University of Virginia Library

No Longer 'Straight'

The first impression one receives of Haight-Ashbury
is that most of the images and conceptions of
the district and its inhabitants visualized from the
publicity the area has received can be discarded. It
is not the drug-infested, sex-oriented, draft-dodging,
corrupt jungle many publications would lead one
to believe. It is a community in which its residents
believe, act, dress, and think differently from the
"straights" from whom they have broken away.

The hippies' older brothers and sisters were the
beatniks. But there is a definite distinction between
the two bohemias. The hippies want no association
with their elders. As a hippie girl said, "The beatniks
represented a very negative attitude. They were
anti-everything. They hid in dark and dingy coffee
houses and preached militant anarchy. We're positive.
We believe in good and love and peace. We
don't hide and we worship sunshine and the flowers
it brings."