Punk Subculture

While these white punks were able to return to their middle-class, financially stable lives, many minorities had no choice but to live in the cheap apartments they were offered at the time. Although the intention of the white punks may have been to unify all races under the label of ‘punk’, they actually reinforced clear differences between the two groups. The lifestyle became a desired object to white privileged punks into which they launched themselves head-on. The white punks desired to internalize the struggle rather than be contradictory by singing about it and not actually living it. White punks believed that by doing this, they were not only eliminating race within the punk subculture, but they were also furthering their own participation within the subculture by creating a “self-imposed minority”2 and an “appropriation of Otherness”2.

The term “subculture” is defined in the dictionary as “a culture within a broader mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs.” Studying subculture in the perspective of a sociologist, is to understand and comprehend a specific culture. In today’s modern society of America, there are many variety of subcultures that a sociologist can examine from the past or in today’s society. For this paper, the chosen subculture to be investigated is the greaser subculture. Greasers are defined as “a working-class youth subculture that originated in the 1950s among teenagers in northeastern and southern United States.” The paper will discuss the specifics on the origin of the greaser subculture in America along with other factors that came along with it in history.

The early 1960’s to mid 1970s was the start of the counterculture of youth culture. During the 1960’s, there were revolutions including a sexual revolution, a cultural/ racial revolution, a rights revolution, and student revolutions. In addition to revolutions, there also a focus on the transition to adulthood, popularity, consumption, anxiety, and the media. However the movie, American Graffiti, which was set in the 1962 (1960s)–before the peak of 1960’s counterculture–and released in 1973 (1970’s) displays an environment more focused on the anxiety of transitioning to adulthood, dating, and consumerism--music and cars. American Graffiti compared to the set and release dates share similarities with the counterculture, but are depicted in

In this essay, I will be discussing about a social group that took fashion to the next level and create a huge impact in British history were the punks culture during the late nineteen seventies. The punk cultures were to rebel against the government during the great depression and were all about the attitude of the younger generations. During the late nineteen seventies was the time of unemployment and social unrest, a lot of the young white kids felt outcast from the British culture, foreseeing their lives with little prospect and so called “no future”. It was also a DIY “Do it yourself” movement. Younger generation that adopted the punk look often create their own garment by wearing safety pins,

On the other hand, to Graffin, it was a group that he longed to be apart of and to relate to his sense of self. He has difficulties contributing to his different social groups in which Allport mentions this idea, proclaiming that, “Adolescents may view their neighborhood gang as a far more important in-group than their school” (5). This links the two theories together in a sense that an identity role cannot be without an in-group for an individual to honor that role. The hardships Graffin faces at a young age influences his in-group decisions. The punk group bonds over hardships, sex, drugs, and voices their opinions. The group colors their hair, wears tight jeans, and the color black is often represented. Consistently, they are often found disagreeing or questioning the presence of authority figures because of their strong passion as nonconformists. Nevertheless, as Graffin grows up he changes overtime by keeping the same thoughts on the punk subculture, but he moves on with his life in pursuing education. The poverty and divorced parents are Graffin’s ascribed status, but his achieved status is not only becoming punk. It is also earning his master’s degree and continuing his education. Continuing to care for his subculture lifestyle, he wants to better the punk community to be more of a gateway for people to express emotion. Furthermore, he wants to teach

Into –, subculture, refer to quote • Fashion, specifically between the 1950s and 1980s, played an extremely essential role in the construction of people’s identities and was often or not a way of expressing somebody’s personality and perhaps their current feelings. • Subcultures, especially post world war two, formed as individuals felt as though they were not part of the mainstream, consensual society. Fashion and style was very important to these subcultures as their alternative or quirky sense of style allowed them to be set apart from everybody else. • As time went on these stereotypical styles evoked certain ideologies and their fashion sense provided ‘outsiders’ with almost a ‘shortcut to meaning’ (Richard Dyer, 1979) of what the subcultures stood for, what their values were, and

Subcultures are around us everywhere. It’s a group within a larger culture, who have something in common. An example of this would be in ‘Body Ritual among the Nacirema’ which is a story filled with weird perspectives and traditions. Including the charm-box of the household shrine and the medicine men that have an imposing temple, or latispo. Culture is such a strong aspect in people as it determines how a person behaves and does things, which is shown in this book. The Nacirema people are not so far off from us modern day Americans.

The definition of a subculture is a culture within a culture where a group develops distinctive norms and values that are different from those of the mainstream culture.

The attitude common in the subculture is the resistance to selling out, which means abandoning one’s values and changing in musical style toward pop to embrace anything that’s mainstream capitalist culture in the exchange for money, status, or power. Punk rocks’ common thinking wasn’t only anti-authoritarism, and not selling out but also non-conformity, direct action, and a DIY ethic. The DIY attitude was pointed towards stepping forward and speaking without any restraint. To fight with warrior qualities to achieve what you were striving for. The kind of thinking and motives for punk rock subjects was to not settle for what society made acceptable and standard but to think and work outside of the box that was holding them in.

A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviours, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a countries trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. I will use evidence from the CCCS (Marxists), Parsons, Pollemous and Bennett.

Most of the original rebellion was directed towards the British class structure. They wanted to express their disapproval of the structure that governed their country. In The Jam’s “Eton Rifles”, the band sarcastically attacks the upper class, calling them arrogant and preaching to them that rugby is the only thing making them strong (Punk 68). The Sex Pistols’ album “God Save The Queen” portrays the Queen of England with a safety pin through her nose on their cover. The reaction to this outburst of shocking rebellion from the mainstream society was a strong, displeased one. American writer Greil Marcus defined punk as, “…refusing the future society has planned for you.” Thousands of social misfits attempted just that. Through the many causes for this rebellious political expression: communism, anarchy, feminism, etc., the punks of England had a focus and a reason. It was this that made the “punk” a valid, yet undesired member of society, and the British public got to see this sociological change first hand (Chamberlain par.8). Although this movement was short lived, its impact was a phenomenon, and its effects were long- lasting, which distinguished this group from previous generations.

Culture is the ways of thinking, acting and the material objects that form a people’s way of life. Within each culture there are many subcultures, which are cultural groups within a larger culture with similar beliefs. Many times, the subculture a person belongs to provide him/her with a sense of identity and belonging. Subcultures are characterized by their origin and the characteristics that define it. While growing up I belonged to many different subcultures, but my main one was my gymnastics competitive team. This was definitely the most influential and time-consuming subculture I was a part of and is considered a special interest subculture. Along with its origin, subcultures

With the economic decline and availability of jobs with upward movement, a culture of youths formed in Britain that challenged the ideals and cultural norms of the generations that came before them. A consistent movement from traditional society through youth subcultures brings light through the eyes of the musicians that describe their generation’s feelings of homelessness in an era filled with unemployment, low wages, and violence. The insurgence of the counterculture movement, poor economic conditions, and the commercialization of previous Rock and Roll music in Britain directly led to the punk subculture because it allowed youths to speak up about their conditions and frustrations through an easily understood and accessible medium while maintaining a different stance than their predecessors.

Subculture refers to a minority of individuals who adhere to different rules, dress codes and lifestyle choices from mainstream culture. Throughout this essay the traditional definitions of subcultures, that mainly concentrate on class and style as their main features, will be looked at and explained. It will then be demonstrated how these ways of thinking are no longer relevant to the 21st century therefore the term 'subculture ' needs to be rethought for it to be an applicable category in the 21st century.

The term “subculture” refers to a group of people who have similarities between them, and these similarities distinguish them significantly from other social groups. The similarities do not mean religious or political affiliation. These groups have different beliefs than the main culture and are youth oriented. These subcultures have their own styles of music, ideology,