22 January, 2006
: A Punk Fiasco
Ok I tried doing this on blogger but it just refused to load. So much for Firefox. xP anyhows, I was just doing some thinking, knowing me, always thinking too much, and was reading Bad Religion's essay on the so called Punk Fiasco. So everyone knows I'm seeing a punk, and lately I've been hanging out with hardcore punk dudes and some people are questioning me like "Don't you think punks are scary?" or some sort u know? And when they find me going to gigs and see some of my bruises cuz sometimes we just get pulled into the moshpit, they ask why I'm chilling with so called "barbarians". AND some idiots even asked "Are u a punk rock girl, mar?"
Laugh.
Laugh now.
Ok let me get this straight to all those who get freaked out by my blue hair, by the badges given to me by maomao, by my tall intimidating darling with (now) purple hair and his adorable sense of dressing.
I, am
not a punk. I cannot define the whole true meaning of 'punk' as it is, because it's a whole subculture and to define it, I'd have to do an extensive study of which I haven't. and I'm not one of those who stray around the edges of something and just claim I know every bit of it. So whatever I say here, comes from the limited knowledge I have on this interesting subculture that I read up on, and ofcourse, from my own opinion. So if anyone reading this gets unhappy with whatever that's been said, feel free to email me
here.So I believe that all of us are smart people, yes?
So I presume all of us know what social norms are, yes?
Well I learnt, that social norms
do have their own power exerted onto society, but this, we cannot feel unless we rebel. Social norms form the basis of a society, forming regular patterns in our lives. Most of us carry on with life as it is, with a desire in us to be socially accepted. At times we get
blinded by this desire and conform to every will and fancy of society and become
almost robotish. OK putting that in nicer words, we've somehow learnt to stop asking questions and go through life, acting out our specific parts that society has incurred upon us. Now, an ideology in this 'punk' subculture is to do the opposite. No, I'm not saying they go all out against society to destroy the whole system government, the idea that they have is to question more on the reasons to why society wants us to be and act in a certain way, and in this way, they create a certain kind of
individuality.
Does that sound familiar to u and me?
If it does, u can call yourself a punk too, because punk doesn't only consist of those with studded leather jackets and crazy hairdos. The whole punk ideology comes from within, meaning, even I could be a punk, if I think and act as an individual and
not conform to what everyone else wants me to be.
What punks desire on the other hand, is to beseech the world to question social norms, to provide reasons as to why the rest of us are relenting to the wants of people who don't even matter.
And since blogging in Singapore has been put on a leash, I can't really mention specific examples that include our Big Brother, if you know what I mean. (if you don't kindly email me or add me up on MSN and we shall talk.) Ok anyhows, we all know that sg has got one media, so now how, how would anyone even try to go against this monopoly? Hence, there is a sort of alternative communication network (and in the words of Anti-flag:
underground network) that has been created to spread the word on political issues, on social repression, on individuality and this, is done mostly through
songs (e.g. Anti-Flag, Bad Religion, Propaghandi, Thought Riot) and also through underground newsletters or what they call
zines and also ofcourse through the internet as well.
Now you ask,
what's with the outrageous wear???? =) well I have a few opinions on this. Bringing this all down to a more personal level, all of us know now that I have a punk boyfriend, and many of you who have seen him lately might think "what's so punk about him?" cos Mao seldom adorn his leather jacket and such and here's one of my opinion. Being a punk
doesn't mean you're forced to wear such things. The leather jackets and funny patches on pants DO have meaning to it but that I shall try to explain later. Here what I'm trying to say is that, a girl who's being forced to go to church by her parents every Sunday and does so with Lime Green Mohawk and a "There is NO GOD" shirt (no racism intended here. This is for the sake of an example) is as punk as a professor who has conflicting views with the rest of his colleagues and sticks by his own opinion. As I've said before, being punk isn't being barbaric or rebellious, it just means having your own opinion, breaking away from social oppression. So yes, once again, I repeat: both you and I are punks in our own way, if we stick by our beliefs and our principles.
[I would like to thank Greg from Bad Religion at this point for his splendid ideas.]Anyway, back to the subject of clothes and spikes. Many times I've asked the people I meet, ok the punks I meet, about their hair. Their clothes, everything. And generally even I have mixed views on this but let's just try to be objective here. Alright, several answers that's been given and some I absolutely hate because they're just being plain stupid like, oh "cos it's cool." (laugh now.) but really what I learned is that the purpose of all their outrageous clothing is such that. To outrage people. Ok that was being a teeny bit harsh but it's part of a process called "Shock Culture". Recall what I said earlier about beseeching the society about their norms and such, and through their own sense of fashion, they wake the society up, and show them that being normal isn't always being smart. And why patches, and such? Well this whole punk subculture is to suit everyone, from the oldest richest man to a young kid from a broken home. so yes this whole diy concept is so that anyone and everyone can afford it. If you think it's stupid, try being the only kid in class without a father, with hardly any money for yourself, trying to compete with jocks wearing Ralph Lauren shirts and Armani jeans, and further more, getting
ostracized cos you can't afford to go to that party or catch the latest talkies on show. Further more, having things made by your own hands gives enables you to create something of which is truly yours, hence again, directing again the whole idea of
individuality.
I, for one, am very much
against violence. I hate fights, let alone wars. And if I haven't mentioned before, punks aren't violent people. We learn from cartoons and from media and books that there are so many different kinds of "fights". Ok so let's take this into consideration: If I decide to murder someone, out of sheer anger for stealing my shoe, for example, what would that make me?
A murderer.
But if I decide to join the army, fly over to Iraq and kill innocent civilians I've been ordered to kill, just so some supreme authoritative body can take over a country for their own personal gain, what am I?
A hero.
The lines that exist between social norms, aren't clear cut. And here, let me try to explain the common misconceptions people get about punks being so called "violent" and "barbaric". If a bunch of punks start beating up an innocent bystander, for being too "normal" then yes, I would think that's definitely wrong and
foolish. But think about this, when you're the only one in school, without that crisp new pair of pants and that splendid ironed shirt, and you get beaten up for being "out of klass" then here's where I figure a fight, if any other methods proves to be a failure, is necessary. This is the kind of fight to show these so called superiors that knowledge
isn't the display of expensive clothes, or limited edition shoes, to show that everyone deserves a place in this world. But ofcourse, I'm not encouraging anyone to fight "for their right" here, you've really got to think it through. Fights aren't always worth it. (especially for me, I hate violence.)
And then there's the idea of "anarchy". Now, this, I'm not too sure about because I haven't done a whole reading-up on. But anarchy consist of a society without government, run by the own free will of the people. Or what some may call "freedom". But what most people tend to forget is that, this freedom that they seek comes with
discipline. Moral ethics are still important in the idea of anarchy. Anarchy does not give you the right to kill someone and walk away scott free. What "anarchy" actually focuses upon is putting the need of the people before anything else, hence the absence of the government.
Adorning thousands of badges, and those "punk-wear" or so you call it, doesn't make you a punk. Unless you wear these with the proper purpose and understanding of the whole sub-culture, you're just a fashion-victim, mindless in every way. The same idea goes to those who think drinking and smoking will earn you higher social points cos it's oh so cool, well you're wrong. (wth, I'm a smoker. O_o hehe) Just as those who think the more girls you score with shows just how popular you are, well you're wrong. And those of you who do wear your studded jackets and look down on those who don't, but still claim yourself to be a punk, please refresh your whole knowledge on this subculture. Being a punk includes the idea of being
open-minded, towards the differences in people. Being open minded does not mean you have to agree to opposing ideas, it just means accepting and acknowledging the different types of mindsets that exist around you, learning from reputable and righteous ones as well as questioning them for your own benefit.
I've tried my very best to summarize and put together the whole idea of punk to make it easy for the majority to understand, and I hope you people do. I think all of us could do with a little less discriminating. I believe that we should all read up on what we do not know about rather than create misconceptions that lead to judgmental views on people. We have enough wars in the world already. We do not need one amongst ourselves. We're all people. We exist together, so why can't we do it
peacefully?
=)