What was "flower power"?
1 Answer
It was a term used to describe the hippie culture particularly in the US in the late 60's.
Explanation:
As a new generation grew up in the West in the 1960's they rejected much of the values of their parents. They had not experienced the austerity of post war Europe and through developing a counter culture they looked at alternative norms and values.
This was expressed in a number of ways, through literature, theatre and films. Flower power relates to the hippie and drug culture particularly in California centred in the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco.
There the lifestyle rejected the conventional norms. It espoused values such as taking drugs like cannabis and LSD, free love, living in communes and wearing flowers as a symbol of peace as opposed to the power and violence of the state.
Groups such as Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead became part of that culture. It also included events such as The Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock.
The era came to an end as the 60's made way for the 70's. Events such as the deaths at the Stones free concert at Altamont, policed by the Hell's Angels, the Manson murders along with the increasingly violent protests against the Vietnam War, and the deaths of many stars at the time such as Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jim Morrison marked the end of the belief for many that flowers, peace and love could change the world.
