Report Blog Entry
I feel as if people forget this. Punk is an aesthetic invented by Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols was made to sell the look. The name of her shop was literally "SEX". Sid Vicious was hired to play bass, even though he couldn't play to save his life, because he fit the aesthetic.
The values and poltical views of punk are not diminished by the fact that it's an aesthetic, but I think it's important to acknowledge what it is.
Punk is an aesthetic
17 Kudos
Comments
Displaying 9 of 9 comments ( View all | Add Comment )
scooter
please look into richard hell and the voidoids + television they practically just took the guys whole look lol (also they have pretty good music) but yeahido agree to an extent
yup i know about them
proto punk stuff
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
yeahh I figured but I do think that the protopunk years were the only point in time where punk was truly as political as ppl make it out to be today (primarily looking at death) but after that its been watered down to shit
I just don't like when ppl refer to sex pistols as like the first first "punk" band cuz there's just so many better bands that were there the exact time they started up their bullshit
by scooter; ; Report
АНГЕЛ_СМЕРТИ
UK mall dweller post
not from uk not a mall dweller whats the issue
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
whatever you say stinky
by АНГЕЛ_СМЕРТИ; ; Report
no i want to know whats wrong
can you not explain?
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
yo why you aint answering buddy
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
FuchsiaZombie
I believe that some people only wear pink as an aesthetic and some ppl are genuinely punk because they love to express themselves with that fashion, agree with the political views and enjoy that music. But this goes for any aesthetic, emo, punk, goth etc. This is why the term mall goth exists. So honestly i see what you mean. The movie SLC Punk explains this well.
yea im just saying its also an aesthetic
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
IzZzy!!
I agree with this to an extent--you can have punk values while not having the aesthetic, but you cannot call yourself 'punk' without the values (even if you dress with the aesthetic). Punk is a politically motivated movement. Its kind of like Goth in this way, where you can't say that you are goth without listening to the music, regardless of how you dress
yup 100% right
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
IzZzy!!
I agree with this to an extent--you can have punk values while not having the aesthetic, but you cannot call yourself 'punk' without the values (even if you dress with the aesthetic). Punk is a politically motivated movement. Its kind of like Goth in this way, where you can't say that you are goth without listening to the music, regardless of how you dress
osmis
as I know punks overlapped with early skinheads a lot at the beginning, both were lower class who hated rich people & the government, the only difference was that skinheads were more organized than punks and punks were, well, just punks I guess
both fucked around until sex pistols who formed the modern punk as you say, at the same time skins got into right wing and old individualities got left behind.
there were also "Oi punks" in early 80s who were like the working class era punks, basically sticked to their roots
Yea 100% in some ways they still do
Always funny how jamaican rude boys influenced the skinhead movement, yet skinheads are still associated with racism
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
pinkprinncessskull.xx
Loud and wrong
✌️
why? whats wrong?
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
Nina
THIS IS SOOO REAL, like I've been saying that since 2022.
without the fashion there wouldnt be punk
doesnt diminish any of the politics and all that other stuff though
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
Statiscit 🍉
I personally disagree. Punk is a subculture, while music and its beliefs are its main components. While you can agree there’s a certain “aesthetic” in the sense of style punk has, that drives away from societal norms and such, I feel like calling it an “aesthetic” today where the actual meaning of the word has been completely saturated just doesn’t feel right. The meaning of aesthetic in short is “a set of principles underlying the work of a particular artist or artistic movement”. Arguably you can say punk is sort of like an artistic movement but then we see the meaning of subculture which is “ a group of people within a cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the mainstream” and I believe is a far better description.
While Viviene Westwood styled the Sex Pistols fashion, whether she “created” punk fashion is debatable though I do believe she played a vital role in it and helped popularise it in the mainstream. That’s only my opinion though, I’m not punk or anything
You're right, aesthetic may not be the the best word for this, especially because of how overused it is. But it is a style, manufactured by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, they didnt just style the band, they basically created it.
"while music and its beliefs are its main components." I think its impossible to think of punk and not think of the style, it's one of the main components of the subculture.
The name punk was used to describe music before "punk rock" even became a thing, it was used to describe garage rock bands. But you wouldn't consider those bands as being Punk now, at most proto-punk, but that means it's just a prototype of punk.
The look, the style and the values were really established in the UK. Simply you cannot ignore the fact that one of the main components is the fashion, which is an aesthetic. Punk wouldn't be what it is without it and I believe it's very clearly the reason this subculture even exists.
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
I'd like to add I dont believe you have to look a certain way to be punk or fit into any aesthetic
I just think its important to acknowledge it
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
Not much else I can add here but I think u summarised it up nicely and I do agree with u here
by Statiscit 🍉; ; Report
Feels so weird having a rational discussion with someone on the internet haha
Also want to add, I think my original post wasn't clear enough, I dont mean to say it's *ONLY* an aesthetic or look or whatever, I just think people dont acknowledge how important and big of an impact the look has on the subculture.
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
Haha I get that, I feel like some people are very quickly to bash others when they have a differing opinion on something.
The look definitely is a major part of it but social media has sort of dumbed down what punk is without looking back at its history
by Statiscit 🍉; ; Report
Very easy to be a dick on the internet
For sure agree, social media trend aesthetics are very superficial, but I was trying to look at the history of punk and how the fashion formed it. Probably should've worded it better
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
That is true.
Yeah u worded it kinda weird at first but I think u made it clear what u meant now. Anyways I hope u have a nice rest of ur day/evening/night man :]
by Statiscit 🍉; ; Report
Its night here so good night:)
Have a nice rest of your whatever it is for you too!
by EricTheCleric; ; Report
Thanks!
by Statiscit 🍉; ; Report
la vdd yo opino que el punk es una frma de expresarte mas por los jovenes que viven en un circulo vicioso de represion y que no pueden expresarse:( la vdd que por otra parte es un estilo que esta ya muy estereotipado de que pelo de picos y ropa rota y asi pero tambien pienso que este genero, esta forma de ser debe de envejeser de otra forma y no de la forma en que lo esta haciendo con gente grabandose y reposteando a tiktok o instagram simplememnte ya cualquiera hoy en dia puede grabarse y vestirse un poco rebelde y decir que es 00milero o como sea que se diga jaja bueno ese es solo mi punto de vista y punto :)))
by bernaldo; ; Report
yea i agree but the politics of punk are a thing without the subculture
the music and the fashion is the way to express those things
by EricTheCleric; ; Report