Leila Reyburn (born in 1985) interviews her mother, Annie, about the 1970s. Annie was born in 1953. She remembers a time of protests and rock music.

Music and fashion

Teenagers in the 1970s wore floppy hats, long scarves and colourful clothes which challenged the more formal fashions of older generations. These fashion ideas developed from the 1960s and defied the view that young people should always ‘do as they are told’. Free rock concerts in Hyde Park with groups like the Rolling Stones gave young people the opportunity to express their individuality and growing freedom.

Contraceptive advice and the contraceptive pill allowed young women to be more independent without the fear of an unwanted pregnancy. Some people at the time argued that the morals of young people had been corrupted by ideas of ‘free love’, but Annie believes that young women gained more control over their own bodies and were able to plan for the future.

Annie was involved in protests in the early 1970s. She marched on Downing Street to deliver a petition opposing the involvement of US troops in Vietnam. (In the United States, sentiment against US involvement in the war grew steadily from 1967 onwards and expressed itself in peace marches, demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience. Growing numbers of ordinary people began to question whether the US war effort could succeed and whether it was morally just.)

Police barred entry to Downing Street, and the protesters were forced further up Whitehall where they set fire to posters and placards. What had been a peaceful protest ended with minor scuffles and fighting.

Annie also remembers the trial of the writers of OZ magazine. They were accused of producing a magazine which would corrupt the minds of young people through obscene language and pictures. Annie felt that this trial symbolised the failure of society (represented by the judge in the trial) to understand the values and ideas of a new generation.