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The Transformative Effect Of The Counterculture In The 1960's

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Although it appears to have petered out in the early 1970s, the life of many Americans has been customized due to the counterculture of previous decade. The American society still feels the transformative effect of the counterculture which can be shown by the wealth evidence in America today. The facts fostered by the counter culture have deeply affected the organization of the family, the education system, and the definition of gender roles, to mention only the most frequently pondered cases (qtd. in Collomb 2012 : 54-69). The Second World War brought a lot of wealth to the country which makes the middle class richer, bigger and better and they now have all the access to different kinds of consumer goods. Since the war had forced women to …show more content…

The youth movement of the 1960s would aim to extend the "possible" to the maximum: infinite. This means that they would not abide with any prohibition from anyone and on the other hand, it means that they would intend to expand their mind at the infinite (particularly through the use of drugs). As this analysis of the social and political context shows, the counterculture rebellion was born in the heart of a conventional society. New Left also confirmed that those who did not embrace the counterculture path participated in the break from their elders concerns and points of view. The counterculture which was created from the youth excitement was born from the political and domestic excesses of the society they wanted to …show more content…

However, it was taken into a different path after the “sexual liberation” supported by the counterculture. In counterculture, the main focus is the women and there is no improvement for them. However, real sexual liberation for both men and women was only possible after the liberation from “no sex before marriage” of the Christians emphasized by the counterculture. The book, Growing Up Absurd by Paul Goodman, was published in 1960 and immediately met success. As it was dedicated to the youth problem in the western society, it was largely read by the countercultural youth. Indeed, the feelings of the counterculture youths of the 1960s and mainly about the real meaning of life and inner-self achievement (Goodman

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