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Counterculture Essay

845 Words4 Pages

Boundless (n.d) defines counter-culture as a period when the youth rejected the norms of the 1950's. These norms were the same standards set and conformed to by their parents like racial segregation, support of the Vietnam war that was going on at the time, materialism associated with the American Dream and sexual mores. In place of these values, the 1960 decade was characterized by the following distinctive features: civil rights movements, anti-war protests, and hippies. Counterculture comprised a large of hippies, who were a large group of white youth belonging to the middle class. Counter-culture, however, died in 1970 because most of their values and goals became mainstream, and partly because of the rising economic troubles (boundless, …show more content…

Today, echoes of counterculture exist as people continue to detest and distrust the government, particularly among the youth and middle-class individuals in America and other countries around the world. Just like the Baby Boomers of the time, the large populations of opinionated youth communicate the dreams of all, making clear why they garnered and still continued to garner support when advocating for freedom from authoritarianism. In the fight against corruption apparent in most governments, young men and women voice their concerns about the misuse of the American Dream through music and public …show more content…

The push for equal right by feminists materialized in two accords: legally and socially. Legally, feminists pushed for equal legal status for both men and women. Social women liberation was a sexual revolution where women challenged the idea that while men could go around participating in sexual activities, they were to remain chaste. Today, it is the former that is popular, with women activist groups fighting for more opportunities for women. Women right activist groups today, however, are very politically alienated as compared to the 1960s. Feminists emphasized, and continue to emphasize, that gender roles are social constructions that amount to a system of oppression. Feminists argued for equality, both political and social, for women, as well as fundamental changes in their roles in the home. The questions raised about gender also paved the way for entirely new movements, such as the movement for gay rights. Some of the issues taking frontline in discussions for women rights in mainstream Western societies today include reproductive rights, pay equality, and equality of educational

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