Why I Rip My Clothes
11.07.23
A Look Into Punk Culture
From Rocky Horror Picture Show to DIY music venues, what makes something punk? If I spike my hair, am I punk?
By: Mars Wetzbarger
Michelle Caines est. 1980
My rights keep getting stripped, do I have access to my body, to who I love? I have tried to be quiet, to hold my tongue, or do the “right” way of trying to get what I want. But it hasn’t worked. So, I am angry, my rage drives me, and it brings me to people who have also been failed by a broken system. My punk is an escape from the money-driven capitalist society today. From Rocky Horror Picture Show to DIY music venues, what makes something punk? If I spike my hair, am I punk? If I rip my clothes? If I riot? Punk is fueled by rage, it relies on going against the grain. I have found solace in learning about punk culture and participating in the ways I do. But can I be punk when I am forced to operate within a capitalist society?
Gothic Sid and Nancy, NYC, 1986
The birth of punk is rumored to have happened in England after the recession in the mid-1970s. Inflation was high, living standards were low and unemployment was increasing rapidly. This affected many people’s lives, especially those who were already facing economic struggles. The older generation believed the government could bring them back from this, but the youth had no reason to trust a government that took everything from them. “This upheaval was particularly stressful to the young who saw their working-class parents go from having steady jobs to having none,” said April Errickson. Therefore, the youth who had watched their lives change wanted to rebel. Anything that was promoted by the government they wanted to do the opposite and provide a shock value to their actions. To be punk in Britain strictly relied on being anti-establishment, anti-status quo and anti-institutional. The shock value of the way they looked, the music they listened to, and their behavior was the noise they wanted to produce. Music to punks was their ideals put out into mainstream media. The Sex Pistols were an influential British Punk Band that spread punk ideals. During the Sex Pistols’ first television performance, they said “fuck” on the air causing an uproar among the public. Additionally, In their song “God Save the Queen '' they ranted their ideals for England to hear. With lyrics like "God save the queen / The fascist regime / They made you a moron.” This song was then banned from public broadcasting. The Sex Pistols were viewed as a threat and were denounced by Queen Elizabeth II. Even when their song hit the #1 spot on billboards it was seen as a blank space. (1)
SEX PISTOLS June 1st, 1977; Group
portrait on the set of the Pretty
Vacant video shoot L-R Sid Vicious,
Paul Cook, Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones.
The punk scene in the U.S. mirrored England’s timeline. Yet it had less to do with the rebellion of anti-establishment ideals and rather was the birth of the DIY music scene. The DIY music scene was any non-traditional way to view music, whether it was in someone's basement or under a freeway bridge. Where mainstream media failed them in being represented, they chose to make their own scene. Punk culture can rely on this ideal that where society lacks they will do it themselves. These scenes were a way for people to experiment with music and their fashion. The Ramones, The New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground emerged from these scenes. Their stage presence was something new that resonated with teen rebellion and anarchy. In the 1980s, the original movement of English punk began to come to the hardcore scene in New York. (1)
The style of punk is a visual representation of their music. It is the aesthetic of ugliness. It is obscene. Where one may see tattered clothes barely staying together, a punk would see carefully ripped and placed clothing. Punk also doesn’t have gender roles in their clothing. Androgynous clothing allows the community to reject gender roles enforced by societal norms. I wake up and decide my shirt needs a new rip, I play with the androgyny that punk offers. The music is also tattered, but instead of being held together by safety pins, it’s sometimes the same four chords with little rhythm. The music of punk tells their story, their anger, and their motive (2). I often feel the government, school and society have failed me but I have to be able to work within this corrupt system. The world has turned against me, so I turn to punk. Punk music was the core of my journey to finding the culture. The lyrics were something I related to so heavily. The performances were surreal and these musicians became my idles, my escape from the impending pressure of society.
Bristol Punks 1980
The DIY music scene continues to live on. Not only for punks but for artists, impoverished people, the working class and creatives of all kinds. The DIY music scene is where almost any band will start. Playing to drunk college students and the local punk scene. People mosh their way along to a poor melody and a loose rhythm. Punk will never be what it was when it emerged but instead, there is a new version of punk, one that I see here in Bellingham. I track down local DIY music venues to find people expressing their individuality through experimental fashion and music. These venues are the houses that are growing the local punk community to have a space. The clubs on Western's campus that fight against capitalism and the status quo contribute to the growth of punk. On the surface, punks can look like a chaotic bunch of people, but at their core, you find a strong belief system that fuels everything about them. The clothes, music, everything starts to make sense when you are tired of being betrayed by the government and society.
Credits
1.Errickson, A. (1999). A detailed journey into the punk subculture: punk outreach in public libraries.
2. Fields, P. (2019). Antisocial Justice Warriors: Utilising Punk in the Pursuit of Social Justice.
