punx_

A Punk muses on sub-cultures, being different and how society reacts to it.

It's been in the news recently that Manchester Police will be treating future cases of violence against "alternative sub-cultures" (Goths, Emos, Punks etc..) as hate crimes. I do of course support this, violence against anyone because they're different is always deplorable, and the protection given on the basis race, religion, sexuality should extend to those who are distinctly different based on such cultural identities. Some may argue that these sub-cultures are so by choice (personally being punk isn't a choice for me, it's a core part of me) but so is religion, so that argument is null and void.

In addition being punk is so much more than a musical preference for most punks, it's a set of ideals and moral and that influence our worldview, politics and the way we live our lives; in short punk is almost like a religion in that respect. Except that analogy falls down in punks rejection of adherement to rules for the sake of adherement to rules and blind obedience to a supernatural docterine. This is not to say it's nihilistic, quite the opposite, Greg Graffin, the lead singer of Bad Religion, PhD, UCLA Professor and author said a great quote in regards to this

"Challenging authority doesn't mean destroying it for nihilistic purposes, but challenging it in the hope of finding a better solution"

This sums up my attitude perfectly, whilst I will always questions why just for the sake of questioning, the main purpose of challenging and questioning the big and important aspects of our lives will be because by doing so we can find a better way.

But I've seriously digressed.

Now, obviously violence does occur towards sub-cultures that are very visibly different in apperance and clothing, what prompted the Manchester Police to recognise such attacks as hate crimes was the murder of girl in 2007 because she was a goth. There are many other such horrifying tales out there and I'm sure many of us have witnessed or even been on the receiving end of bullying in schools of the kids who were different.

But here is the thing, I have never experienced this prejudice and agrovation because I am punk. I only became visibly punk at age 20 when I started sporting my mohican, I definitely was not punk at school. My friends in my hown city are not punk or even alternative, they really are average joes and for the most part they don't heavily follow trends. They go out to normal bars and clubs and so I regularly find myself in clubs like Oceana, looking punk as fuck with my mohican, custom denim vest, padlock chained around my neck, chained belt, Doc Martens and a band t-shirt.

Here's we get to my point; I have never once been treated with disgust and derision, quite the opposite, I get treated like a celebratey everyone wants to come up and talk to me about my hair or a particular patch on my vest, they all want to touch my hair and have their photo taken with me. Even in my working life I have never encoutered an obstacle because of this, when I was poker dealer and then floor manager at a poker club in my last year at uni I regularly worked with my mohican on display and the punters loved it, we would joke about and I even got a few extra tips because of it and I was still repected as the person in charge when I was the floor manager. In my current job it is also a non-issue, I work in an office which has casual dress rules anyway, but I am free to turn up with my mohican up whenever I wish, I do only ocassionally whenI know there's office drinks after work.

I bring this up because it offers an interesting viewpoint on society today. Groups like goths and emos are still very prominent, in every class there would be at least one and you can be relatively sure that whenever you go out in a city you will see one, but how often do you see a punk? Most new generations coming through are aware of goths and emos from an early age and can easily develop the animosity towards them that comes from their own need to "fit in" at school. However my experience of being punk has been that adults 35+ love it because it reminds them of that brief period where punk was in the maintstream, takes them back to their own youth and they get a kick out of seeing someone my age looking in such a way. Where as everyone younger than that, but mainly under 25 love it because they've never seen anything like it, they didn't encounter it at school so didn't develop a fear of it that leads to the irrational hatred they may offer to goths and emos. It's a complete shock factor and given the rise of that in popular culture anyway, in their eyes I'm probably in the same category as people like Lady Gaga; a lovable eccentric instead of a weird outcast.

Of course not all punks have mohicans, few actually do and I know that many of the other punks I know blend much more seemlessly into general alternative, rock music, skater etc... sub-cultures, so their experiences are different, some are looked down on by others because they dress poorly or are rather ungroomed, others almost blend in with the rest society. Where as I walk this interesting line, of being very different from those around me but treated in a positive way for it, instead of ridicule.

At least this has been my experience in my years punk rocker, my observations of the world around me.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, hope it wasn't too boring