Les sixties

The sixties

The sixties were a period of 10 years (1960-1970) and that a period where the lifestyle of people much changed.

They have generally rejected the traditional lifestyle of their parents. They want more freedom and fewer responsibilities than their parents' generation. This movement affects the majority of the generation born during the baby boom of the post war because these babies became teenagers and young adults during the sixties so that's why they were so many young people at that time. They were considered hippies because they wanted to live differently, independently coasting people with the same ideas as them. They leave their family, their school, their jobs to found a community. Young people wanted to change everything in society. The sixties were a lively, fashionable, exciting and dynamic period. It was an era, a time of movement and change.

We can illustrate that with a cover of Time Magazine published on April 15th 1966, the picture is very colourful, which reminds me of colour TVs because they gave people a new perspective on the world. We can see people seem to be having fun. We can suppose they're high because they're been taking drugs for example the girl with spiralling eyes or the boy with dazed expression.

 We can see paparazzi at the left and in front of a concert of The Who. They're wearing totally different clothes if you compare then to the older people of the cover for example the t-shirts with band names or political messages. We do not see in the picture but during that time women wore mini skirts which shows the change because before women did not wear that kind of clothes. They started to buy more superficial things. And this was possible because it was the first time that the London population had been so wealthy.

On the right side of the cover we can see traditional aspects of London with Big Ben, the house of parliament and the Prime minister (Wilson) who smoke a pipe in the top. There is “a double decker” next to that, it's a traditional British bus. The people are serious, not smilling and look boring. They wearing suits and gambling and they're older than the people in the foreground. All these elements seem to have been relegated in the background as if to leave room for change. To conclude, this cover contains all the elements of a cultural revolution. And according to Time Magazine, London was at the center of this revolution. After the publication of the issue, the expression “swinging London” became synonymous with news social and submersive trends of the period. London was the world capital of cool.

At this period, the music is evolved too, there were some rock bands appears and revolutionized the music like Beatles, The Who, The doors and the Rolling Stones. These rock band bringing with them a new culture. Moreover, there is a technological revolution for example the color TV appeared in 1967 mainly with sports programs.

When people speak about the sixties they sound very enthousiastic. They remember this period as a time of optimism, freedom and energy. They keep joyful memories of this era. They remember all the changes that happened at that time and made their lives easier and more exciting. To conclude, London was “the place to be in the 60s”.

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