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Hippie culture: The myth isn't the modern reality - Hippie Culture |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 |
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Page 1 of 6
 Her natural light brown hair hangs in dreads and a silver ring wraps her nostril. She listens to the Grateful Dead, has a framed image of Jerry Garcia on her mantel and likes the smell of patchouli oil, but Beth Sharp — “B. Sharp” is no hippie.
“Nowadays the term is used by idealists or negativists as a negative thing or insult,” Sharp, 22, of Fort Collins said. “I wouldn’t coin myself as a hippie. I’m not. I’m just a caring person. Labels are obsolete anyway.”
Often cities like Boulder or Fort Collins get the rap as being hippie-friendly homes, but what does that mean anyway?
Hippie.
The term originated in the 1960s to describe a certain counterculture, derived from the earlier beatnik culture.
“At the time, many were highly educated urban residents and they became what people call urban escapists,” said Jeni Cross, assistant professor in Colorado State University’s sociology department.
 Cross said subgroups existed within the counter culture, some were religious, some were political and some were focused on living off of the land.
Sharp respects the hippies of the ’60s but says the term has lost its original meaning. Somehow though, some of the stereotypes remain.
Sharp and her dread-wearing friends say they are sometimes pegged as thieves, druggies and useless to society because of they way they look.
Such discrimination can make it difficult to get a job, but Fort Collins tends to be more accepting than other cities.
Before Sharp moved to Fort Collins from New Hampshire, she actually got fired from a job because she had dread locks put in her hair.
“He said he couldn’t have someone work for him who put toothpaste in her hair,” she said.
After coming to Fort Collins though, she got a job at Cheba Hut after a two-week search.
 Her boyfriend, who has dreads that fall all the way down his back said he does it as a more natural thing, to avoid putting hundreds of chemicals into his hair. The look differs from many hippies in the ’60s who sported long, flowing locks.
Jo Ann Hedleston, 60, of Fort Collins, said being a hippie was a lifestyle and a movement promoting civil rights, peace and social change. Many were involved in anti-war movements and most were seeking personal freedom.
Hedleston grew up a clean-cut kid in the South during the Civil Rights movement.
“I woke up,” she said.
Her values came through in they way she dressed, in political protests she participated in and the way she lived her life. For a period of time, Hedleston lived in a commune in California.
“That movement meant you didn’t want to be the suit or the establishment,” she said.
She rejected the “Leave it to Beaver” life, where mom stays home outfitted in pearls and high heels.
“We were trying to reinvent culture,” she said. “We were a independent-minded generation, allergic to being too conservative.”
Forty years later, Hedleston is married, has a daughter and teaches ethics at Colorado State University. Some may say she has sold out, because she has a job, but she disagrees.
“I still hold those values,” she said. “It’s not about the money.”
Erica Paschold, 22, of Fort Collins said the so-called hippies of today are a different generation in general.
“We are a new generation,” she said. “We are not politically based. Today, the music connection and friendship is at the core.”
Cross said often cultures of resistance become styles. Today, hippies are more of a subculture that doesn’t necessarily hold the goals, values or intentions of the original counter culture of the ’60s.
“I don’t see too many people getting ready to protest nowadays,” Hedleston said. “There has to be people out there pushing buttons and causing social deviance or nothing ever changes. I think people’s minds are more open and the ’60s helped that.”
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
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|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
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I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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