The hippie movement: values, main principles, history of origin

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

In the 60s. of the last century, a simply “stunning” cultural movement appeared, which attracted millions of people who sympathize with the suffering planet - the hippie youth movement. This subculture could not pass without a trace, and, undoubtedly, forever remained in the memory of mankind. Later in the article you will learn the history of the hippie movement and other nuances that accompany these events.

Hippies arrive

The first wave of the hippie movement in the US came between 1964 and 1972 when America was fighting the Vietnam War. This was the first war in the history of the country, which disgusted the Americans themselves. This alignment of affairs led to the spread of pacifist sentiments, which served as the beginning of the hippie movement. The subculture included young people who were distinguished by strong personal convictions about the injustice of social rules. We alth and satiety, the lack of spirituality of philistine life, petty-bourgeois boredom - all this became the reason that a movement was born among the rebellious youthhippie.

The first use of the word "hippie" is dated April 22, 1964. It was the text of a broadcast from one of the New York TV channels. This word was used to describe a group of young people with long hair in T-shirts and jeans who protested against the Vietnam War. At that time, a slang expression was considered popular among young people, which meant the Russian “to be in the subject, to cut the chip” - to be hip.

Television crews used the word hippie in a pejorative way, alluding to the claims of sloppily dressed suburban demonstrators to be hips.

It can be said that since the mid-60s, the time has come for the birth of the hippie movement.

Hippies are flower children

The main slogan of the subculture was pacifism. The values of the hippie movement included the following: peacefulness and non-violence, protest against military action, refusal of military service. Initially, pacifism was aimed at fighting the war in Vietnam, only later moved into all spheres of human life.

For hippies, a protest against the "rules" imposed by "people in ties", against the orderliness and gray boredom of everyday life, a departure from the formal institutions of society is characteristic. Reminds me of a kind of peaceful anarchy.

Supporters of the hippie movement refused to be part of the established system and created their own alternative system that would not be based on social hierarchy.

Representatives of this subculture tend to be apolitical. The general desire of supporters is aimed atchanging the world through creativity, not military coups. In their opinion, the revolution should take place, first of all, in the mind, and not in society.

Instead of material values, the hippie movement promoted spiritual ones, instead of building a career, self-improvement and creativity.

Main "postulates"

The hippie movement welcomed naturalness in everything. The call to return to the origins of humanity seemed to tell people that civilization had reached a dead end, and the only salvation for people would be to remember their roots, to merge with nature together.

The symbol of the hippie movement - a flower - protests against hostilities and various inequalities, in addition to this, personified youth and naturalness.

To the forefront of the subculture has become the beauty of the world, the joy, the abundance of sensuality. However, there were also negative consequences: excessive promiscuity of views led the younger generation to drunkenness, drug addiction and promiscuity. The "sexual revolution" is said by some to be the brainchild of this subculture.

"Children of the Flowers" denies timelines. Calendar, clock - elements of civilization alien to them, imposing their own order on the real "living" world.

As the well-known journalist of that era, Hunter Thompson, once wrote, there was a feeling that everything around was striving for good, that the internal energy of good-natured guys from the hippie movement was able to stop the atrocities that surrounded them everywhere.

Distinctivehippie features

Girls and boys from this movement called their long hair “haier” and were fond of rock and roll, meditation, hitchhiking, oriental mysticism, lived mainly in communes and loved to weave flowers into their locks - a symbol of peace. It is this lifestyle that characterizes the “flower children.”

Representatives of the subculture refuse any things, conditions that the world of "non-freedom" offers them, namely: employment, social dogmas and morality, rules and structures. After all, freedom and independence is the main criterion for a quality life for real hippies. The hippie movement in the USSR was on a smaller scale and with difficulty broke through the hardened views of the Soviet people. Hippies were considered homeless and worthless members of society.

As mentioned earlier, flower children live in communities that allow like-minded people to come together and share ideas, as well as provide ample space for creative activity. Many communes had strict codes against smoking, drinking, and drug use. In such "monasteries" the ideas of brotherhood and universal love were promoted.

The main rules of interaction with others were expressed as follows: "mind your own business", "do not fuss", "do not disturb others", "share with others".

In such a team, each person is complete and has the right to self-improvement, his own opinion and interests. It is a law for any hippie to honor the interests of another as his own, to consider his property as the property of the whole collective, to share everything that he hasyes.

Lifestyle

According to hippies, the spiritual unity of people is created as a result of a common truth revealed to each member of the collective, which sooner or later is achieved on the path of anyone who seeks it.

The life of the “flower children” is rather unpretentious: they consider the temporary lack of shelter and food as a common nuisance that is not worth attention. Such people live by “lucky chance.”

There is another rather interesting concept in the hippie environment, like "just existence".

This expression refers to the time when a person does nothing, that is, contemplates the world, enjoys the sunlight with his eyes closed, and is simply in careless solitude.

Hangouts

Gatherings of hippies are called happenings. Such events take place in some hot spot where hippies can gather in large numbers to listen to music, dance or talk together. A distinctive feature of parties or so-called sessions is the simultaneous actions of various people, creating an atmosphere of relaxed chaos.

This confusion is clearly visible during the dances - crowds of supporters of the movement enter and leave the premises, dance in colorful or simple costumes with or without musical accompaniment, in pairs or alone, often not in time with the music, to loud conversations, everything in your own way. Half of the people don't dance at all, but just sit on the floor near the stage. With a squealchildren run past them. This is the kind of meeting called a happening.

Hippie look

This part of life is also important in the life of any hippie. Various jewelry, long hair, worn jeans - all these are the identification marks of this subculture. Hippies would rather spend on another bauble than on food.

Searching for ideals, the representatives of the movement turned to the East. This culture has significantly influenced the appearance of hippies. Since then, their clothes have been full of ethnic motifs: multi-colored kaftans, Afghan robes, beads with several rows of threads, home-made things made from scraps of fabric.

Unloved by society, blue jeans were decorated with fringes, pictures, leather and beads. "Hipparies" preferred to walk with bare feet and headbands for long flowing hair. According to legend, the bandages served as a kind of amulet against the "roof-breaker".

Hippie fashion borrowed many aspects of the "gypsy style": colorful skirts, dresses with exquisitely embroidered corsages, coin-shaped jewelry. Fresh flowers and natural materials were also considered quite popular.

"Xivnik" - a small chest bag for documents - is still found among the accessories of youth wardrobe, although its purpose has changed a long time ago.

Macrame thread braids in the form of “baubles” were considered quite popular. They had their own symbolism: the wish for a good hitchhiking could be conveyed with a bracelet in black anda yellow stripe, a declaration of love was expressed in the gift of a red-yellow accessory.

Drugs

An important part of the life of hippies is the use of narcotic substances, through the use of which they confirm their renunciation of the life principles of the inhabitants, and also achieve "expansion of consciousness".

Many supporters of the movement believe that drugs help to gain spiritual liberation, open up a huge field for creative activity. But this is just one of the points of view. Other hippies may tolerate drug use but don't see it as sublime. In certain communes of a "monastic" nature, the use and distribution of drugs were prohibited.

Music

Like any subculture, hippies are distinguished by their characteristic music. A revolutionary discovery - rock and roll shocked not only the "inhabitants", but also the adherents of the subculture in question.

In 1967, hippie hymns (unofficial) were released: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie, and the famous Beatles song called All You Need Is Love.

The hippies were also the trigger for the invention of psychedelic rock. Among the pioneers of the psychedelic culture of that time are the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and others.

This kind of music is like drugs - it helps to expand consciousness. The psychedelic sound is achieved through the use of live instruments and the constantly changing intonation of the solo voice. They say,that such an effect is achieved through the use of a spectrum of forbidden frequencies, which allegedly affect the human brain.

It's time for beautiful days…

Hippies, like most subcultures, have their pros and cons.

Don't idealize this movement or, conversely, reduce everything to psychedelia and drug addiction. One can only hope that the modern generation of hippies will inherit peacefulness, love of life, positive and brightness from their ancestors.