The Hippie Movement

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When the word “hippie” comes to mind, images of men with long hair and colorful clothing, women with peace-sign necklaces and fringed vests, vans with “flower power” and rainbows arrive with it. For many people, colorful clothing and peace-signs were the legacy of the hippies. In fact, the definition of a hippie is a person from the 1960s with an unconventional appearance. However, the real legacy of the “hippie movement” is forgotten completely. As Timothy Miller writes, “There is at least some ongoing impact in the three most renowned centers of the hip revolution: "sex, dope, and rock and roll” (Miller 133). The actual legacy of the movement had very little to do with appearance and fashion. Instead, the legacy has more to do with rebellion and challenging societal norms - the acceptance of, dope, premarital sex, and rock and roll.

Most hippies approved of drugs that expanded consciousness, drugs like marijuana, hashish, and LSD. These substances were called dope in order to draw the line between the drugs perceived to be bad and the drugs perceived to be good. According to the hippies “dope was good; drugs, on the other hand, included both good and bad substances” (Miller 25). The only problem they saw with dope was the “spotty quality and the high prices”. However, unlike popular misconception, the hippies did not misuse dope and used it, surprisingly very sanely. Before the hippies popularized dope and used it recreationally, it was still around, but never widespread around such large populations until after the hippies used it. By 1972, over 40% of American college students had tried marijuana while approximately 24 million Americans used weed illegally. From 1974 to 1975, 22% of men had used psychedelic chemicals whi...

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...s also had many subliminal references. “Puff the Magic Dragon”, for example, was a clear reference to smoking marijuana and the mystery van in “Scooby-Doo” with its colorful flowers, was an obvious reference to hippie culture.

The hippies were not just a group of people from the 1960s with an unconventional appearance. They were a group of people who challenged the very beliefs upon which society was founded. Their legacy is everywhere, from colorful clothing, to the legalization of pot, and even to 17 states allowing same-sex marriage (with more soon to be hopping on the bandwagon). The teenagers of 2014 represent the hippies from the 1960s. They are filled with rebellion but are also filled with the need to please. They are filled with hate, but want to be loved. They are filled with a desire to change the world and be different, and nothing can stop them now.

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