Editing Hippie (section)

=== Love and sex ===
{{See also|Free love}}
[[File:Oz Mag Number 28.png|thumb|left|''[[Oz (magazine)|Oz]]'' number 28, also known as the "[[Schoolkids Oz|Schoolkids issue of Oz]]", which was the main cause of a 1971 high-profile obscenity case in the United Kingdom. ''Oz'' was a UK underground publication with a general hippie / counter-cultural point of view.]]

The common stereotype on the issues of love and sex had it that the hippies were "[[promiscuous]], having wild sex [[orgies]], seducing innocent teenagers and every manner of sexual perversion."<ref name="StonesexII">{{harvnb|Stone|1999|loc=[http://www.hipplanet.com/books/atoz/sex.htm "Sex, Love and Hippies"]}}</ref> The hippie movement appeared concurrently in the midst of a rising [[sexual revolution]], in which many views of the ''status quo'' on this subject were being challenged.

The clinical study ''[[Human Sexual Response (book)|Human Sexual Response]]'' was published by [[Masters and Johnson]] in 1966, and the topic suddenly became more commonplace in America. The 1969 book ''[[Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (book)|Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)]]'' by psychiatrist [[David Reuben (sex author)|David Reuben]] was a more popular attempt at answering the public's curiosity regarding such matters. Then in 1972 appeared ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' by [[Alex Comfort]], reflecting an even more candid perception of love-making. By this time, the recreational or 'fun' aspects of sexual behavior were being discussed more openly than ever before, and this more 'enlightened' outlook resulted not just from the publication of such new books as these, but from a more pervasive sexual revolution that had already been well underway for some time.<ref name="StonesexII"/>

The hippies inherited various countercultural views and practices regarding sex and love from the [[Beat Generation]]; "their writings influenced the hippies to open up when it came to sex, and to experiment without guilt or [[jealousy]]."<ref name="StonesexIII">{{harvnb|Stone|1999|loc=[http://www.hipplanet.com/books/atoz/sex.htm "Sex, Love and Hippies"]}}, "Again the Beat generation must be credited with living and writing about sexual freedom. Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and others lived unusually free, sexually expressive lives."</ref> One popular hippie slogan that appeared was "If it feels good, do it!"<ref name="StonesexII" /> which for many meant "you are free to love whomever you please, whenever you please, however you please". This encouraged spontaneous sexual activity and experimentation. [[Group sex]], [[public sex]], [[homosexuality]]; under the influence of drugs, all the taboos went out the window. This doesn't mean that straight sex or [[monogamy]] were unknown, quite the contrary. Nevertheless, the [[open relationship]] became an accepted part of the hippie lifestyle. This meant that you might have a primary relationship with one person, but if another attracted you, you could explore that relationship without rancor or jealousy."<ref name="StonesexII"/>

Hippies embraced the old slogan of [[free love]] of the radical social reformers of other eras; it was accordingly observed that "Free love made the whole love, marriage, sex, baby package obsolete. Love was no longer limited to one person, you could love anyone you chose. In fact love was something you shared with everyone, not just your sex partners. Love exists to be shared freely. We also discovered the more you share, the more you get! So why reserve your love for a select few? This profound truth was one of the great hippie revelations."<ref name="StonesexII"/> Sexual experimentation alongside psychedelics also occurred, due to the perception of their being uninhibitors.<ref name="StonesexIV">{{harvnb|Stone|1999|loc=[http://www.hipplanet.com/books/atoz/sex.htm "Sex, Love and Hippies"]}}, "But the biggest release of inhibitions came about through the use of drugs, particularly marijuana and the psychedelics. Marijuana is one of the best aphrodisiacs known to man. It enhances the senses, unlike alcohol, which dulls them. As any hippie can tell you, sex is a great high, but sex on pot is fuckin' far out![...] More importantly, the use of psychedelic drugs, especially LSD was directly responsible for liberating hippies from their sexual hang-ups. The LSD trip is an intimate soul wrenching experience that shatters the ego's defenses, leaving the tripper in a very poignant and sensitive state. At this point, a sexual encounter is quite possible if conditions are right. After an LSD trip, one is much more likely to explore one's own sexual nature without inhibitions."</ref> Others explored [[Religion and sexuality|the spiritual aspects of sex]].<ref name="StonesexV">{{harvnb|Stone|1999|loc=[http://www.hipplanet.com/books/atoz/sex.htm "Sex, Love and Hippies"]}}, "Many hippies on the spiritual path found enlightenment through sex. The ''[[Kama Sutra]]'', the [[Tantric sex]]ual manual from ancient India is a way to cosmic union through sex. Some gurus like Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) formed cults that focused on liberation through the release of sexual inhibitions."</ref>