Question by May Fajardo: Counterculture?
Can anybody explain to me what counterculture was? I know it happened during the 1960s but I just don’t understand the whole concept of it.
Best answer:
Answer by Ashley D
the hippies are a great example of a counter culture. they did the oppisite of what was the norm at the time. the government was all for the war, and the hippies were protesting it. pretty much any thing that goes against the socially accepted norm can be a counterculture.
What do you think? Answer below!
Countercultural movements – and you’re right, the 1960s saw a lot of them – are those which go against the prevailing social norms for one reason or another.
A counter culture doesn’t really gain as much widespread appeal as the hippie era. Hippies were pretty widespread, probably classifying as a sub culture more than a counter culture. A counter culture would be a group that are more radically different than the norms of the widely accepted culture, such as satanists or a group that would like to see our government switch to a communist one.
Following WW2, Americans became more and more materialistic (memories of the depression and privations of the war), so spoiled young people who were frustrated at the loss of loving parents, rejested that entire “scene” and dropped out of the predominant system (get a job, work hard by marginalizing your own family to make more money) and created a “culture” that was intended to frustrate, anger and terrorize their parents (Rock, Drugs, Sex, etc.). Think of it as a massive cultural temper tantrum.
It was when as with most all generations the young wish change.
the war in viet nam united many to a common goal of peace.drugs became common to use. opening peoples minds to other things other then just making money.peace love happiness, freedom of thought.and life style.was wanted by people rather then just the traditional culture of Americans excepting the feds rules and regulations.and living a quiet life under government rule.
I am still of that mind,
I work for no one,I make my own money without working for people. usually.all my life.since the Ole Hippie days.they were good times .and educational times. for me.I have marched in many a protest in Washington D.C.& all around this fine country we have. I do have a university education. being a hippie, part of the concept was being independent..I now raise exotic animals & dogs and cats. to sell. take nature photos to sell framed, paint paintings,to sell. deal in antiques. I work with Charity’s.and help people as best i can .I still believe in peace.not war.i actually care about my fellow man.and do something about it.as best I can.
Peace
That is because it was not a counterculture. That is only a word that is used to describe a group of like minded people that sought to change social norm. A culture is more than just a lot of people sharing similar ideas. It was not a counterculture, it was more of a social reform. It was labled a counterculture movment to present it as a danjourus and undisirable movemnt, in an attempt to rally supporters to quell the swarm. It could be seen as a counterculture that had was limited by the mind of the culture it existed in. In the end it was subdued, as it began to integrate back into the social norm. A counterculture does not integrate back into the larger culture.
There isn’t really just ONE counterculture… in fact, pretty much all societies have constant counterculture movements in them. There are times, however, when such a movement becomes so strong and influential that rather than boiling beneath the surface it all but takes over. What you are probably thinking of is one such example – the counterculture movement of the 1960’s.
The main feature of any counterculture is that it wholly rejects most or all of the normative assumptions of the society around it. In that sense it can almost be thought of as a mirror-image or the opposite of the culture at large. This can sometimes be overtly seen when the dominant culture changes to embrace one of the tenets of the counterculture… often the counterculture, rather than hailing the move as a victory, denies their association with that aspect and once again takes up the opposite (“If the squares like it, then it must not have been good after all!”). The borders of most countercultures are along generational lines – older people have their older ways and consider the frivolity of the youth to border on the subversive.
The main dominant cultural concepts of the 1960’s were perhaps a slightly modified version of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ (if you’ve ever seen that show). Families were considered the base social unit. Drugs and communists were the enemies. A woman’s place was in the home, and races were supposed to keep with their own kind. Mass-production and fitting in were ideal. The Earth was the property of man to use as he saw fit.
Thus, the main tenets of the 1960’s counterculture was an emphasis on how all these things were bad. ‘Free love’ and individualism reigned supreme, and war itself was the greatest enemy. All people were brothers (and sisters!) regardless of race, nationality, gender, or anything else. Drugs were very, very good, seen as liberators and expanders of the mind. Most government, the pursuit of wealth, and institions of just about every kind were right out as well. The Earth was our ‘Mother’ and we were supposed to be her children and admirers instead of her abusers.
These were ideas that caught on. And to give credit where it’s due, some of the very good things we still have in society we owe to the popularity of this movement. I’m sure you can spy several in there.
Many of those ideas also began to run out of gas. Leaders of the counterculture began dropping like flies from overdoses of drugs. Sexually transmitted diseases began to take their toll. And while freedom from greed is nice, so too are the things that money can bring. Eventually, the movement sort of fizzled out.
But it didn’t disappear entirely. There’s still a counterculture around. But as our society as a whole has changed, so has many of the things the counterculture stands for… but the characteristics of the modern counterculture are probably better left for another time (or your own analysis!).
Hope that helps!
Counterculture refers to the time of the “Good Life” in the 1950’s. by then, many families were living in the suburbs and the consumerism took its shape. This was also the time of the “Beatniks,” who rebelled the “Good Life” through their reaction, which is reflected in their works.