To Define Counterculture, Stop, Look And Listen

The 1960s were an important time in the history of America. After the Beat movement of the 1950s, the next decade began without much of a hint of what was to come. Conservatism in politics, social mores and personal behavior was the name of the game in the mainstream. While the 1950s had brought prosperity, complacency and consumerism to a high point, the beginning of the 1960s was coasting along in the same vein, until the tragedies of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, and later on, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

In certain more bohemian pockets of the country, dealing with these unprecedented events seemed to bring out a longing for something more spiritual, less materialistic. People seemed to be more willing to experiment with beliefs and behaviors that had been lurking on the fringes. They were literally going against the mainstream and the establishment, counter to the norms, and for a while they were underground. But they were about to enter the public eye in a big way, and before long, the word "counterculture" would be used by TV news anchors and folks down at the coffee shop to describe something new in America. So what's the best way to arrive at a working counter culture definition?

A new and exciting trend towards sexual freedom and openness was one of the first counterculture examples to hit the mainstream of the culture. The widespread availability and use of birth control pills by women and the idea of rebelling against morally conservative, middle-class standards and beliefs led to socially important changes in how men and women related. Women's liberation was another natural result of these new attitudes, as was the growing acceptance of recreational drug use. Politically, the counterculture was evident in the growing occurrence of demonstrations and protests to correct injustice and initiate change. Many people who lived through the changes of the era still define counterculture in social, cultural and political terms.

And the changes initiated by the counter culture spread out like ripples on a pond, until after a few years what used to be counter to the the establishment became part of the mainstream.

Today music is fragmented into many genres, but jam bands, psychedelic and progressive rock, blues and roots bands, and many more trace their lineage back to the musical creations that define counterculture.

Fashion always moves on, but periodically retro fads happen and bell-bottoms and fringe vests become hip for a while. Modern parents even have their babies dressed in tie dye onesies. Long hair on men is now a common sight - who doesn't know a lawyer with a ponytail?

And of course the social and cultural changes that came about as a result of the counterculture are enormous. New Age healing and spiritual practices, political liberalism, relaxed attitudes towards recreational drugs, environmentalism, the frugal living movement - all of these and many others trace their roots right back to the 60s. The ripples from that period continue to define counterculture, and will as long as time allows.