Counter cultural

In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream. In practice, the term is most commonly used to refer to the youth rebellion that swept North America and Western Europe in the 1960s.

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This movement was a reaction against the conservative social mores of the 1950s, the political conservatism (and perceived social repression) of the Cold War period, and the US government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam. Opposition to the war was exacerbated in the US by the compulsory military draft.

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The 1960s youth rebellion largely originated on college campuses, emerging directly out of the American Civil Rights Movement. The Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley was one early example, as a socially privileged group of students began to identify themselves as having interests as a class that were at odds with the interests and practices of the university and its corporate sponsors.

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Today, counter culture is used to describe moving in a theological or material direction that is not the accepted norm in society eyes; this is most easily seen in its manifestation in the media. However, it is strange to see how counter culture movements quickly become the spearhead of commerical campaigns and how a once taboo ideas ( men wearing a women's color - pink) become popular trends.

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