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Hippie

Hippies (singular hippie or sometimes hippy) were members of the 1960s counterculture movement who adopted a communal or nomadic lifestyle, renounced corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Native American religious culture, and were otherwise at odds with traditional middle class Western values. They saw paternalistic government, corporate industry, and traditional social mores as part of a unified establishment that had no authentic legitimacy.

Contents

Origins

The term derived from hipster which referred to white people in the US who were 'hip' or became involved with black culture, e.g. Harry "The Hipster" Gibson. September 6, 1965, marked the first San Francisco newspaper story, by Michael Fellon, that used the word 'hippie' to refer to the younger bohemians (as opposed to the older Beat Generation). The name did not catch on with the establishment press until almost two years later.

The hippie movement was at its height in the late 1960s. The July 7, 1967 issue of TIME magazine had for its cover story: 'The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture.'

The touristic influx that accompanied the highly-publicized San Francisco Summer of Love did nothing to intensify counterculture. In fact, by the time Hippiedom became commercialized, mid-late 1967, being a hippie had lost its real purpose. The people responsible for the Summer of Love held a "Funeral for Hippie" at the end of the summer. The last publication of the Diggers was the anthology of street news, manifestoes and articles titled The Digger Papers, that came out in August 1968. Co-published as an edition of The Realist , the Diggers distributed 40,000 free copies.

Legacy

By 1970, much of hippie style had passed into mainstream culture, but little of its substance. The mainstream press lost interest in the hippie subculture as such, though many hippies made and have since continued to maintain a long-term commitment to it. Because the hippies have tended to avoid publicity since the Summer of Love/Woodstock era, a popular myth has arisen that they no longer exist. In fact, they may still be found in Bohemian (or merely openminded) enclaves throughout the world, as wanderers following the bands they love, or elsewhere in the interstices of the global economy. Many have been rendezvousing annually at Rainbow Gathering s since the early 1970s to celebrate and pray for peace. Even today, many still gather at meetings and festivals to celebrate life and love, such as the Peace Fest http://www.PeaceFest2005.tk .

Distinguishing marks

As a group, hippies tend to have longer hair and more/fuller beards than has been generally fashionable. Both male and female African-Americans (and a few Caucasians also possessing "nappy" hair) associated with the 1960s counterculture (and the parallel civil rights movement) wore their hair in "afros." Dreadlocks are another type of hairstyle that has been worn, although almost exclusively among "neo-hippies" (see below). Some people not associated with the counterculture find such long hair offensive, because of the iconoclastic attitude it bespeaks; because they see it as unhygienic, frivolous, or feminine; or simply because it violates traditional cultural expectations. When Hair moved from off-Broadway to a large Broadway theater in 1968, the hippie counterculture was already diversifying and fleeing traditional urban settings.

Other traits associated with hippies include:

Drugs

In hindsight, people may recall that hippies did not smoke cigarettes made of tobacco, and that they considered tobacco dangerous, but a look through photographs made at the time shows that cigarettes were very much in evidence.

Often, the term "hippie" is loosely used with the pejorative connotation of participation in recreational drug use (at least to the extent of using marijuana) and choosing not to think or care much about work, responsibility, the larger society, or personal hygiene.

Politics

Though they were a genuine counterculture movement, the early hippies were not particularly tolerant of Censored page. They were also prone to what some people would now deem highly unacceptable Censored page. This changed rapidly as hippie culture embraced feminism and egalitarian principles.

The term is also associated with participation in peace movements, including peace marches such as the USA marches on Washington and civil rights marches, and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations including the 1968 Democratic Convention. The Yippies represented a highly politically active sub-group.

Hippie political expression often took the form of dropping out of society to implement the changes they sought. The back to the land movement, cooperative business enterprises, alternative energy, free press movement, and organic farming were all political in nature at their start.

Philosophically, hippie thought drew upon the earlier Beat Generation.

Neo-Hippies

Neo-hippie is a name given to modern hippies, who, while retaining some aspects of the '60s hippie movement, have changed in some areas, for example by embracing punk values of anarchism, anti-establishmentarianism, feminism and acceptance of homosexuality. Dreadlocks, especially with beads sewn into them, are popular among neo-hippies.

See also


Last updated: 02-02-2005 10:30:05
Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01