How the East took over the West:

Hippie culture, eastern modernity and the queer movement

The contextual analysis of different eastern authors that have constantly been

belittled by the west has an interesting impact on literature. Not only have we found a

queer community of authors inside of the movement, but also we have different

backgrounds of experience to tie into the readings. In this essay I will demonstrate in

what ways the ‘hippie’ culture has dominated the west with eastern ideals as well as

talking about the feminist theory in correlation to the east and west.

Ancient eastern religions, specifically focusing on the Hindu and Buddhist origins

in India, have encouraged the formation of a subculture in the West known as ‘hippie

culture’. Over the course of many years this counterculture has emerged with ideals and

practices that have Eastern heritages. The underlying question in this counterculture is:

What is the intendment of the hippie movement and exactly how has Eastern culture

influenced it in such profound ways? Not only this but what can we gather from cultural

appropriation of certain ethnic groups or religions from certain authors such as Chu Tien-

Wen’s Bodhisattva Incarnate.

In the Bodhisattva Incarnate by Chu Tien-Wen, we see a Taiwanese dynamic of a

queer relationship. Throughout this short story there are not only instances of real life

scenarios in present tense, but a flashback aspect as well that puts the reader in two very

different eras. This contrast is used not only to show the differences in how queer culture

in the east has changed, but also to be put into the reality of what might have happened

during the time period and over the course of the years. The story even mentions the “70s

kids” as it goes through a timeline of history as well as the development of the main

characters to better grasp the ideals of Buddhist philosophy and modernity.

 During the 1960s and 1970s a large movement swept across the United States

known as the hippie movement. This lifestyle picked up momentum during the Vietnam

War and died down afterwards, but by that time it had already spread all over the West.

This information is pertinent to both cultures in the east and the west because this style

and cultural immersion has suddenly made a comeback in modern society since the 1960s

without any factual comprehension of what the cultures have contributed to society other

than dreadlocked hair, yoga, and tie-dye. Buddhist and Hindu philosophy and practice

have since greatly inclined Western culture to amalgamate certain aspects and exercise

important segments of these ancient religions and values. This has subsequently led to the

fragmented religious practices being molded into modern Western society, and has

formed meaning into the hippie movement. This meaning is no longer just what is worn,

eaten, or meditated on, but the entire religious significance in the counterculture.

Hippie culture can best defined as: a subculture that has rejected modern society,

seeks love in everyday occurrences, and has made it a point to advocate peace in times of

adversity. There is a large amount of different characteristics in Eastern culture that has

been molded to fit into the hippie mindset. The incorporation of the Eastern cultures into

the West started specifically in the ‘60s movement when freethinking, feminism, and new

idealism emerged. These principles were influenced heavily by the Eastern religions,

specifically Hinduism and Buddhism, in addition to the Indian culture itself. Since then,

while it has diminished, the hippie subculture still holds true to many aspects of Eastern

practices. Eastern ideals that are used in these practices typically are not accredited for

properly and are denoted more as a “hip” trend for Westerners today, essentially cultural

appropriation—and while the hippie movement receded slightly while 1980s rock pushed
it aside, it has made a large, and surprising, return. The problem with this comeback is

that these so called “hippies” get a bad reputation. Their “freethinking”, as stated before,

is looked at as overtly outspoken activism that is unwelcome in today’s society; and

where we are living in a modern world, different cultures are incorporated in the melting

pot of the West now more than ever. We have since shaped these ancient beliefs and

customs into our modern lives and have diluted these deeply rooted practices to

accommodate us without understanding the cultures themselves.

Firstly, when we talk about “free love” and its relation to the bohemian

counterculture, we see women being used as commodities and the heteronormative

lifestyles that typically followed. There is no equal distribution of power, only a man that

told each woman when, where and how they would be slept with, kept and/or passed

around. The idea of having sex with no boundaries is not necessarily a bad one; it is the

using of body’s as commodities that we see perpetuated over and over again. When

taking a step back and looking at the counterculture and the different aspects that it has

pulled from other places, there is a little speck of Imperialism that surrounds the

movement. Having men as the dominate sex is essentially how the west took over the east

in countries such as India, Malaysia, South Africa and other colonized countries, but

regardless of this domination, women still joined the subculture to somehow define and

defy themselves. Even in the hippie lifestyle today we see a lot of heteronormative

behavior by the acquisition of woman not being held to their highest calling, whether it is

in politics, professional lifestyles or staying at home.

Yoga is also an example, as a practice of both Hinduism and Buddhism that has

found its way into the modern world. It is now not only something that was performed
during the hippie movement of the ‘60s, but is now commonly found in most urban areas

in the West. A gym-membership is now required for a religious experience and

enlightenment. It is no longer an exercise focused on spiritual insight, but instead the

development of tight buns. “The spirituality of Yoga belong to the same dimension,

namely to an experience which stamps itself on the whole life of a person. ‘Experience’,

here, is understood as an accomplished ‘face-to-face’ encounter with the other, in final

responsibility and from the center of his personality, which transforms the one who

experiences, enriching as well as challenging him into a new reality” (Oberhammer 97).

Yoga, as stated by Gerhard Oberhammer, is an experience that is not to be taken lightly.

This understanding is something that is important, and is something that molds the

individual practicing Yoga into a new being, someone who has been enlightened and who

has had an encounter with ‘the other’. Again, Oberhammer states “Yoga is not a rational

reflection of a world view…but a way of salvation, a fulfillment of life, which finds its

determining form in the meditative encounter with the absolute claim of transcendence

over man’s very existence,” and that “The Yoga’s concern is with actual emancipation

from all worldly existence, the actual realization of the final state of human existence,

which is beyond every form of pain, which is understood and the unhindered

manifestation of the transcendent spirit of man” (98). Yoga is meant to be a guide, a

pathway towards Nirvana or the 7th Chakra, Sahasrara. The way to meet ‘the other’ is

encouraged by the religions to be achieved through this type intense meditation and yoga,

not through self-absorption.

In context of the Bodhisattva Incarnate, According to World Religion Stats:

Monotheist, Reincarnation, Etc., 86 percent of our world is religious, and with that many
of the population leaning on some form of written knowledge that is typically relied on to

be taught by some form of a scholar, where is this mindset and misinterpretation

sprouting from? It is in each main religion and with world being religious; it seems

almost silly not to believe in it. Yet these sources have shown insight as to why religion

is contributing to the patriarchy and not only that may be its source. In the reading

Bodhisattva Incarnate there are major points and issues that the author makes, but first

there is defining what the Bodhisattva Incarnate is. Someone who is a Bodhisattva is a

person who has been able to reach nirvana yet delays doing so out of compassion in order

to save suffering beings; Jesus is a good example of a Bodhisattva Incarnate. This is a

practice taught in Buddhism, those that reach this enlightened stage by following the

ways of Dharma, which are the ways of the universe or the teachings of Buddhism, then

they will reach Nirvana regardless. So what is the significance in the hippie movement,

feminist movement and the discussion of the east vs. the west? It is simple: while such

movements encourage freethinking and acceptance, there is little thought about how

eastern cultures might view this. Uma Narayan’s The Project of Feminist Epistemology:

Perspectives from a Nonwestern Feminist shows a lot of insight into the post-colonial

days of how feminism works in India from by distinguishing the beliefs and opinions of

Western feminism versus Nonwestern feminism ideals.

As for the queer movement and how it has been affected by certain eras, we see

an increasing amount of heteronormativity as stated earlier. Regardless of the west’s or

east’s ideals on sexuality, there is an ever growing sense of acceptance. Yet, when it

comes to the past, there are patterns of sexuality among the queer community that have

been shunned because of heteronormativity. Even during the hippie movement, lesbians
were still seen as commodities to the community in a sense of bodily function, instead of

commodities for political or activist gains. So when it comes to addressing the different

aspects of colonialism and how it may have shaped how we view other cultures in the

lens of western feminism, it is difficult to try and assert oneself into other’s cultures.

When Narayan talks about western and nonwestern feminists there is an obvious

dichotomy, she states that: “—there is no tension for western feminists between being

critical of the experiences that their societies have provided for omen and finding things

to value them.” But she goes on to states about how there is a risk for them to find a

balance. Essentially, what is right for one group does not equal a universal truth for all.

The piece of work known as “The Impact of Marginalizing Women in the Islamic

Movement” by Waheeda Carvello is an article that expands on the ideas of the Qur’an

and how woman have been impacted in the world of Islam. Carvello specifically goes

into details about the six hadiths, which are acts of the prophet Muhammad that were

compiled into the Kutub al-Sittah and writes on how women are essentially ignored in the

Islamic religion on a basis of respect when it comes to the Qur’an. As in most other

religions, they only see and hear what they want to. Lastly, in 2011 according to

“Hundreds across Israel protest against religious marginalization of women in Jerusalem”

by Revital Hovel in an Israeli newspaper known as Haaretz a group of protesters spoke

out against the “exclusion of women from public areas”. This all began as a billboard

with a woman was not allowed to be put up, because it was found to be offensive for the

ultra-Orthodox members of the congregation in Jerusalem.

Regardless if that is what is written or not, that is what is interpreted by the over

80 percent of the worlds population that practices religion, because in most religions we
do not see women in places of power. When it also comes to watching women rise to

power in religious institutions she is immediately ridiculed, the same things happen

politically but as stated before: there are many ties to the patriarchy and religion.

To revert back to the idea of Hinduism and its correlation in context to modernity

focuses specifically on how Hinduism is now just another ‘Indian religion’ that has no

cultural significance in the real world other than what has been extracted and deemed to

be useful to the West. Hinduism and modernity’s association with one another shows the

East in a holistic manner. When in actuality the Eastern religions are not sub-points of

each other or relational, but separate from one another with varying disciplines.

“Modernity is not simply the modern world or modern times; it is the theorization of the

modern world. Hinduism… began as an extraneous, external term for the indigenous

religions of India other than the reform movements that become separate, clearly self-

identified, religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism” (Smith 4). Essentially, this is the

concern that is focused on. The true divisions of the religions in India are not all-

inclusive. They are distinct and unique in their own way, not all muddled together as the

West appears to view it through an entirely modern, ethnocentric point of view. A ‘pick-

and-choose’ society is what we currently live in, and we have done exactly that with

these age-old religions. David Smith states that Hinduism began as an ‘extraneous,

external term,’ and looking at the West’s view of the East, it could not be more apparent.

Western Modernity and Eastern Hinduism do not mix, but Hinduism has found a way to

push through narrow-minded barriers to make a name for itself that is separate from

Buddhism; and while most people do not know that Sikhism and Jainism even exist, it is

a step into theorization of the New World and how it functions. As a whole, the hippie
movement has survived a stupendous amount of stress since its first appearance in the

late ‘60s, and while it may have died out marginally, it has since made a large comeback

and is ever-present in modern day society. Because of the influences on Eastern religions,

queer literature and culture, as well as feminism. We have seen this hippie culture grow

and flourish with the old principles of these cultures combined with new idealism. What

is old is now new and exciting once again, tie-dye is ‘in-style’, flowers are worn in

women and men’s hair, and yoga is now an intriguing way to keep the body in shape.

What must be remembered is that these aspects of the hippie movement, while they may

be interesting for modern society, we must not forget the true roots of these practices and

give credit and recognize the ancient Eastern cultures that have influenced this movement

so profoundly.

With great advances in society, we are still on the edge of breaking even with the

queer culture and even the hippie movement. Feminism is constantly berated in media

and even by other women, yet slowly but surely we are moving into more progressive

times. It is now just on us to make sure we progress instead of digress and also be

sensitive to eastern practices while also appreciating their impact on modernism.

 Works Cited

Carvello, Waheeda. "The Impact of Marginalizing Women in the Islamic Movement."

The Impact of Marginalizing Women in the Islamic Movement. Islamic Research

Foundation International, Inc., 2000. Web. 4 December 2015.

Hovel, Revital. "Hundreds across Israel Protest against Religious Marginalization of

Women in Jerusalem." Haaretz.com. Haaretz, 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 December

2015.

"Liberation of Women in Religious Sources by Nelia Scovill." Liberation of Women in

Religious Sources by Nelia Scovill. Http://www.religiousconsultation.org, n.d.

Web. 14 Nov 2015.

Narayan, Uma. The Project of Feminist Epistemology: Perspectives from a Nonwestern

Feminist. N.p.: Rutgers UP, 1989. Print.

Oberhammer, Gerhard. Philosophy of Religion in Hindu Thought. Ed. Anand Amaladass.

Delhi: Sri Satguru, 1989. Print.

Smith, David. Hinduism and Modernity. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003. Print.

Tien-Wen, Chu. "Bodhisattva Incarnate." Angelwings: Contemporary Queer Fiction from

Taiwan. By Fran Martin. Honolulu: U of Hawai'i, 2003. N. pag. Print.

"World Religion Stats: Monotheist, Reincarnation, Etc. Bruce PhC." World Religion

Stats: Monotheist, Reincarnation, Etc. Bruce PhC. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.