The hippie subculture was a youth movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life and originated in the mid-1960s. Hippies believed that middle-class society was dominated by materialism and repression, and as they felt rejected by the majority of society, they created their own minor communities.
Style
Many hippies adhered to long hair and casual or unconventional dress favouring psychedelic colours. They also wore sandals and beads, and rimless granny glasses were very popular amongst the hippies. Men often grew beards and women often wore long, flowing granny dresses.
Philosophy
Hippies were against violence and they advocated peace and love, adopting a popular phrase "Make love, not war". They opposed the restrictions and repressions they saw in the middle-class society, and therefore promoted tolerance and openness as an alternative. They commonly looked for spiritual guidance and many hippies used hallucinogenic drugs, particularly marijuana ans LSD, in order to explore the altered states of consciousness.
Music
Hippies listened to psychedelic rock and folk. Popular singers amongst the hippie community were Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.
Hippies in the media
During the 1960s, hippies were often portrayed as drugged-out, free-loving, filthy anarchists. Nowadays because of the internet and digital inclusion, the hippies are allowed to show their voice, therefore the representation of the hippies in the media is divided.
Negative portrayal
This is an article in 'The Telegraph' in which the writer's attitude towards hippies is not very positive. He portrays hippies views as 'dangerous' in the title, and refers to the hippies as if they were intellectually inferior throughout the article.
In this article published in The Atlantic, hippies are portrayed as filthy, unpleasant, drug addicts, sexual liberation, controversial and a social threat.
The cover of 'the weekly Standard' portrays hippies as drugged-out.
The Other Side
"If you compared the percentage of hippies who smoked dope (marijuana, hashish) then with the percentage of teens & 20s who smoke dope now… you’d laugh. The numbers in the late 1960s were miniscule, by comparison." Published by a hippie: http://hippieviews.com/media-portrayal-of-hippies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9369142.stm
This article published in the BBC news portrays hippies as peace makers, who positively influence people to be peaceful and advocate love.
A book portraying hippies as people who intelligently changed the face of modern physics.
An article published in a hippie website, portraying hippies as courageous protestants against the vietnam war.
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