PUNKS

Bold, Distinctive, Loud

Punk rock subculture began in the United States in the early 1970s as an outgrowth of the 1960s
counter-cultural movements. Although punk music was largely an American invention, punk style
and attitude was very much a product of British youth culture. Punk began as a reaction against
the music, idealism, and aesthetics of the 1960s hippie movements, but can also be seen as a
continuation of the political and stylistic changes of the 1960s.

IDEOLOGIES (principles and values expressed through music)

In its original nature, the punk culture has been primarily concerned with individual freedom,
which tends to create beliefs in concepts such as individualism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism
and free thought. Punk ideologies are usually expressed through punk rock music, punk zines,
independently-published literature and spoken word recordings.

Punk culture originated as a movement of shock, rebellion, and discontent; and from certain
points-of-view, it has evolved into a socio-political movement. Lyrically, punk bands often express
discontent with the individuals and institutions that influence society. The political ideology most
often associated with punk is anarchism; however, punk has also been associated with other
leftist ideologies such as social liberalism, socialism and communism. Despite the association
that punk ideologies have with the left wing, some punks perceive the efforts of leftists as
ineffectual, and sometimes just as objectionable as the right wing. Right-wing ideologies have
appeared within punk culture, including conservatism and neo-Nazism. One representative of the
Britains punk subculture is the band, Sex pistols, whose song, God saves the queen sums up,
in a sarcastic manner, the ideas of liberty(Don't be told what you want/Don't be told what you
need), anarchism(God save the queen/We mean it man/We love our queen/God saves ) and
anti-consumerism(God save the queen/'Cause tourists are money ).The song was released
during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. The lyrics were controversial at the time, and
both the BBC and the Independent refused to play the song. It reached number one on
the NME charts in the United Kingdom, and made it to number two on the official UK Singles
Chart as used by the BBC. This led to accusations by some that the charts had been "fixed" to
prevent the song from reaching number one.

Philosophical ideologies within the punk subculture include atheism, agnosticism and humanism,
as well as religious ones such as Christianity, Islam, the Rastafari movement and the Hare
Krishna movement (especially amongst 1980s straight edge scene)

ANTI-FASHION

Punk fashion was originally an expression of nonconformity, as well as opposition to mainstream

culture and the hippie counterculture. Punk fashion displays many of the things that punk music
expresses: aggression, rebellion, and individualism. This use of fashion to shock may have been
partly influenced by the Futurist art movement. Early British punk clothes were an example of
polysemy, which is the appropriation of everyday items as clothing (such as safety pins and bin
liners) to change the original meaning of the item. Some punks have tattoos that express
sociopolitical messages. Many punks wear vintage or thrift/charity shop clothing, partly as an
anti-consumerist statement. Some punks dress in an anti-fashion style, which has been
associated with early American hardcore punk bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag.