Counterculture I
A glance at the beginnings of the l
social revolution by Ryan Bogart \
The term "counterculture"
developed in the 1960’s with the
introduction of the new waves of
popularity among American youths.
These included the hippies, beatniks,
and other social revolts of the time
period. Although the sixties defined
the movement from popular culture,
it started much earlier.
In the 1950’5, "counterculture" was
unheard of. Although the “rebels”
slicked back their hair, wore leather
jackets, and smoked a cigarettes, the
1950 s essentially are defined by
conformity to social standard.
Anyone who staryed from the
“norm” were regarded as social
otucasts of the time, and the adult
figures of this decade saw them as
trouble makers and problems to
society.
A typical “sit down talk” with dad
after school about what you learned
during the day, followed by tea with
mother who had been cooking and
cleaning all day, are stereotypes
constituting the average day in the
50’s. Eventually, kids grew up and
went to college, where they were
taught about things they hadn't been
exposed to in high school and at
home.
In college, they had more freedom The Beatles were introduced to
than their parents had experienced, society as clean cut boys with happy
thus more time to ask questions, go lucky lyrics. When they were
Coffee houses became a popular introduced to LSD and marijuana in
hang out because these students 1966 by Bob Dylan, they discovered
could be exposed to different types other things, especially music styles,
of people that they were not They turned into a more
accustomed to dealing with before. complicated style of writing that still
With these different people came captured American society even
the emerging populatiry of music, though they were a direct result of
Music tended to separate the old the "counterculture",
from the young lively college The older generation opposed
student. It gave youths a chance to their styles, music, and ideals. The
express themselves, something in reason for this is because they were
which they had not been able to do never brought up on the new ideals
before. and indulged in the conservative
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Dear Amy and Cathy,
The other day, I was unfortunate to find myself. Now what
am I supposed to do?
Dear No Longer Missing,
Congratulations!!! Now you can help find us. (Hint: Just
follow the dangling participles.)
Dear Amy and Cathy,
Earlier in the week, I was engaged in deep conversation
with two of my female friends. To my dismay, I suddenly
found myself distanced from this conversation when it turned
to the topic of color identification. Being male, and
subsequently deficient in this area, I was amazed at their
authoritative use of terms such as seafoam, aqua, turquoise,
and blue-green. I just sat there wondering, “What ever
happened to plain old green?” Was I absent the day they
Drugs also became widely used
and a major factor in separating the
generations. Marijuana allowed
people express themselves in ways
they did not see possible.
LSD, founded by Harvard
professor Timothy Leary was legal
and widespread up until the late
sixties. Leary travelled around the
country to colleges and universities
teaching LSD as a path to spiritual
enlightenment. The San Francisco
scene at Haight-Ashbury was a cult
community built on the use of LSD.
The "counterculture" wore their
hair long and didn't care about
personal grooming in most cases.
Looks were based on nature, not on
social standards as defined by the
authority figures.
To tear down the conventions that
were built up in the fifties, youth
attitudes reflected dancing, drugs,
music and free sex.
The youth felt that they had been
cheated from living the good life in
the 50's and were sick of "being lied
to". They wanted America to see
that they were in control of their own
lives by living by the motto of
"whatever it takes to be happy, I'll do
it."
Amy and Cathy
The weekly advice columnists answer this
week's questions with wit and wisdom
No Longer Missing
Amy and Cathy
Opinion
taught colors in high school? Or am I just stupid?
Dear Color Blind,
Of course, you’re stupid. You’re male. End of story.
Just kidding. Actually, it would appear that we have found
yet another case of ROY G. BIV gone crazy. Those dam
science people. You give ’em an inch and they just walk all
over you. (Incidentally, the bruises they leave are puce.)
What we need to do now is give credit to those evil creators
of crayons-they are the true initiators of your strife. Crayola
is the enabler of the enablers. Without them, your “plain old
green” would rule the world. The paint manufacturers and
sweater companies would all go bankrupt, and the world, as
we know it, would die.
As for why your female friends have a grasp of this
knowledge and you do not... Let’s just say how you know
why we go into public restrooms in pairs. (That’s where they
keep the color charts!)
traditions of society.
The "counterculture" of
contemporary society has major
differences than in the sixties. Up
until August, "hippies" were still
around traveling with the Grateful
Dead as a lifestyle. Jerry Garcia died
in August which ended an era of
togetherness. The Grateful Dead’s
music brought people together from
all walks of life.
There does not seem to be a
cohesiveness in the “counter
culture” of today. There are so
many different forms of the
movement today, but there is no
common goal as there was in the
sixties.
Drugs are as widespread and as
commonly used today. Some music
styles have changed and others
stayed the same.
Youths still love their music. It can
be compared to a religion because it
is something that is totally free and
something that no one can take
away.
The lack of unity in youth groups
leads to a better control from
authorities. With youth divided, they
cannot “stand” for their rights.
Apathy has devoured a strong
political and social force. People
seem to worry more about throwing
a piece of metal through their
eyebrow than the government
cutting back student loans. No one
has the guts to come together to
work for a common goal.
If the time when another social
revolution takes place and I’m too
old to join their movement, I will still
support it. I hope that everyone will
remember the feeling they had when
they were young and support them
too, because freedom needs all the
help it can get.
Color Blind
Amy and Cathy
Thursday, November 16, 1995
The Behrend College
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