Punk emerged as part of the counterculture.
The idea of counterculture comes from the English language ( counterculture ). This is the name given to the set of attitudes, actions, customs and values that are opposed to the principles of the dominant culture .
It can be said that the counterculture is a movement that promotes and defends these ways of life that are contrary to or different from the most common ones. It is generally accepted that a trend is countercultural when there is a group of people supporting it for an extended period of time.
The counterculture emerges as a small manifestation that remains outside the market and away from the media. Over time, this movement can gain followers and grow: the counterculture, at this point, can generate a change in the dominant culture or be absorbed by it.
The hippie movement and punk
The hippie movement that emerged in the 1960s is an example of counterculture. In its origins, it was a rebellious current that demanded changes in society . Hippies wore clothes and hairstyles that characterized them, listened to a certain type of music and even coined their own expressions. The security forces, at that time, persecuted hippies and repressed their public demonstrations. Over the years, however, the dominant culture ended up integrating various facets of the hippie movement that were previously countercultural. Wearing a t-shirt with the peace symbol, for example, is no longer countercultural.
Another example of counterculture is punk . He burst in with criticism of the established system and promoting individual or community self-management. Nowadays, however, punk clothing and music are part of the cultural and fashion industry.
With its demand for social change, the hippie movement is an example of counterculture.
The counterculture in the '60s
We speak specifically of the counterculture of the 1960s to refer to a phenomenon that took place especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, although it later reached most Western countries between that same decade and the middle of the next. This anti-establishment movement gained strength simultaneously with the growth of those fighting for civil rights in North America, and came to acquire a revolutionary character when the military intervention in Vietnam expanded.
As the years went by, new cultural forms began to appear, as well as a dynamic subculture that celebrated experimentation, modern versions of bohemian culture, and the aforementioned hippie movement, among other alternative lifestyles to that imposed by the majority. Creativity began to have more space in society, and this can be seen, for example, with the phenomenon that represented the arrival of The Beatles and the fact that films no longer suffered such a profound censorship process.
Changed priorities and assimilation
The counterculture of the 1960s is clearly distinguished from anti-authoritarianism, for example, a movement that opposed the principle of absolute government and advocated civil liberties and the equality of all citizens in the eyes of the law. After the First World War , the “baby boom” led to the emergence of a number of potentially disillusioned young people at the forefront of the restructuring of democratic society.
Postwar affluence allowed many people of the counterculture generation to focus on different priorities than their parents, who had been immersed in the typical concerns of the Depression era. Another characteristic feature of this era is that a significant portion of the behaviors and the causes that represented them were soon assimilated by society, although the counterculture was made up of a clear minority. It is worth mentioning that many consider the assassination of John F. Kennedy as the starting point of the counterculture.