Carol Forsloff---In 1960, at the entry of the hippy movement that was to encompass most of a decade and then some, young folks, and their elders who supported change, decided to make a difference. But that difference, although it made great changes in the coming years, also brought turmoil, over-reaction, and a status of where do we go from here that pervades the social structure of the 21st century in many places around the world.The social divisions that exist in the 21st century in part were reflected in those 60's movements of civil rights and social change, as well as environmental discussions and concerns about economic equality and the rights of all free men. The 1960's had the women who wore the "bubble" hairdos, the hair piled up and sprayed so that every hair stayed in place. That style also reflected in many ways how many women viewed themselves and the social order. The "bubble" hairdo was the woman in place, where she belonged, in the kitchen, in the bedroom and with babies. But there was a whole different group of women who resisted the rigidity they perceived as keeping them from actualizing their potential socially and economically
The counter culture of women grew their hair long and straight, shed their bras and took to the streets with the fellows to shout for change, against war, against unnecessary restrictions on personal freedoms and for equality in the workplace, the boardroom as well as the bedroom.
The "bubble hairdo" group grappled with the changes. By the time the 1960's revolution was in full armor, these women had married, had babies and settled down to domestic responsibilities. There was neither room nor time for marching in the streets or defying established rules. Women who worked were said to be denying families the care and love families needed, even as the women who worked often looked down on the women who stayed home to raise children as immature and unwilling to examine options.
In the 21st century social changes remain part of the divisions that exist in the political and social atmosphere around the world. For some freedom is in absolutes. For others it is relative. Some believe change must take its time and with little coercion by government or rule. Others believe that one must totally upset the status quo in order to make major changes. The extremes have moved into camps that grow further and further apart as more people see they must belong to one camp or the other.
Perhaps it dates back to those mothers, those who raised their children in a rule-dominated household and those who had a laissez-faire way of raising offspring. In fact it has been found that parenting and relationships formed in families have everything to do with how we form social and political opinions.
Perhaps it is over tea, where older women sip and simmer over social events, that some change might take place, looking at what worked and what didn't and admitting where things might have gone wrong individually and collectively, then taking that finding and using it for the significant social change that takes place from the cradle forward.
