The Hegemony of Punk
When you see the word “punk”, what comes to mind? Loud music played in a grungy basement or seedy bar? Leather, spikes, and ripped jeans? Hair styled in almost every shape or color imaginable, just so long as it doesn’t fit any mold you might see in a fashion magazine?
While all these images are certainly symbolic of the hardcore punk movement of the 70’s and 80’s, the very fact that there is a stereotypical look associated with punk both by those who consider themselves punks and those who don’t is telling of a betrayal of the movement’s original philosophy.
While there have been a plethora of punk ideologies that have developed since the movement began to achieve some prominence in the mid-70’s with bands like The Clash and the Sex Pistols, the core idea of punk was a counter-hegemonic movement promoting individualism, anti-authoritarianism, and a DIY attitude. As Henry Rollins, the lead singer for Black Flag put it, “punk isn’t about mohawks or studded leather — it’s about resistance to tyranny in any form”. While gaining significant recognition with British bands, despite some tracing the origins to several New York groups, the movement quickly gained steam in America when they found a symbol to rally against: Ronald Reagan.
Exemplified in a number of punk songs from the era, but most especially by the Rock Against Reagan tour, in the early and mid-80’s, people were flocking to the punk movement in order to speak out against not only President Reagan but the new wave of conservatism that gave rise to “yuppies” (young urban professionals) and allowed for his election. While this did help to create a unified identity within the punk movement by developing a stronger punk mainstream, this unification created major cracks in the community that was hitherto simply a conglomerate of people with a rebellious ideology. There were punks who supported Reagan and conservative ideologies, with a more anarcho-capitalist outlook. There were punks who didn’t enjoy participating in the sex & drug aspects of the mainstream punk culture (Straight-Edge punks). There were gay punks like Gary Floyd, vocalist for the Dicks, but not all punks were accepting of everyone’s sexuality.
Furthermore, this sudden rise in popularity coincided with a tendency for many of the punk bands to all produce a similar type of punk: hardcore. The movement known for individualism, DIY, and rebellion against the establishment was now experiencing an influx of “outsiders” that were developing a “mainstream” within punk while the music was starting to lose that individual spark. A movement defined by it’s lack of definition was getting taken over and defined, creating an internal hegemony that suppressed the voices of some of the punk ideologies and attacked their platforms. Now, there’s a universal idea, inside and out, of what is “punk” and what isn’t, and by most accounts, it isn’t Rollins’ definition. The mohawks and studded leather do matter, and its debatable if you even need to give lip-service to the opposition of tyranny to be considered “in”.
Punk isn’t dead, by a long-shot. Alive and well in lesser-known bands that refuse the mainstream, or join it only to use the mainstream platform against itself. Alive and well in protests. In people throwing together a science experiment in their yard, regulations-be-damned. In anyone who simply says that in some way, however small, that they aren’t going to listen to what they’re told, and they’re just going to do what they think they should.
However, the punk movement? In many ways, it’s become what it raged against. It’s become defined, has a mold that people need to fit to be “punk”, cares less about what you feel and more about what you wear. As with most counter-hegemonic movements, the hegemony found a way to turn it into another way to make money and keep power.
Just remember: while a dominant ideology can kill the movement surrounding a smaller one, it can’t kill the ideas. Whatever it is you believe in, stick with what it means to you, and don’t let ideas of what it should be bog you down.
