Style and Subculture
A subculture of a group of people with a culture which
differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.
Dogtown and Z-Boys, 2001 documentary, mixes original
photography and documentary footage to investigate the zephyr skateboard team.
Financed by vans.
Peggu Oki, female skateboarder, clothing chosen for
practical use, no differentiation between male and female.
Street skating is a political statement. Non passive
consumption of cityscape. Resisting additional usage of city. Redefinition of
urban space.
Skateboarders form a bond, skateboarders live a certain type
of life, replacing family, school. As seen in Dogtown.
Yamakasi, 2001, parkour is used as a way to rob the rich to
give to the poor.
Graffiti is a similar expression of a re-use of public
space. Status is born from your talent and not from how you look.
Graffiti allowed black graffiti artist Prime to hang out
with skinheads.
Swoon, politically motivated artist.
“Girls in subcultures could be more invisible because the
term ‘subculture’ has masculine overtones.” 1977, not really true today.
Female in motorbike culture. Powerful and sexual, ‘not true
to the femininity of the time.’ In reality most girls on motorcycle clubs were
‘addons’ in the bikers lives.
In contrast in mod culture girls and boys tend to dress the
same, neat, tidy clean. Mod fits better into wider culture whereas bikers
(rockers) were messy. Girls could also be a face in the mod culture.
Quadrophenia, 1979, film about tensions between mods and
rockers. And the integration of mod culture into wider culture, ruining it for
them. The idea that there are ‘originals’ and those who follow.
Hippy girls, more likely to be middle class, mods working
class. University education, travel and time for personal expression leads to
hippies. You then have ‘good’ hippy, flower power and bad hippy, rock hippies,
creating their own destruction.
Riot Grrrl, post punk music scene. Modern issues of
empowerment challenged. American north west, music less about music and more
about protest. Do it yourself style songs, not about music but attitude of
female power.
Term Riot Grrl “this summer’s going to be a girl riot”,
girls were involved in 1991 race riots. Zines came from 1970’s punk ethic.
Women start self publishing.
Media attention turns to grunge scene, with Courtney Love
and Hole. Girl power (re-arrives) in Britain as the spice girls. Looses all
aspect of real girl power.
Subcultural signs, punk for example, are commodified and
mass produced, destroying the soul of the punk scene.
Women’s Own runs ‘Punks and Mothers’, featuring punks with
their normal mothers. Takes away idea of rebellion in punk scene, no longer a
real threat to tradition to readers.
In 21st century the hoddie becomes a badge of
baddassery, where you can be unidentifiable and look hard in front of your
friends.
Roger Mayne looks at the teddy boy culture. 50’s style.
Documentary Skins looks at skinheads, seen in This is
England, boy reinvents himself as a skinhead to fit into new area. Political
commentary on difference between style and infiltration of the National Front.
Combo returns from prison and splits the group. Beats up Milky. Links back to
the graffiti artist Primes comment on visiting skinheads.
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