the commodification of subcultures

haiii all you lovely people, vinnie-vindictive back at it! i've decided im gonna use this blog as a general yap space, where i can just oodle on about whatever comes to mind. no particular theme, just music, fashion, maybe some video games, and vibes! okay so... subcultures! they're basically done dead because of capitalism, and this is something that rlly irks me, but the main one i'm gonna focus on is punk. eventually i’m gonna make a post about the differences between scene and emo, but that’s gonna be less about politics and more about style. BEFORE I START: i am not talking about subcultures defined by their fashion, but rather the ones that are specifically marked by their politics. keep this in mind. 

subcultures are groups of people that are united by the same ideologies and beliefs; the beatniks of the 50s were known for their interest in poetry and hedonistic ways of living, the hippies of the 60s were known for their peaceful countercultural stances, and the punks of the 70s were known for their distrust of the establishment and their desire to change the systems surrounding them. what came down to the core of these subcultures were the beliefs; you could be a punk in khakis or a battle jacket. it didn't make much a difference, as long as you actually lived up to your appearance. this is where the term "poser" comes from- it's someone who tries to look the part simply for the aesthetic. now, i know there's a ton of people that hate the term; i personally think that because of the society we are living in right now, its just too fitting for so many people. 

for the life of me, i CANNOT understand the “punks” that are conservative, or the “grunge” kids who try to look clean. all of those are contradictive to their origins! punks dressed like that in order to rebel against the societies that wanted conformity, and grunge kids lived the way they did as a "fuck you" to the over-polished cleanliness of the previous decade. you cannot be a conservative punk, you’re just an asshole who wants an excuse for your abrasive beliefs by claiming that you’re rebelling against “the current establishment”, which is just the common goal of giving everyone their basic rights. its so frustrating that nowadays, things have lost all meaning. you can buy a premade battle jacket, shave your head, wear red ladder laces, go to hate speech rallies and call yourself a punk, and because of how our society prioritizes appearances, you might not get much general pushback. you may even be seen as a patriot! (under our current administration, this isn’t a crazy concept, which makes me want to leave this universe entirely.) now, imagine someone who is anti-racist, goes to protests, boycotts companies, gives their support wherever they can, maybe even participates in some civil (or not) disobedience, maybe even openly revolts against the systems that are constantly trying to harm others. they would be labelled as dangerous, antifa or NVEs, and subsequently shunned, beaten and/or killed by our society. in the 70s, if you dressed like a punk, it was obvious that you behaved like a punk. now? we’ve got snakes hiding among the ranks, and its terrifying. 

anyway, sorry for the heavy tone of this, i’ve got a lot on my mind. let me know your thoughts about “posers” in subcultures, and i’ll see ya on the flipside <3