Damn hippies!

Leander

Member
It seems to some people polyamory = hippies.

Recently I was telling some middle-aged white male monogamous friends who live largely conventional lives about my previous experiences in the city as a poly person. They know I identify as polyamorous but it rarely ever comes up when we chat. At one point I got to describing most of the people in my extended polycule back then, which probably sounded quite strange. After I finished there was an awkward silence then one of them blurted out, "Bunch of fucking hippies!" Yes, yes, a most shrewd observation. :LOL:

Just a couple of weeks before this my white, conservative, truck-driving, deer-hunting, beer-loving neighbor of several years stopped in mid-conversation and asked me (regarding my household), “Wait, are you guys hippies?” I said that we were kind of similar in many ways, minus the commune. Guilty as charged. I'm surprised it took him this long to suspect since we have Pride flags everywhere, some psychedelic art on display, are all vegan, grow cannabis out the back together with lots of veges, have poly/kink/wellness social events at our house sometimes, etc. I asked if it was my Italian fashionwear that gave it away. He looked confused. 🤔
 
Hi Leander,

I would definitely not fit the hippy stereotype, I look nothing like the classic hippy and don't act like one. The same goes for my two poly companions. Not that it would matter if I "was a hippy," but my point is that polyamorists don't necessarily all fit inside one little box. The three of us do vote Democrat, however.

Regards,
Kevin T.
 
we have Pride flags everywhere, some psychedelic art on display, are all vegan, grow cannabis out the back together with lots of veges, have poly/kink/wellness social events at our house sometimes, etc.

You do fit the classic definition of "hippies". It doesn't require you to live in a commune. Do you listen to the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane? Not that there is anything wrong with any of this. I can't tell if you're offended by being classified as a "hippie" or if you self-identify as one and are laughing at your neighbors for pointing out the obvious.
 

There's a list of hippie qualities. It's just one person's opinion, of course.
 
There's a list of hippie qualities. It's just one person's opinion, of course.

With the exception of owning crystals that list is spot on for my household!


You do fit the classic definition of "hippies". It doesn't require you to live in a commune. Do you listen to the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane? Not that there is anything wrong with any of this. I can't tell if you're offended by being classified as a "hippie" or if you self-identify as one and are laughing at your neighbors for pointing out the obvious.

Oh, I'm certainly laughing about it and I do like Jefferson Airplane. I'm not offended if people see me as a hippie. I don't dress or speak in a way that is associated with hippies but my lifestyle and worldview are pretty darn close.

Polyamory doesn't overlap with hippiedom as much as people might think. I once lived in a large community that was stereotypical hippie. Not one of them was openly polyamorous.

Beyond the example of my own clearly hippie-like tendencies, I suspect polyamory plus diversity can look like "damn hippies" to many conservative white folk in North America. It was shortly after my neighbor saw the racially diverse polecule I'm in kissing, hugging and holding hands that the idea of us being hippies occurred to him. Might just be a coincidence. Probably not.
 
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