Review of Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counterculture
"This is the first book to focus specifically on women of the counterculture. It describes how gender was perceived within the movement, with women taking on much of the responsibility for sustaining communes. It also examines the lives of younger runaways and daughters who shared the lifestyle. And while it explores the search for self enlightenment at the core of the counter-culture experience, it also recounts the problems faced by those who resisted the expectations of “free love” and discusses the sexism experienced by women in the arts.
Lemke-Santangelo’s work also extends our understanding of second-wave feminism. She argues that counterculture women, despite their embrace of traditional roles, claimed power by virtue of gender difference and revived an older agrarian ideal that assigned greater value to female productive labor. Perhaps most important, she shows how they used these values to move counterculture practices into the mainstream, helping transform middle-class attitudes toward everything from spirituality to childrearing to the environment.
Featuring photographs and poster art that bring the era to life, Daughters of Aquarius provides both an inside look at a defining movement and a needed corrective to long-held stereotypes of the counterculture. For everyone who was part of that scene—or just wonders what it was like—this book offers a new perspective on those experiences and on cultural innovations that have affected all our lives." --Kansas Press
Interview: Women's Resource Center and Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo
Women's Resource Center--What led you to write about the impact that women in the sixties had on others?
Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo--In recent years, historians have produced a rich body of literature on women's politics activism during the 1960s, detailing women's contributions to the decade, social struggles, how sexism within the New Left and civil rights movements precipitated the resurgence of feminism, and how second wave feminists transformed contemporary political and social relations. To date, however, no similar study has been done on women of the hippie counterculture. Indeed, for decades now, the experience and contributions of the counterculture women have been shrouded in popular misconceptions and stereotypes. When I teach courses on women of the 1960s, I rely on a handful of memoirs, scattered and often ambiguous primary sources and extrapolation from personal experience to fill in their story. My work is intended to fill this gap, and to spark interest in recovering and recording hippie women's stories.
Women's Resource Center--What personal experiences have influenced you to talk about the realities of "hippie women" compared to the social stereotypes?
Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo--During the 1960s my older sisters and cousins were part of the Bay Area counterculture scene. I knew, even at a relatively young age, that they weren't simply flaky, drugged, out and/or sexually loose hippie chicks. They were intent on creating an alternative culture, one that was nonhierarchical, nonviolent, cooperative, anti materialistic, spontaneous, tolerant, emotionally and physically expressive, and respectful of nature. Somehow, I internalized many of their values. I lead a simple, low impact lifestyle. I value community, friendships and a life of the mind more than material possessions. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm an ecofeminist vegetarian. I am a pacifist. And I'm ultra democratic and anti authoritarian. I find these values admirable, and I'm grateful that I was exposed to them.
Women's Resource Center-- How can we apply some of the underlying themes of your book to move counterculture today? What can we, as students, do to promote gender equality?
Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo--It took substantial courage and creativity for counterculture women to reject the materialism, commercialism, elitism, competition, racial and class phobias, and privatism of mainstream American culture. It took even more courage for them to question and seek alternatives to the gender status quo: suburban domesticity, the sexual double standard, and limits imposed on female creativity and physical autonomy. In absence of any role models, they took action, exercising the power of the imagination to affect change. Their example, and that of other 1960s activists, reminds us that collective action far from being outmoded, futile, and, as some have claimed, counterproductive has the power to reshape and even transform society. They also left usable past, a store of practical skills and knowledge that can help us address current issues and problems. Renewable energy alternatives, voluntary simplicity, recycling, buildings, co housing, organic gardening, composting, community supported agriculture, farmers markets, preventative and holistic medicine, bio regionalism, ecofeminism, and earth reverent spirituality all have their roots in the counterculture, and all hold out hope for a more sustainable future.
