Goals of the hippies

Goals of the Hippies DBQ Essay: Every decade in past American history has had a characteristic that defines what the decade was about and what styles were in and beliefs were heard throughout the decade. One could say that the hippy decade of the late 1960s and early 1970s could be looked at as the decade with the most impacting characteristics in the twentieth century United States of America. Documents that have been presented to this author show that the hippies impacted the United States dramatically with their strong beliefs that they expressed by protesting in unique ways that American people had never seen before. With the documents presented to the author, it would seem that two of the main goals set by hippies would be going against what society thought was right, and fighting for women’s rights. However there were many different types of hippies that believed in many different things. What could be looked at as one of the biggest goals of the hippy decade could be going against what society thought was right, and the hippies expressed these feelings by going out into public and protest these feelings. The protests caused a chain reaction with many other people of the decade and this is what made the protesting so popular. The first thing that led the hippies to go against society was The Vietnam War, which provided a ready target for hippie opposition and rebellion. Many hippies believed that there country was involved in a war that would not affect them in any way and that it was senseless to be getting many men sent to Vietnam to just be sent home in a box. Also because this war was being televised for the first time many American civilians did not like what they saw, causing them to agree with the views that the hippies portrayed. The words “peace” and “love” became symbolically loaded terms, lumping together a call for military withdrawal from Vietnam, an attitude of mutual acceptance and trust between people, and a sense of personal awareness and happiness (Doc.E). The famous picture of the hippie protesting while a group of military officers have guns pointed at him shows that all he wants is peace and love in the world, while he holds the end of one of the guns with no fear (Doc.C). Clearly it shows that there goal is to stop war and violence, as they go against what the officers think is right. Hippies expressed their views with the way they dressed as well. A typical man that was a hippie wore things called peace eyes around their waste, and typical hippie women would wear peace buttons on their clothes (Doc.C). Another way that hippies went against what society thought was right was by wanting happiness over money and wealth. The hippies believed that since we are the richest nation in the world we should also be the happiest, but all the hippies saw were suicides, and racial violence (Doc.D). Also they say that all Americans are brainwashed with worrying so much about budgets and income, and all that this leads to is frustration. “It is exactly this that the hippie avoids like poison. He wants no part of self-defeating goals (Doc.D)”. These beliefs also led hippies to want peace and love, and to dress the way that they did. As one can see one of the main goals that the hippies had was to go against what society thought was right. Another goal that was set by the hippies was to get equal treatment of men and women. At this time in history many women felt that there rights were unfair compared to men, and many women saw this because of where they were place in society. Women were uniting to achieve their final liberation from male supremacy (Doc.A). Many women protested their beliefs in public, just like other hippies who protested for Vietnam reasons. This was also a major goal for many women because they felt that they were the oppressed class and that they were looked at as objects, breeders and cheap labor. They felt that their humanity was denied (Doc.A). Also at this time in history men controlled all important jobs throughout the country. They controlled all political, economic and cultural institutions and these jobs were backed up with physical force (Doc.A). Many hippies that were women at this time stood up and protested about how they were determined to recognize and eliminate any prejudices against themselves. Then in 1968 when The National Organization for Women Bill of Rights was formed it assured rights that women really did not see in society. Some of these rights included law banning sexual discrimination, maternity leave rights and having equal employment (Doc.B). Clearly, one of the goals for hippies and women was to get women’s rights. While it is common knowledge that the hippies introduced a new character to the mid-1960s, their goals were really what led them to introduce this character because they were standing up for what they believed in. Two of the main goals that the hippies had included going against what other Americans thought was right in society at the time, and also to get women’s rights. Historically the hippies were able to carry out its new attitude and inspire others with their unique way to express their beliefs, and this is why the hippies impacted a decade more than any other kind of person.