When Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical first premiered on Broadway in 1968, American audiences didn’t know what to make of it. The story took place in New York’s Greenwich Village, during the 1960s and centered around Claude: a member of a hippie “tribe” who has been drafted into the Vietnam war and must face the choice of whether or not to go to war. While Claude’s story serves as the basic plot, Hair was a variety of topics all meshed into one production, appropriately called, a fragmented musical. “The musical … told of the war in Vietnam, anti-establishment views of youth in America, drugs, civil rights, women's rights, sexual freedom, and free thinking through the voice of a new generation: rock music.” (Young 65). It was a
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The tribe pushed through the conformist conservative box in which their parents lived in by being comfortable with the expression of their sexuality. This allowed them to not only accept themselves, but also accept others regardless of their sexual preference. Gone were the days of sexual repression and shame. The song “Sodomy” has explicitly sexual lyrics describing different sexual acts, sung in a slow melody, almost like a throwback to a romance song of the 50s. Just the fact that the song talked about sex is a testament to the tribe’s view of sex as no longer seen taboo but a form of self acceptance and self exploration: “Masturbation / Can be fun /Join the holy orgy / Kama Sutra / Everyone!” (CITE). This is especially significant since masturbation was something that was considered morally wrong by previous generation, who were often shamed for exploring their own bodies. Masturbation is a liberating experience that allows the individual to get to know themselves and become in tune with their body about their likes and dislikes. Engaging in orgies, shows the tribes rejection of monogamous sex. This sexual practice allowed for exploration of other bodies thus understand pleasures of others. In the inclusion of “Kama Sutra” in the song, implies that the tribe embraces gaining sexual knowledge outside of their cultural norms. This kind of understanding about oneself allows a person to gain self acceptance, which in turn makes it easier to accept
The tribe pushed through the conformist conservative box in which their parents lived in by being comfortable with the expression of their sexuality. This allowed them to not only accept themselves, but also accept others regardless of their sexual preference. Gone were the days of sexual repression and shame. The song “Sodomy” has explicitly sexual lyrics describing different sexual acts, sung in a slow melody, almost like a throwback to a romance song of the 50s. Just the fact that the song talked about sex is a testament to the tribe’s view of sex as no longer seen taboo but a form of self acceptance and self exploration: “Masturbation / Can be fun /Join the holy orgy / Kama Sutra / Everyone!” (CITE). This is especially significant since masturbation was something that was considered morally wrong by previous generation, who were often shamed for exploring their own bodies. Masturbation is a liberating experience that allows the individual to get to know themselves and become in tune with their body about their likes and dislikes. Engaging in orgies, shows the tribes rejection of monogamous sex. This sexual practice allowed for exploration of other bodies thus understand pleasures of others. In the inclusion of “Kama Sutra” in the song, implies that the tribe embraces gaining sexual knowledge outside of their cultural norms. This kind of understanding about oneself allows a person to gain self acceptance, which in turn makes it easier to accept