Abstract
The hippie movement was a youth subculture that was witnessed initially in the United State and this was during the mid-1960s. This movement would then spread all over the world. It is important to note that the term hippie is derived from the word hipster and this word was used to refer to people who created their own communities and also listened to the psychedelic rock. This kind of people also was involved in sexual revolution and was using some hard drugs in their bid to explore other forms of consciousness. This paper will look at the hippie movement ranging from its history to the modern day hippie subculture.
Background
At the beginning of the year 1967, there was a festival known as the Summer of Love in San Francisco at the Human Be-In located at the Golden Gate Park. This festival was deemed to popularize the hippie culture on the West Coast of the United States of America. Another festival would follow in 1969 which is known as the Woodstock Festival which was also deemed to popularize the Hippie culture on the East Coast of United States of America.
Outside the United States there were other festivals which were also organized and promoted hippie subculture. One of the notables was the formation of the La Onda Chicana by the hippies of Mexico at a festival held at Avandaro. Nomadic house truckers in New Zealand started practicing other types of lifestyles and they also promoted the use of sustainable energy and this was at a festival held in Nambasa (MacFarlane, 2007).
In other countries, hippie movement was noted and one of these countries was the United Kingdom whereby New Age Travelers were engaged in mobile peace convoys where they made pilgrimages during the summer for free music shows which were held in Stonehenge. In Australia, the movement was marked by the hippies gathering in the Aquarius festival held at Nimbin in the year 1973 and were advocating for the Cannabis law Reform Rally which was held every year. In Chile, there was the Festival Piedra Roja which was precipitated by the success of the Woodstock festival. This marked the most major hippie festival in the country (Partridge, 1973).
The hippie movement had adverse effects on the fashions and values of the culture and this was noted in such things as the popular music, film, television, arts and literature. Since its inception in the 1960s the main stream culture has incorporated many of the hippie subculture elements in the main stream culture.
The cultural diversity of the subculture and the religious aspect of the subculture have been accepted by many societies and their Eastern philosophy and their spiritual concepts have also had a wide range of followers and audience. The hippie movement can be determined in the current culture in myriad forms which include such things as the eating of healthy food, engaging in music festivities and the current sexual mores and it has of late even been advocated for in the cyberspace.
History of the Hippie Movement
An article in the Time Magazine in the year 1967 cited that the origin of the hippie movement can be dated back to counterculture witnessed in Ancient Greece and was championed by such philosophers as Diogenes of Sinope and also the cynics. The article further asserted that the hippie movement was hugely influenced by the philosophies of such people as Jesus Christ, Buddha, Henry David Thoreau, Hillel the Elder, St. Francis of Assisi, Gandhi and other (Staller, 2006).
From the year 1896 to the year 1908 during the finde siecle the youths from Germany started a movement that was popularly referred to as Der Wandervogel and this movement grew as a counter cultural reaction and it led to the social and cultural clubs that were organized. The movement would soon align itself with the German folk music. As a way of differentiating itself from the mainstream culture, the movement emphasized on amateur singing, communal outings, creative dressing, and camping and hiking.
This movement was influenced largely by Friedrich Nietzsche, Hermann Hesse and Goethe. People as Wandervogel and Eduard Baltzer were responsible for the attraction of many young people from Germany who were against the rising trend to be affiliated with urbanization and were willing to be pagans and also embraced the spiritual life of back to nature that was very popular to their ancestors (MacFarlane, 2007).
The first several decades of the 20th century, the belief of the movement were subsequently introduced in the United States as many Germans settled in the country. This was characterized by the fact that many Germans opened health food shops in the United States of America. It is important to note that many Germans moved to California and this can explain the fact that the first hippie movement was started in San Francisco. The Germans who moved to California started practicing other lifestyles that had the outlook of warm climate.
This led to the youths of California adapting these beliefs due to the influence of the immigrants. One notable group known as the Nature Boys went to the desert in California and started raising organic animals and also practiced the back to nature lifestyle. To this effect a member of the Nature Boys known as Eden Ahbez wrote a song titled Nature Boy which was produced in the year 1947 by Nat King Cole, and this was very instrumental in popularizing the back to nature movement which was homegrown into the mainstream society of America (Staller, 2006).
Some members of the Nature Boys traveled to the North California and they were in North California during the summer of love in the year 1967. These members included the Gypsy Boots and other members of the Nature Boys (Partridge, 1973).
Ethos and Characteristics of the Hippie Movement
The hippie movement is based on the fact that they seek to free themselves for the restrictions that have been set by the society. This means that the hippies opt to choose the ways that they consider their own and also pursuits to find new life meaning. This was characterized by the fact that they dressed and groomed in a way that they were immediately recognized by themselves and also this was noted to be the symbol of individual freedom and their respect of other people decision and rights. This appearance enhanced their view of life which sought to question the authority and also declare their disagreement with the social conformists and they also distanced themselves from the social conformists. They were against such terms as straight and square in the society (MacFarlane, 2007).
During the same time, the hippies also distanced themselves from the idea that the dressing code of a person could identify his or her signal and this was after criminals like Charles Manson adapted the hippie lifestyle and code of dressing. However, this was also precipitated by the fact that policemen started wearing hippie style in an attempt to harass the hippies who were considered to be legitimate members of the movement.
To this effect Frank Zappa told his audience that everybody wears uniform and Wavy Gravy a clown and also a member of the hippie movement asserted that he could feel the corporate man who wore his suit just to survive (Staller, 2006).
Just like the beat movement that preceded the hippie movement and the punk movement that followed the hippie movement, the symbols of the movement were greatly borrowed from low and primitive cultures. The hippie fashion had the outlook of vagrant and disorderly style. Similarly to other movements of the youths from white middle class movement, the hippie movement was also deviant and they were the challenging of the gender differences and this can be noted by the fact that the hippies both male and female wore jeans and had long hair. It is also important to note that the hippies also wore sandals or walked barefooted. The men of the movement wore beards while the woman did not wear any make up and they also went without bras (Partridge, 1973).
The hippies also chose to wear brightly colored clothes and they also adopted strange dressing codes most notable the bellbottom trousers, tie-dyed garments, vests, dashikis and peasant blouses. There was also the wearing of full skirts which were long. In general terms, the hippies wore clothes that did reflect the inspiration of the western culture and instead chose to wear clothes that were inspired by other cultures like Asia, African, Latin American, Indian, and Native American among other cultures and these motifs were very common with the hippies (Staller, 2006).
What the hippies were against is the influence of the corporate world in their dressing style and to this effect the hippies mostly purchased their dressings from such markets as the flea markets and second hand shops. The most popular accessories for both sexes were jewelry from the Native Americans, headbands and head scarves and also the necklaces with long beads. Psychedelic art was very popular with the hippies and this is why they chose to decorate their cars, homes and other possession using this art (MacFarlane, 2007).
Legacy of the Hippie Movement
The western society is even today being permeated by the hippie movement. In general terms, many unmarried couples of the western society are free to live and travel together and the society does not disapprove of this in the modern world. The hippie movement also revolutionalized sexual matters and today there are free expressions of people of different sexual orientations including bisexual, homosexuals and transsexual people.
The religion and the culture in general have diversified and this has been accepted by the society. There is also the increased acceptance of cooperative business arrangements as well as the people living in a community outlook. The small scale health food shops are now fully developed and offer employment to the society and this can be attributed to the fact that the hippie movement popularized the need for health foods. Some experts have also asserted that the rise of the internet can be attributed to the hippie movement because the movement was promoted the culture of anti-authoritarian (Staller, 2006).
References
MacFarlane, Scott (2007), The Hippie Narrative: A Literary Perspective on the Counterculture, McFarland & Company, Inc.
Partridge, William L. (1973), The Hippie Ghetto: The Natural History of a Subculture, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Staller, Karen M. (2006), Runaways: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped Today’s Practices and Policies, Columbia University Press.