Will Free Love ever make a comeback?

[Jayson1]

I wasn't around when hippies were still young but I know that was in theory one of their big idea's. Granted the drugs and social activism ended up staying even if the later seemed to go dormant for years until Trump became president. DO you ever think the idea of people not treating sex like a bad thing and just a fun experience and also trying to love your neighbor and whatnot will also return someday? Also why does 70's stuff like key parties and studio 54 and Disco feel more icky than the free love stuff from the 60's? What exactly happened to people that changed things so much? Was it Watergate?

Jason

 

[think]

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Star Trek = 1960’s
Star Wars = 1970’s

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

DO you ever think the idea of people not treating sex like a bad thing and just a fun experience and also trying to love your neighbor and whatnot will also return someday?

I have absolutely no problem with that.

But in my mind, the term 'free love' implies doing so without romance, without love, without any kind of emotional commitments whatsoever. In other words, Brave New World.

And I would definitely not be into that. If others want to engage in casual encounters, fine, let them do so. But that is something I could never do.

Isn't there room for both?

 

[Jayson1]

I have absolutely no problem with that.

But in my mind, the term 'free love' implies doing so without romance, without love, without any kind of emotional commitments whatsoever. In other words, Brave New World.

And I would definitely not be into that. If others want to engage in casual encounters, fine, let them do so. But that is something I could never do.

Isn't there room for both?

I think their is room for both. I doubt I would be very much a hippie myself. I don't do drugs and don't even smoke or drink. But I do kind of like the freedom of the idea. Sex part might sound fun but I'm 41 so I would prefer someone to love than just have sex with.

Jason

 

[Samuel]

While I grew up mainly in the 1980s I don't remember in the last few decades sex being a "bad thing" outside of the evangelical community. Certainly not in the U.S.A. as a whole.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Also why does 70's stuff like key parties and studio 54 and Disco feel more icky than the free love stuff from the 60's?

60's = loose, comfortable cotton outfits + pot/acid. Not much makeup needed.
70's = polyester, polyester, polyester (the tighter the better) + cocaine (and occasionally heroin). Tons of Vidal Sassoon/Jheri Curl, mixed with tons of sweat.

What exactly happened to people that changed things so much? Was it Watergate?

I'd say it was a triple whammy: The Arab oil embargo (leading to stagflation), Watergate, the fall of Vietnam (America's first unqualified loss/failure in war). Suddenly everything seemed to be going wrong for America, all at once, and the hippies no longer had any cause/any villain to rebel against. Which led to the adoption of the philosophy Prince would put into song years later: "Everybody's got a bomb, we could all die any day/But before I let that happen, I'll dance my life away..."

DO you ever think the idea of people not treating sex like a bad thing and just a fun experience and also trying to love your neighbor and whatnot will also return someday?

It was HIV/AIDS that put an end to the free-love era. It seems to be all but beaten now, thank God, but there's still plenty of nasty STDs out there. When those are all beaten, and foolproof pharmaceutical birth control (for girls and guys) can be sold over the counter... maybe. Just maybe.

 

[Timewalker]

Granted the drugs and social activism ended up staying even if the later seemed to go dormant for years until Trump became president.

Do you seriously think there was no social activism between the '70s and a year ago?

There were anti-nuclear protests in the '80s (I participated in one of them), and plenty of social activism over things like environmentalism (or maybe that's more a Canadian thing?). For crying out loud, did you just not notice the Occupy movement a few years ago?

What's wrong with disco? (I guess you had to have been there )

But in my mind, the term 'free love' implies doing so without romance, without love, without any kind of emotional commitments whatsoever. In other words, Brave New World.

Or even coerced sex that didn't used to be considered rape or sexual assault, but is now. I'm reminded of part of the lyrics to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (a rock opera first performed in 1968) when Mrs. Potiphar orders Joseph to have sex with her and he says, "Please stop - I don't believe in free love!").

 

[Jayson1]

Do you seriously think there was no social activism between the '70s and a year ago?

There were anti-nuclear protests in the '80s (I participated in one of them), and plenty of social activism over things like environmentalism (or maybe that's more a Canadian thing?). For crying out loud, did you just not notice the Occupy movement a few years ago?

What's wrong with disco? (I guess you had to have been there )


Or even coerced sex that didn't used to be considered rape or sexual assault, but is now. I'm reminded of part of the lyrics to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (a rock opera first performed in 1968) when Mrs. Potiphar orders Joseph to have sex with her and he says, "Please stop - I don't believe in free love!").

I supose their was some protests but when I think of the 80's I think of Reagan and Trickle Down Economics and AIDS more than anything else. Granted I was a kid in the 80's so that might have something to do with it. Plus you had save the whales and Farm Aid and "We Are the World" song. Still it feels shallow compared to what it seemed like in the 60's. Maybe it was because I think being a radical in the 60's feels like it would be more dangerous than being one in the 80's because of some of the progress made in the 60's.

Jason

 

[Timewalker]

I supose their was some protests but when I think of the 80's I think of Reagan and Trickle Down Economics and AIDS more than anything else. Granted I was a kid in the 80's so that might have something to do with it.

I was a kid in the '60s but Canada wasn't officially a part of the Vietnam War, so it doesn't mean the same thing to us that it does to your country.

Plus you had save the whales and Farm Aid and "We Are the World" song. Still it feels shallow compared to what it seemed like in the 60's. Maybe it was because I think being a radical in the 60's feels like it would be more dangerous than being one in the 80's because of some of the progress made in the 60's.

Jason

Save the whales is still ongoing.

I suppose it's a generational thing and the fact that our respective countries had different issues that most people focused on. I'm old enough to remember "duck and cover" drills in elementary school.

 

[Jayson1]

I was a kid in the '60s but Canada wasn't officially a part of the Vietnam War, so it doesn't mean the same thing to us that it does to your country.


Save the whales is still ongoing.

I suppose it's a generational thing and the fact that our respective countries had different issues that most people focused on. I'm old enough to remember "duck and cover" drills in elementary school.

I'm familiar with the "duck and cover" drills but mostly because it was used in a "Quantum Leap" episode and the movie "Matinee." I also know very well about bomb shelters from that time because I have one here in my home. My house use to be my grandparents and they built a shelter in the backyard. Granted nobody has even gone down in it in like 20 years but it is still there. I think it also doubled as a Tornado shelter as well since I live in Oklahoma. My entire family went in their a couple of times when I was a kid because of that reason.

Also you could say throwing paint on woman, wearing fur is another protest that I think started in the 90's. Then you got glitter bombs but to be honest I have no idea what that is even about. Still I think another thing that makes the 60's protest so attractive is it basically had sex,drugs and rock and roll connected to it which is kind of popular with many people.

Jason

 

[RJDiogenes]

There have always been protests going on in every decade or era. But there's a difference in magnitude between protests and a world-changing social movement.

As for Free Love, the movement changed the way society looks at sex, just as the Civil Rights movement and Women's Lib changed things for minorities and women, and there's really no going back. But, in all three cases, society has definitely became more conservative on both the Left and the Right, which is what has brought us to the current Dark Age. This, too, will pass.

 

[Samuel]

There have always been protests going on in every decade or era. But there's a difference in magnitude between protests and a world-changing social movement.

As for Free Love, the movement changed the way society looks at sex, just as the Civil Rights movement and Women's Lib changed things for minorities and women, and there's really no going back. But, in all three cases, society has definitely became more conservative on both the Left and the Right, which is what has brought us to the current Dark Age. This, too, will pass.

Why do you call this a "current Dark Age"?

And people forget that the era of "Free Love" was driven largely by an extremely underrated technological development.

The birth control pill. Once women pretty much had near total control of their own fertility (or at least were perceived as having) it radically changed male/female dynamics and relationships.

 

[Jayson1]

Why do you call this a "current Dark Age"?

And people forget that the era of "Free Love" was driven largely by an extremely underrated technological development.

The birth control pill. Once women pretty much had near total control of their own fertility (or at least were perceived as having) it radically changed male/female dynamics and relationships.

But were hippie women thinking about that? I thought the idea was to be free from the shackles of conservative idea's like how women were supose to be submissive and controlled by men and that sex could be as much fun for them as it is a man. Wasn't the mini-skirt basically the same as a Muslim woman in certain countries today taking of a Burka and wearing, regular clothes? I got to think that many conservative men back in the 60's were outraged to see woman going around dressed like that when they were supose to look like Donna Reed.

Jason

 

[Samuel]

But were hippie women thinking about that? I thought the idea was to be free from the shackles of conservative idea's like how women were supose to be submissive and controlled by men and that sex could be as much fun for them as it is a man. Wasn't the mini-skirt basically the same as a Muslim woman in certain countries today taking of a Burka and wearing, regular clothes? I got to think that many conservative men back in the 60's were outraged to see woman going around dressed like that when they were supose to look like Donna Reed.

Jason

No offense man but I think you're citing what amounts to a Reader's Digest version of the 60s. In fact I think from a cultural perspective you will find lots of things we tend to associate with the 60s actually came about in the 70s.
IIRC in polls from the 60s we see attitudes about sexuality to be closer to the prevailing attitudes from the 50s than of today.

And I'm pretty certain the hippie's were a distinct cultural subset. Far from the majority or even a significant minority. Plus you have lots of women who preferred to settle down into a conventional life at some point. I'm reminded of a statement by notorious director Roman Polanski after his marriage to Sharon Tate (before she was murdered). He was apparently upset that she apparently wanted and expected a conventional marriage and family and not the open marriage (both partners free to have sex outside of marriage) that he wanted. He said "I wanted a hippie not a housewife"

 

[Jayson1]

No offense man but I think you're citing what amounts to a Reader's Digest version of the 60s. In fact I think from a cultural perspective you will find lots of things we tend to associate with the 60s actually came about in the 70s.
IIRC in polls from the 60s we see attitudes about sexuality to be closer to the prevailing attitudes from the 50s than of today.

And I'm pretty certain the hippie's were a distinct cultural subset. Far from the majority or even a significant minority. Plus you have lots of women who preferred to settle down into a conventional life at some point. I'm reminded of a statement by notorious director Roman Polanski after his marriage to Sharon Tate (before she was murdered). He was apparently upset that she apparently wanted and expected a conventional marriage and family and not the open marriage (both partners free to have sex outside of marriage) that he wanted. He said "I wanted a hippie not a housewife"

I didn't live in the 60's so your right I was around back then. I thought the hippie thing did like you say last into the 70's. It must have made a big impact though on society since people think of hippies so much when they think about those times. Also i'm not sure if it's true but I think hippies also is kind of thought of as a white privilege thing by some. A bunch of kids who didn't have to go fight in Vietnam. Also I am unclear on how they connect to things like the Black Panther Party or things like people calling in bomb threats to colleges. Sometimes with stuff like you even have some violence associated with them.

Jason

 

[RJDiogenes]

Why do you call this a "current Dark Age"?

Seriously? All the hatred and divisiveness, the alt-Right, the alt-Left, the Culture War that led to Trump-- that's pretty much all there is these days.

And people forget that the era of "Free Love" was driven largely by an extremely underrated technological development.

Have people forgotten that? I thought it was taken for granted.

But were hippie women thinking about that? I thought the idea was to be free from the shackles of conservative idea's like how women were supose to be submissive and controlled by men and that sex could be as much fun for them as it is a man.

Yes, but all (or most) Feminist movements throughout history have wanted that. But in the past the danger of unwanted pregnancy was always a roadblock. Easy, reliable, and available contraception changed everything.

Wasn't the mini-skirt basically the same as a Muslim woman in certain countries today taking of a Burka and wearing, regular clothes? I got to think that many conservative men back in the 60's were outraged to see woman going around dressed like that when they were supose to look like Donna Reed.

Yes, the miniskirt was a symbol of Women's Lib.

 

[Samuel]

Weren't skirts really short in the 1920s as well?

 

[Jayson1]

Weren't skirts really short in the 1920s as well?

Did they even have skirts in the 1920's? I think the only time I can think of skirts before the 60's were those ones worn by the Woman Baseball Players that you can see in the movie "A League of Their Own" which unlike the 60's I am pretty sure had nothing to do with female empowerment. In the 1920's weren't people still wearing those one piece bathing suits that kind of look like bad pajama's?

Jason

 

[Samuel]

Did they even have skirts in the 1920's? I think the only time I can think of skirts before the 60's were those ones worn by the Woman Baseball Players that you can see in the movie "A League of Their Own" which unlike the 60's I am pretty sure had nothing to do with female empowerment. In the 1920's weren't people still wearing those one piece bathing suits that kind of look like bad pajama's?

Jason

I thought the supposedly loose illegal alcohol swilling "flappers" wore short skirts.

 

[auntiehill]

Did they even have skirts..........................Are you kidding me?? What do you think they wore, armor?
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