HIPPIES- COLLECTIVE

IDENTITYBY CHYNA DEMPSTER

HIPPIES• HIPPIES ARE A COLLECTIVE GROUP THAT WAS FORMED IN THE MID 1960’S IN

THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM THAT WERE ORIGINALLY A YOUTH MOVEMENT. IT THEN SPREAD TO OTHER COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. THE TERM HIPPIES FIRST CAME FROM THE WORD ‘HIPSTER’ AND THE ‘HIPPIES’ WAS FIRST POPULARIZED IN SAN FRANCISCO.

MUSIC• HIPPIES TENDED TO LISTEN TO QUITE MELLOW MUSIC PERHAPS CLASSICAL

ROCK AND A LOT OF MUSIC THAT WAS PLAYED AT THE WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL THAT MANY HIPPIES ATTENDED. THIS INCLUDES MUSIC FROM THE BEATLES, JIMI HENDRIX, GRATEFUL DEAD AND MANY OTHER SIMILAR ARTISTS.

CHARACTERISTICS

• PERSONALITY TRAITS AND VALUES THAT HIPPIES TEND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH ARE ALTRUISTIC, MYSTICISM, HONESTY, JOY AND NONVIOLENCE. HIPPIES OFTEN CHOSE BRIGHTLY COLOURED CLOTHING AND WORE UNUSUAL STYLES SUCH AS BELL-BOTTOM PANTS, VESTS, TIE-DYED GARMENTS, DASHIKI, PLEASANT BLOUSES AND LONG FULL SKIRTS.

LIFESTYLE. • HIPPIES SOUGHT TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM SOCIAL RESTRICTIONS,

CHOOSE THEIR OWN WAY AND FIND NEW MEANINGS. THROUGH THEIR APPEARANCE, HIPPIES DECLARED THEIR WILLINGNESS TO QUESTION AUTHORITY AND DISTANCED THEMSELVES FROM THE CONFORMIST SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY.

REPRESENTATIONS IN THE MEDIA• THE HIPPIE SUBCULTURE HAS OFTEN BEEN A SUBJECT TO STEREOTYPED IMAGE OVER

THE YEARS, WHICH AROSE IN THE LATE 1960’S. THE HIPPIE STEREOTYPE INCLUDING LONG HAIR, MEN WITH SCRUFFY BEARDS, A ‘MAKE LOVE NOT WAR’ PHILOSOPHY AND A DEVOTION TO MIND-ALTERING DRUGS AND PSYCHELDIC MUSIC. ONE MAIN REPRESENTATION OF HIPPIES WERE THAT THEY WERE ALL ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND THIS REPRESENTATION WAS PROVIDED BY THE MEDIA. THE TELEVISION BROADCASTED ‘EXTENSIVE COVERAGE BY GATHERINGS ORGANISED BY TIMOTHY LEARY AND KEN KESEY, DURING WHICH THEY ENCOURAGE AND FACILITATED THE USE OF THE HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG LSD. THIS IMAGE HAS ALSO BEEN MAINTAINED BY ENTERTAINMENT AND MOVIE INDUSTRY.