Half a Century of Punk – Where Are We Now With the Most Influential of Subcultures?
One of the most prominent and iconic scenes is now in its fifth decade, and members of the scene explore how it has survived or even thrived.
With decades between now and its conception, the punk subculture has evolved from a small group of people wishing to stay away from conformity, to a larger group sharing art, music and left-wing beliefs. As the mainstream media caught on, more people picked up on the movement and punk snowballed into the iconic subculture it is today.
Originally formed as a group of art students, musicians and creatives, punk was created to stray away from commercialisation, whether that was via anticapitalist ideologies, alternative art or underground gigs. However, mainstream media inevitably picked up on this and both deterred and encouraged people to interact with the punk subculture. This is where punk began to change.
The Museum of Youth Culture describes the emergence of punk as a ‘negation of pretty much everything’ – groups of young people going against the grain to live an alternative lifestyle away from authority. As more people from suburbs and provinces caught onto the movement, the subculture diversified and continues to exist today. It is argued that this caused punk to die, or in fact flourish and grow – so which one is it?
Russ Bestley is an author and leading member of the Punk Scholars Network, and spoke of the stereotypes of punk in the mainstream media. “There’s a distilled mythology which tends to put punk in a box,” he explained. “They [the media] take the idea that punk was anticapitalist without allowing the range of influences that filtered into punk to be placed into the same equation.”
After all, ‘punk’ was originally a media term pigeonholing the subculture that stereotyped it into a diluted form. Punk was, in reality, a range of creatives expressing their identities and beliefs under one huge umbrella term. Hebdige, another punk scholar, argued that mainstream coverage is when punk began to fizzle out. Russ explains that past this point, “the public became more aware of it and then it became more style-led.” But does this mean that punk died, or just found other means of surviving?
Russ thinks this allowed the subculture to flourish. Mainstream coverage of punks made them want to reject authority even further, creating “gnarlier, nastier” movements such as the hardcore era of the 1980s. New bands, artists and fashion icons emerged from this era. Anything to distance themselves from the general population was carried out.
A key topic in the conversation of punk as a subculture is class, which is heavily touched upon within the punk ideology. The working-class had a huge voice in the scene, with a strictly conservative UK government making them feel as though they had no place in everyday society. This influx of people was picked up on by the media, portraying punks as working-class yobs. This became yet another stereotype, but not all people in the subculture were of a working-class background.
In Russ’ opinion, the working-class element of punk was seen as a pose, but as more working-class people came into the scene, it became a very important aspect as they tied in with the anti-capitalist, anti-corporation beliefs that many members of the community subscribed to. However, many people were middle-class, coming from private schools, grammar schools and art schools.
So it’s clear that punk has space for everyone within its community; anyone that is not willing to conform. However, there are some boundaries when it comes to being a so-called ‘true punk’. Russ described going to a music school to form a punk band as “an anathema. I thought the whole idea of punk was to get up and do it, you don’t learn how to do it.”
“You might be terrible, but you had a go. I think that’s what inspired so many other people. It’s now become kind of a route through a music school, which I’m pretty cynical about.”
Class appropriation has even been called out by other artists, especially modern punk band Idles. An Irish-British band, Idles cover a lot of topics, such as class and the Tories, despite leading member Joe Talbot growing up in a comfortable, middle-class background. The Sleaford Mods said that Idle’s self-portrayal was insulting, with the lead singer even going on to say “I don’t like them at all”. In speaking with new Midlands punk band My Last Duchess, guitarist Baz discusses this issue.
“I think Idles get a pass because they make great music and have good messages and are trying to do their own thing,” he went on to explain. “They don’t give a fuck about what you think or where they are from.” So with the punk community so divided in opinion of class, is it still a truly unified subculture?
One thing that many seem to agree on is the disliking of Yungblud, a pop-punk artist who grew up in a wealthy family and went to a private school. He has been accused of putting on a stronger Doncaster accent to emulate relatability and ‘commonness’, an odd phenomenon which has rubbed many, including Baz, the wrong way.
“I think Idles have a more prominent identity since they’re an actual band – Yungblud is just a solo act with a band. Because of this Yungblud seems as if he’s trying to be the paradigm of the scene whereas Idles just exist as members of the scene”. The term ‘poser’ tends to be thrown around a lot with Yungblud and his performances.
Jess, lead singer of My Last Duchess, speaks on modern bands that she believes promote the original punk ideology, such as The Muslims, who “not only make bangers but also speak out about racism and far-right ideology which is dangerously on the rise these days”. The coverage of such topics has been prevalent since the origination of punk – one group of people against bigots and authoritarians.
Perhaps bands such as The Muslims are welcome faces in punk, bringing a larger range of experiences to a predominantly white, male scene. Although since the seventies punk has been embellished with anti-racist ideology, iconic UK punk bands and artists are almost all white.
Feminism in the subculture was originally severely lacking, but now more and more female-fronted punk bands are appearing, and My Last Duchess is a prime example of this. Jess goes on to speak about how the audience for female-led punk bands today are lively and plentiful, but also considers that it may be due to the “fetishisation of women in rock”.
Jess also spoke about her personal identity as a white, cisgendered woman. “My femininity might be considered ‘more palatable’ for potential bigots who wouldn’t be able to cope if I was, say, trans or black. There’s definitely a privilege that comes with being white and not super visibly queer – at least until I open my mouth and start singing about how much I love women!”
In the 1990s, Riot Grrrl was a direct juxtaposition to the sexism faced in the punk subculture. Since then, more and more bands appeared that fought against the sexism experienced within the scene – making punk grow into an even wider community with its inclusivity ever-growing. This has allowed punk to become the voice for a huge amount of oppressed minority groups, feeding into its anti-corporate ideology further and further.
A huge part of punk is its fashion. There is a clear image that the punk culture has followed, and it is one of the most recognisable styles of fashion in the world – tartan skirts, patches and chains spring to mind. Liam, fashion blogger and punk culture enthusiast, spoke of the resourcefulness of punk fashion.
“I do like the idea of the original punk ethos. Coat got a hole in it? Go and get some safety pins to put it back together.” He then talked about the Winter of Discontent – which included bin strikes in 1979 – where rubbish piled up on the streets and London boroughs introduced green and pink bin bags to “gentrify” the rubbish. Some punks took these bags and fashioned them into clothing, with this ethos being described by Liam as “well we don’t have much money, but fuck it, let’s just make that into a garment.” It was important for punk fashion to emulate the current issues they faced within the world.
It is a common phenomenon that larger fashion brands catch onto these movements and capitalise from them, which is much the same with punk. High street clothes brands such as Primark, Topshop and H&M have hordes of band t-shirts on their shop floors – and this is not a new phenomenon. Liam compared this to the grunge movement in Seattle, where “people would wear flannel shirts because they are thick and warm, then that became a fashion item so it ended up on catwalks.”
Whilst there still is a DIY, underground punk movement, high street shops and brands are selling clothing that originated from the punk scene. Recently fast fashion brands such as Shein are selling tartan, safety-pinned skirts and studded tops for very low prices. These brands are known for their unethical means of production which directly contradict the ideologies of punk. Liam noted that “personally I don’t think any punk would buy from Shein”.
Punk culture has a vast and embellished history, with a very strong set of viewpoints. As time has gone on, more subcultures have been created under this umbrella, in some ways strengthening the community, but other aspects have came out that are the opposite of what it means to be a punk, such as artists like Yungblud, class appropriation and fast fashion brands emulating punk style. There is a clear divisiveness in the punk scene today.
But does this divisiveness mean that punk is splitting apart? Are punks gatekeeping too much, causing the subculture to fizzle out? Sexism still rages on in the punk subculture and society as a general. Is this ruining punk for a large group of people?
Social media has proven to be the ideal medium for people in the punk community to share their beliefs, events and creations. A space with minimal restrictions, it acts as an online platform where punks across the world can interact with each other – bringing a new spark into the subculture. Creators such as Erin Micklow on TikTok (with a modest 6.8 million likes on her page) educate others on hairstyles, fashion and music, pushing the punk agenda further – even in the present day.
There is still a huge community of punks today, whether that is shown in art, fashion or music. From speaking to these three groups of people, it can be seen that the punk subculture continues to grow and diversify. Even though the movement hasn’t strictly stuck to its roots, punk continues to refresh and bring new faces, beliefs and perspectives onto the scene.
Much unlike the stereotypical, one-sided representation of punk in the mainstream media, the subculture is an umbrella for people who wish to express their liberal beliefs and personal identity. This allows so much space for punk to grow, and continue growing, as a community.
Click here for the Punk Scholars Network website.
Feature image by Yorgos Kourtakis via Flickr Commons Licence CC BY-SA 2.0.
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