Man! The Sixties eh?

Man! The sixties, eh?

By: Justin Shemie

The sixties. Man were they crazy! A time when the youth were a dominant figure in the media, highlighting their relentless pursuit to change the ideals of a rather conservative and principled American society. The youth of the 60’s did not like the ideals of society and pushed for change. They pushed for gender and racial equality, change of ideals about post education and the near complete abandonment of materialism and consumerism.

Now let’s compare what the youth of the sixties stood for, to what the youth of today stand for: Instead of a culture of change and questioning the standards of society, we have done quite the opposite, becoming a society consumed by the never ending pursuit of fitting in and conforming to the standards set before us by our peers. The youth of today are faced with a society as competitive as ever when it comes to jobs, popularity, school, and appearance.

In protest of consumerism and materialism, the hippies of the 60’s did all they could to avoid having to contribute to the economy and the American capitalist system, sharing all they had and living on the bare minimum.

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As a member of today’s youth culture, I do not feel part of a revolt against today’s society, instead, I feel pressured to find my place in it. However, just because the youth of the 60’s decided to radically revolt against society does not make them wrong. The same way that the youth of today are not wrong for failing to protest against the norms of today’s society. Maybe it just means that the norms of today’s society are more acceptable than those of the 60’s.

Patti Smith Performs

Let’s compare: Since the 1960’s we’ve achieved equal opportunity and salary, regardless of color or gender. When using public transportation, I have no more of a right to a seat than any colored man does, nor do I have priority over a colored man to where I’d like to sit in a restaurant. For that we can thank, among others, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.

So yes, the youth of the 60’s certainly had more reason to revolt against the norms of society than we did, not to say that our society is perfect, there is certainly still some work to be done. I feel as though the youth of our society have good intentions, but we are so heavily influenced by each other and by trends that it seems as though today’s youth are challenged by fixating themselves on a problem and fighting to change it.

In Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Smith explains that Robert pursues the art of rough sex and physical abuse, not because he is passionate about that specific topic of art, but because "His mission was not to reveal, but to document an aspect of sexuality as art, as it had never been done before. What excited Robert the most as an artist was to produce something that no one else had done." (236, Smith)

In that same book, we also see a protest against the norms of society as Patti Smith becomes one of the first female leaders of a band, helping to break down the gender equality barrier in society. Despite the fact that many doubted the success of a female as the leader of the band, Smith was never discouraged and went on to have great success with her band. "When we returned to New York, we put and ad in the Village Voice for a guitarist. Most of those who showed up already seemed to know what they wanted to do, or what they wanted to sound like, and almost to a man, none of them warmed up to the idea of a girl being the leader." (244, Smith)

The youth of today need to take a step back from the competitive nature of our society and decide whether they feel that this society is conforming to fair norms and standards and effectively say, no it is not, and continue to push for change.