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Matthew Roy
Professor Kaz
March 17, 2014
English 114B
Research Paper
Misunderstood, rejected, labeled and stereotyped are all what the subculture Juggalos
go through on a daily basis. Is there no justice for these Juggalos? But who are These
Juggalos? Juggalos (feminine Juggalette or Juggala in spanish speaking countries) is a name
given to the fans of the group insane clown posse or any other psychopathic records hip-hop
group. These Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang and other characteristics which
all have lead to be labeled wrongly as a gang. Juggalos are extremely misunderstood in society
today leaving them with tremendous social issues such as, being considered a ruthless gang
just like any other, being stereotyped as drugs addict low lifes, and being looked at overall as a
waste of a culture as a whole. Some people may argue that the Juggalos bring it upon
themselves for all the hatred and misunderstanding, but These all must be brought to attention
for change to given the Juggalos to be looked upon with equal eyes just as any other subculture
out there.
First within my research I found that the juggalos have been labeled by multiple states
such as California, Arizona, Utah and Pennsylvania as a gang. The fact that Juggalos come in
outrageous numbers, wear similar clothing called Hatched gear and paint their faces does not
mean they should be labeled as a gang. As stated by Joseph Serna, Fans of the group -- also

known as "Juggalos" -- claim they get harassed by local authorities from California to Tennessee
for wearing group-inspired tattoos and clothing. This clearly is profiling, Profiling - The
recording and analysis of a person's psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess

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or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of
people - Dictionary. In order to end this profiling and labeling these fans as gangs the police
need to observe the fact that these Juggalos do not gangbang as the others so, and do not actually
harm innocent people or families. With the ending of a lawsuit that was placed in Michigan the
Juggalos gang label has slowly lifted.
Juggalos are drug addicts. Juggalos are lowlifes. Those are two of the many stereotypes
that are being placed on this subculture. Are these stereotypes true? No. In my research I found
that most Juggalos are nice people who live average lives, have regular jobs, attend school and
some even have families that they take care of. After watching on Youtube the documentary
American Juggalo - often mocked and misunderstood subculture provided by The Documentary
Network, I found that people only notice the bads of the Juggalos such as the few who are
actually doing these drugs but most are just free spirited and dont really need the drugs to
express themselves. They simply express themselves through the music they listen to and how
they dress. During the documentary at 17:30min a small group was interviewed at the Gathering
of Juggalos and one replied saying We are all are Juggalos, we all graduated from college and
we all have never touched drugs before in our life. In order to rid of these unfair judgments and
stereotypes I believe that one must actually walk in the shoes of a Juggalo and get to know who
they are and what they truly are about. Also to clear this stereotype the Gathering of Juggalos
must not be terminated. Having being known for being a drug hub and a mecca for extreme mosh
pits and brawls the Gathering of Juggalos has been a target of cancellation. With undercover
police hidden within the crowed they report all of the possible drug use. This does no justice for
example just as big raves such as EDC, Nocturnal and Beyond all have heavy drug users at these
events, what gives the right to shut down the Gathering for drugs and not the raves as well?

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Next it is a very common idea for people to believe that the Juggalo subculture is a waste
of time, effort and worthless with no meaning. On the contrary, the Juggalo culture is just a
meaningful as every subculture, such as hippies, or even skaters. This is where is
misunderstanding kicks in at its fullest. All the Juggalos are doing is expressing themselves in
their own way, that way. That way may be different from the average eyes, but the paint they
place on their faces, the shredded clothes and the way they act when music is playing is a form of
art to the Juggalos not just a crazy idea. As I found in my research in an article, written by
Lauren Vino, a British painter by the name of Lucy Owen found the true beauty within the
Juggalos culture and exposed it through huge painting and murals in the first ever Juggalo art
gallery. As stated but Lauren vino Her pieces, acclaimed by both the art and Juggalo
communities, are based on observations from the Gathering of the Juggalos held this past July
This british artist has really captured the the Juggalos world through her own experiences and not
through the eyes of the media. Lucy Owen explains,I needed to find out what everyone thought
was so offensive about them, The number of positive Ive heard about interactions with
Juggalos since coming to Detroit is incredible, Lucy Owen says. In order for all eyes to be so
open with the Juggalo culture it is needed for them to go out and experience it first handed. As an
example in my research I spoke to a Juggalo who lives in my neighborhood. I asked, How does
it feel that Juggalos are labeled as violent, drug addicted people who are wasting time? His
response was, I know exactly what you are saying, and it is disgusting to me. People dont
understand that It is not what they think it is. Yes, I have tried the drugs but that Is not what it is
all about. Its about coming together under one cause.
What is that cause?, I asked.

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To fucking Rock out the insane clown posse, fuck all the other bullshit, Most of us have
families to watch out for. he replied. This shows to me in my research that the quote is true,
Never Judge a book by its cover.
Many people may disagree saying Juggalos are what they show to the world at first
glimpse. Yes I can agree that there have been many arrest during the Gathering of Juggalos, and a
hand full of assault cases issued by performers. For example rapper Method man was assaulted
with a bottle while he was performing on stage during the Insane Clown Posses Gathering of the
Juggalos. People look at this as a crime and an act of unnecessary violence. Ask yourself the
question. Doesn't that happen at a lot of concerts? The artist getting objects thrown at them? As
another example YG concerts get shot up every single time he performs but nobody complains or
called for justices to be served in the court room. What makes Juggalos so different? Also the
media plays a huge role in manipulating the thoughts and ideas towards the Juggalos culture,
especially with first impressions. As I interviewed my roommates I ask them a few general
question to gather information.
Me: Who are the Juggalos to you?
Roommate: They are freaks to me.
Me: Why?
Roommate: My first impressions of the Juggalos was a weird one because of all the crazy things
I saw them doing online.
This is a prime example of how the media and focus on the negatives and never the positives of
the out of the box cultures.
In conconclusion the Juggalo subculture is just a huge group of individuals that are
expressing themselves through unusual face paint ,in which they consider to be an art, and wild

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concerts letting their free spirits take over. All in all they are terribly misunderstood all over the
world. With the police labeling them a gang just because they are fearful of something so
different that is so huge they cant handle the fact that the Juggalos are together as a culture and
not a gang. Also the world needs to look past the fact that some Juggalos do drugs, just because
few do drugs it does not mean all do drugs. Overall The Juggalo culture is an art that should not
be discriminated against so quickly. Give the Juggalos a chance and it may change world.