Anthro Essay on the Hippies

Tasmiyah Chowdhury
BHSEC II- Anthropological Encounters
05/10/13
The Hippies
1960-1969 was more than just a decade; it was a state of mind. In the United States of America “the Sixties”, is a term used to describe the counter culture and social revolutions which occurred during the end of the decade. During this time period, a subculture youth movement called the Hippies emerged. The hippies’ opposed the middle-class value/ideal, higher education, and the Vietnam War. They embraced sexual liberation, music, peace, love, and advocated the use of psychedelic drugs which they believed made one freer, compassionate and intellectual. They used music and drugs as a way of expressing their feelings. The hippies were against the social and political norms of the Western society and favored the peaceful, love and freedom philosophy. Some of the books that we have read in class we see that sometimes the others described in the beginning turn out not to be the other; the positions switch and/or everyone but the elite/higher authority is an “other”. Since the hippies rejected the conformist values of Cold War America, they formed their own subculture and obtained their own philosophy which was the opposite of America’s social norms. The so called Westerners look down upon the hippies, and this put the hippies in the position of being labeled the other. But at times according to Perry one who may seem like the other in the beginning may not necessarily be the other, as the other is just made to make the rest of that specific society feel better about themselves.
The hippies did not emerge for any particular reason, in fact they emerged due to many events which were taking place that were against their moral beliefs. During this time period the Vietnam War was taking place and Americans were fearful of what was going on in the war. This fear is due to America receiving a communist threat on a daily basis. This was a trigger in the formation of the hippies because they believed in nonviolence, and did not trust the government after thousands of young American soldiers was drafted to South Vietnam for a useless reason which the public found out later on. “…the television screen had taught the young the power of a symbol, the importance of pictures without words, and the significance of a few words of truth, well chosen” (H.Perry). The hippies opposed the government; they did not trust them and wanted to overthrow the government as well as the middle-class complex which was made by the government. Haight Ashbury was a neighborhood in San Francisco, California where the hippie counterculture first developed since California was accepting more of new ideas, thoughts and people who go against the norms.
“In a 25-square block area of San Francisco, in the summer of 1967, an ecstatic, Dionysian mini-world sprang up like a mushroom dividing American culture into a before and after unparalleled since World War II. If you were between 15and 30 that year, it was almost impossible to resist the lure of that transcendent, peer-driven season of glamour, ecstasy, and Utopianism… The Summer of Love also thrust a new kind of music—acid rock—across the airwaves, nearly put barbers out of business, traded clothes for costumes, turned psychedelic drugs into sacred door keys, and revived the outdoor gatherings of the Messianic Age, making everyone an acolyte and a priest. It turned sex with strangers into a mode of generosity; made “uptight” an epithet on a par with “racist,” refashioned the notion of earnest Peace Corps idealism into a bacchanalian rhapsody, and set that favorite American adjective, “free,” on a fresh altar” (Suddenly that Summer).
Since there were thousands of people in that one district the police came and the hippies put flowers in the police’s barrels and guns as a way of showing that they want everyone to be united and peaceful. These actions and this specific counter culture does not have much of a correlation to any of the anthropological texts that we have read about the culture contact, probably because there is no colonizing or harm done in these situations. But in this specific culture contact there is a question of identity; some people began to question their ideals and if they were a part of society (Westerners) or the hippies (the “others”).
Drugs and Music played a big role in the hippie 's culture as this allowed them to freely express themselves. Music and drugs served as an escape to the hippies in which they could break apart from the social norms of the American society of the 60 's. In my opinion the music they listened to and produced , and also the drugs which they took are not morally bad in its intention , they are just used to help people be at peace and be happier and escape from a problem, in an odd way they could be therapeutic. The hippie 's main motive was not to resist reality but to join together and try to make some changes in the way society functioned. Music changed radically by the hippies; the themes, lyrics and genre of the music in that century took a turn. We always listen to music to escape from the world around us, so that we could be content in our own bubble and emerge our own thoughts and ideas, and this helps us be in a peaceful state of mind. The music during this time period had a deep meaning in it; a popular example could be The Beatles ' song "All You Need is Love". For the hippies their music incorporated lyrics with themes of anti-war, freedom and peace. In a way we can relate the significance of music in a work of fiction called The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. In Russell’s novel, it was later shown to us that the beautiful music the protagonist of the story Sandoz heard on the radio transmitter was actually ballad pornography, where the musician expressed his sexual exploits. In both of these examples music played a major role as it helped the people express their emotions, whether it be about someone’s sexual exploits or about peace, freedom and anti-war. The society liked to label the hippies as the outcast/”other” so that they themselves could feel better when in reality society was also a part of the others as they were under the governments rule and blinded by the government as the government only has power. Unlike the majority of the society, hippies wanted a change and they were not afraid to express how they felt about a particular situation or event. The society was all bound by the social norms and feel as if they are obligated to follow all of the rules otherwise they will be shunned or be considered as the “other”. But who made this middle-class complex? The government did, and they control us, we may have freedom but it is very limited and has a boundary line to it; the government’s rules are very contradictory due to the fact that they offer freedom with a set of rules. Whatever the media says the society believes, even if society knows it may not be true. But somehow the people get sucked into this contradicting policy of the government since the government controls what the media is allowed to say and what to keep to themselves. During this time period the Vietnam War was a major issue and when the citizens of America found out that the media was not reporting the truth, and then some of the citizens created a subculture known as the hippies. “From the perspective of the interest group model we have employed here, it seems that most of us who are not members of the small political and economic elite do, indeed share some of the interests of these populations”(R.Perry). So the people are all sucked into this vortex controlled by the government in which all of society including the hippies becomes the other. But the government puts an ideology into the people of the society’s brain that anyone who goes against the social norms is an outcast otherwise known as the “other”. From the Vietnam War since America had no personal problem against Vietnam, America going into war meant that only the government will benefit from this not the people, most people will incur losses as their brothers, sons, fathers or even friends died or became emotionally wretched from the war. An example of men becoming emotionally damaged could be the frontline: The Dark Side, video which we watched in class, where after a week or so a happy man who was sending videos to his girlfriend became violent in the home videos. This culture contact resulted more peacefully, as there was no violence. Though the hippies were labeled as the outcast/the “other”, this label slowly vanished. The new generation’s youth during the 60’s did not feel as if the values and ideologies which they have learned all their life and would have to follow the rest of their life were right. They wanted a new philosophy to live by and they especially believed in non-violence which the government did not follow since thousands of American soldiers were at war in Vietnam. What I learned through this specific culture contact is that sometimes conflict is not the result of a counterculture, and if you want to get your point of view or ideology across society you will be labeled as the “other” but that label will eventually in the long run be removed from you.

Works Cited
Suddenly that Summer by Sheila Weller…Vanity Fair,2012 http://faculty.atu.edu/cbrucker/Amst2003/Texts/Hippie.pdf The Human Be-In by Helen Swick Perry
The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
From Time Immemorial by Richard J.Perry

Cited: Suddenly that Summer by Sheila Weller…Vanity Fair,2012 http://faculty.atu.edu/cbrucker/Amst2003/Texts/Hippie.pdf The Human Be-In by Helen Swick Perry The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell From Time Immemorial by Richard J.Perry