.

 

yes I do talk about the war and what got the culture started.
I guess my questions should be this:
What was it like being a hippie in the 60's/70/s compared to being a hippie today? Our world has advanced so much around us since then, was it hard to not want to conform to the mainstream? And what do you do/believe today that you have kept with you since the 60's?

For my paper i'm really just trying to see what it was like back then and how it's affected you today.
Thanks everyone!

 

I think Time-Life has one or more documentaries covering the era to check out. This has been discussed over the years here and the lack of response is not because no one cares---it's that there's really a LOT to cover and it would take a long, long time to lay it all out. Again. The work's all been done--you just have to find it and the net is a good place to look. Good luck.

 

Have come back to add--there are millions of stories/viewpoints about going through the 60s-70s, from as many directions, depending on the individuals relating them.

 

That's a big question:

What was it like?

There were new cloth styles being introduced
There was all kinds of new music
The pill was invented, changing sexual activity
There was a war in Viet Nam
Kids were drafted and were dying in a place nobody new a thing about.
Recreational Drug use became a social norm
Society started to question/work for rights for (blacks-women-gays among others)
Folks openly questioned gov't, parents, big business.

Geez-when I look back over my 60 years, it seems like little has changed.

 

hehe, I love it when we get studied xD

Kinda fun haha

But yeah erm, I'm only 28 so I can't help you too much, but I got into it all after listening to this CD at 21 and realizing it was something I could really relate to:



I lit incense and just chilled out in my room to the whole thing. It was like a blast from the past before my time and it was wonderful.

Before then I was a conspiracy theorist, free software enthusiast (Linux and so on), into artistic music, etc.

I actually would recommend that if you want a bit of fun you could pick up a copy of the same CD or get hold of it online and try what I did! Incense and just play it through! There are probably other good Woodstock collections but I can say for a fact that I really enjoyed that one. Playing it at a reasonable volume through good speakers in low light in my room with just the incense and maybe a candle or two just almost made me feel like I was there!

It was lovely ^_^

 

Light a candle and listen to this and you'll see your whole future:

http://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD87DAC3714354A25

C/S,
Rev J

 

Those were helpful, thanks! and that cd, i would actually be interested in listening too so thanks for telling me! I have to do a presentation as well so maybe I'll play a clip from there.

^^^I love The Who!! thanks guys!

 

No problem, glad my post helped ^_^

 

It's funny how everybody wants to remember the late sixties hippie movement mostly in terms of participation by folks who were in the age range of 18-21 at that time. In reality, people over a much wider range (especially younger) were greatly influenced and/or directly participated to one degree or another, all the way through the seventies.

I was a little kid during this time, and most of my peers thought the whole thing was very cool. Nearly all of us at school were wearing the hippie clothes and symbols, and the guys grew their hair out, even though it pissed off most of our parents and all the older teachers. We couldn't participate in the more serious parts of the movement, at least until we turned 16.

I had several young teachers who had been hippies in college just a year or two before I met them. I picked up from them the basic important concepts, such as nonviolence in all situations, and the importance of never blindly following the old ways of thinking just because they were traditional, or promoted by organized Western religion. In other words, QUESTION EVERYTHING.

In terms of those basics, my thinking hasn't changed at all. A lot of it has gone mainstream, as sexism, racism, and homophobia have become unpopular, premarital sex has become standard, and recreational drug use (especially weed) is more common and accepted than ever before. We still have work to do in the areas of social justice and putting the military on a shorter leash. I still think those two goals are as important as ever.

 

This subject has been hit on a thousand times- - ,,I hate to say it> but you kinda hadda be there- Im sure a few folks with more energy & a better memory than me at this moment,,can help ya out
Go back thru old threads and you,ll get the idea- -
muchloveeace:
jack

 

What was it like growing up then?
It was a time when Black and White turned into Colour.
The explosion and expansion of Creative imagination
What were key factors that lead you to becoming part of the hippie culture?
The waves of emotions - of Love (one another), of War (the fight for justice) the kids were united,
The winds were changing - Brave role models / heroes, Ali. Mandela, - Kennedy/s and King paying the ultimate price
And do you still live like a hippie back in the 60’s or have times changed?
I do my best - Long hair, bare feet, though working for the man - still questioning everything, embracing the principles fo free speech within a forum of tolerance, although still marching with conscience. Thjough it has cost me promotion, friends and; to some, reputation precedes - ah well - I can live with that
BTW - music, drugs, and sex ( = Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll?) Nice that it is sounds - it was not as it's portrayed in films and rose-coloured spectacles
(And there's more!! - and one could go on, - PM is probably better than clog a discussion forum)

 

i think the 60s started a counterculture hippie wave that continues today and cannot be stopped and will go on forever and is expressed in different ways by different generations, but still carries the same vibes of love peace and freedom.

 

Unfortunately, nobody seems to ever bump the old ones, and this is something we need to talk about now and then. Great memories for some of us, and an important topic that should never be forgotten. :cheers2:

 

By the way that was a reference to Almost Famous.

C/S,
Rev J

 

Those last few posts were very helpful! The main question i've been focusing on is whether people of the culture have stayed true to the beliefs or if they have conformed to be like the rest of society.
thanks everyone

 

I respectfully disagree. For as long as there has been civilization there has been a type of Bohemian Counterculture. The hippies didn't start it they simply continued it. And it will always continue even if it has a different label.

C/S,
Rev J

 

I have the documentary version of this cd, it's like 5 hours long and it's pretty damn groovy man. That movie wasn't the thing that first got me into the counterculture but it definently cemented my following.

 

And where might this have been, in the American South between 1900 and 1964? I can't find a trace of evidence, outside the city of New Orleans.