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[ENG]
Punk is a subculture born in the 70's, which rejects the established rules, mainstream fashion and mass society. It's a movement about music, style and political beliefs.
For the music's part, we could say that punk's situation is sustained. It was never trending topic, neither is now, but the genre is listened to around the world by people of all ages.
The first problem we have is that often the fashion is separated from the movement. It has also happened with goth and hippie, where the esthetics form a culture are used ignoring it's context, and just like that the ideas and the purpouse of their existence are slowly lost. If the movement is ignored it becomes another aesthetic, another trend that will eventually be replaced by another one, feeding the modern consumerism. "Clean punk" and "Clean goth" are examples of how the essence of a movement has been completely erased just to become another micro-trend. And not only that, all of this is endorsed by the fast fashion industry, where workers, including children, are exploded to satisfy this extreme consumerism.
But what I find the bigger issue, it's the rise of neonazism between young people. "What does it have to do with punk?", you may ask. We could say that in the last decades we've improved in many aspects as a society. The situation of minorities that were once opressed, such as women, the LGBTIQ+ community, black people, etc., has improved compared to a few years ago, with laws and social recources that protect them. There's also more cllimatic action, and we're in general going forward.
I mean, obviously there's still a lot to do, that's why there are all kinds of movements that work for change, but that's not the point.
The thing is that in this society that is apparently evolving, there's a part of the population, a group of "rebels" that are against those changes. Most of them being white straight males, they want to go back to those times where they had the most privileges, and they percieve themselves as revolutionaries which duty is to fight against those modern rules that "opress them". Also, with the current econimical situation, people is losing their faith in politics, which makes it easier for the fanatics to increase the possibilities of right and fascist parties. But we will talk about this last thing on another article.
So, going back to the question: Is punk dead? I personally don't think so, it's just that now it faces situations like the danger of getting lost among the trends or being overcomed by the new fascist "punks".
Eventhough, as long as there are injustices to complain over, there will be punk.
[ES]
El punk es una subcultura nacida en los 70's que rechaza las normas establecidas, la moda y la sociedad de masas. Es un movimiento musical, estético y ideologico.
Por lo que hace a la musica, se puede decir que la situación del punk se sostiene. No fue "trending topic" en su momento ni tampoco lo es ahora, pero el genero es escuchado por gente de todas las edades y partes del mundo.
El primer problema que nos encontramos es que se separa la estética del movimiento. Así como sucede con el gótico y el hippie, se aprovecha el estilo de una subcultura sin tener en cuenta el contexto de esta misma, y así poco a poco se pierden las ideas y el proposito con el que se creó. Ignorando el movimiento este se convierte en otro "aesthetic", otra tendencia que eventualmente será reemplazada por otra, contribuyendo así al consumismo moderno. El "Clean punk" o el "Clean goth" són ejemplos de como se ha separado la esencia de un movimiento solo para convertirse en otra moda fugaz. Y no es solo eso, sino que encima todo esto está respaldado por la indústria del "fast fashion", dónde trabajadores, incluyendo niños, són explotados para satisfacer este consumismo extremo.
Pero el que para mi es el mayor problema, es el auge del neonazismo entre los jóvenes. "¿Que tiene que ver esto con el punk?", diràs. Se podría decir que en las últimas décadas hemos mejorado en bastantes aspectos como sociedad. La situación de minorias antes oprimidas como las mujeres, la comunidad LGBTIQ+, los inmigrantes, etcétera, ha mejorado respecto hace unos años con leyes y recursos sociales que los protejen. También hay más acción climática, y por lo general se está avanzando.
Claro está que aún queda mucho por hacer, por eso aún existen todo tipo de movimientos para impulsar el cambio, pero ese no es el punto.
Lo que sucede es que en esta sociedad que aparentemente está evolucionando, hay un grupo, un porcentaje de "rebeldes" que estan en contra de estos cambios. Siendo la mayoría hombres blancos heterosexuales, desean volver a aquellos tiempos que los privilegiaban, y se perciben a si mismos como revolucionarios cuyo deber es actuar contra estas normas modernas que los "oprimen". Encima, con la situación econòmica empeorando en muchos paises, la gente está perdiendo la confianza en la política, lo que da vía libre a los fanàticos para augmentar peligrosamente las posibilidades de partidos de derecha y fascistas. Pero de eso último hablaremos en otro artículo.
Entonces, volviendo a la pregunta inicial: El punk está muerto? Personalmente creo que no, solo que ahora se enfrenta a situaciones como el peligro a perderse entre los "trends" o a verse superado por los nuevos "punk" fascistas.
Aún así, mientras haya injusticas de las que quejarse habrá punk.
Comments
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whimsyworm
while i understand what you're getting at, neonazi "punks" are not a new phenomenon by any means. violent fascists and skinheads have been around since the beginning. i think a more worthwhile discussion to have is WHY right wing extremists are drawn to subcultures and movements like punks and goths; what in these communities has not only attracted them but allowed them to fester and reproduce, so to speak
It is very true what you are referring to, although I meant that the fact that young people are getting fascist ideas sold as rebellious is the bigger issue. Most teenagers don't identify as punk, let alone fascist "punk", but they still think of themselves as superior to the rest of society as it continues to evolve just because of their primitive ideas.
As for your observation, I think that what attracts rightists to those subcultures is the feeling of comunity and support they give to their people, people who don't fit completely in, which makes it easier to sympathise with each other ideas (such as right ones).
I tried my best to make myself clear, I'm not so good with english. Thank you for your comment!
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