Hippies Movement In Canada

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Most Canadians do not ponder the fact that what we deem to be normal social interactions with others is actually a result of movements advocating for a change in thinking and the way we treat others . The civil rights/women’s liberation movements were two very prevalent movements of the decade that the Hippies fueled to get their message of peace/love and equality across . Canadian hippies rooted on as American counterparts embraced the movement and had walkouts to demonstrate discrimination . The Canadian Women's Liberation movement was also a growing force in the 60’s , mainly composed of hippies who believed that equality between genders was not only through legal, political or educational changes but through changing the stereotypes in …show more content…
The Hippie’s put in a lot of effort to decriminalize homosexuality and make Canadians realise that love being gender-blind was not equivalent to pedophilia as people at the time considered it to be . The Hippies took the inspiration for their tolerant views from the Beat Generation Literary movement of the 30’s-50’s which expressed themselves through literary/artistic means . Main elements of the Beat movement involved drug experimentation and different forms of sexuality (particularly homosexuality) . Elements of this movement became an integral part of the Hippie Culture as they supported the gay rights movement stemming from England in the late 60’s (Richards, N.A) . Pierre Trudeau’s omnibus Bill C-150 passed in 1969 which decriminalized homosexuality and legalized abortion proved that the Hippie’s cry to accept different sexualities had finally reached the ears of the liberals , as it became evident that these new laws would be beneficial to Canadian society as a whole ( promotes acceptance and women's rights) (CBC Archives,1969) …show more content…
The Vietnam War was another major political/social issue occurring at this time . North America was outraged by America’s involvement in such a violent war ( they contributed to the deaths of many people ) and Hippies took this opportunity to express views of pacifism and nonviolence . Many American hippies fled to Canada during the Vietnam war as they were upset that U.S.A had broken their policy of isolationism to assert themselves as a world force by invading North Vietnam (Turner,2012) . Although the war caused conflict back at home , many young men/women were ready to enlist for the same reasons ( being a hero , patriotism ) that they enlisted for the previous world wars . As the years went on and the death toll increased , people realised that war was not something to be romanticised . The Hippies strongly supported this belief as they opposed America’s involvement in Vietnam by holding non-violent sit ins unlike other violent protestors who would attempt assassinating politicians or committing serious crimes