February 2017 – diary of subcultures

Subcultures: Girls, Feminism and DIY in PUNK

Behind all the known scandals that were around the Punk scene related with the use of drugs, there was also an ideology, a way of thinking, where young people were saturated with the same old clichés and stereotypes and honestly believed that the world needed a change. Punk was also a philosophy which involved going against the masses and questioning everything.

What it is also true about PUNK is that it became a racist and sexist movement. Mark Perry, one of the early punk zine makers, wrote in one issue of Sniffin’ Glue: “Punks are not girls, and if it comes to the crunch we’ll have no options but to fight back” (Reynolds and Press 323).As a feminist, I noticed that in the history of the punk movement, female musicians haven’t been recognized as their male pairs have.

How many all-girls punk bands are as well-known as “The sex pistols” and “The Clash”? The documentary “The Punk Singer” shows there is much more to the punk movement than these iconic all-male bands.

Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of the band the Bikini Kill, was one of the main voices of the Riot Grrrl movement. “Riot Grrrl is an international underground feminist movement that emerged from West Coast American alternative and punk music scenes of 1990s.Riot Grrrls were activists, publishers and performers. They held regular meetings and national conferences similar to the feminist discussion and support groups of the 1960s and 1970s. These forums allowed women to meet and discuss music as well as their experiences of sexism, body image and identity.”(British Library)

The Riot Grrrl manifesto was included in one of the first zines and it indicated why riot grllls where necessary.

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Punk rock feminists icons such as Kathleen Hannah and Jen Smith are authentic and show such strength which makes them muses to every artist, such as fashion designers. Some contemporary fashion designers include Alexander Wang, whose Womenswear Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2016 collection was inspired in punk, and the catwalk has seen models wearing stunning punk-inspired clothes and accessories, such as chokers, tights and tops with a “girls” inscription. Dark colours, oversized sweaters, skirts and boots with studs are predominant in the collection. The hair and make up match perfectly with the theme.

Nancy Spungen is probably the most famous and debated female icons of the punk scene. Sid Vicious’ girlfriend was surrounded by a very racist and sexist atmosphere and the fact that she is one of the many different girlfriends of band members that have been accused of being responsible for the band’s break-up shows the level of sexism in the music industry.

The ideals of feminism fit in with punk’s do-it-yourself [DIY] ethic of self-empowerment and independence from authority (Rosenberg and Garofalo 1998). The DIY philosophy was inspired by the ideology of anti-consumerism and it IS present in many different PUNK clothing items.

Rodarte, a brand led by two sisters, was clearly inspired in this philosophy. The collection proposes dresses and knitted stockings of wool frayed, big bracelets with studs, and knitted tights that give a DIY vibe.

Balmain SS 2011 Collection presents a jacket which mixes leather and denim, which appears ripped and has uneven studs and embellishments which reflect the DIY style.

Another great designer who got inspired by the DIY Punk style was Heidi Slimane for Yves Saint Laurent, who designed a beautiful pair of boots which include studs, and are beautifully embellished with items such as buttons, chains, laces, which reminds of old treasured items.

House of Illustration London has a new exhibition by artist Jo Bocklehurst. Her drawing are colorful and portrait very accurately the punk style. Her drawing perfectly show the punk aesthetic, and she perfectly captures the body movements and positions that are characteristically of punk.

Undeniably, Punk has inspired many people in different fields, and with the NYF you can clearly notice who has been inspired by it. Alexander Wang did it again, His AW17 collection shows he is continually reinventing and imagining this style which is still present today. The whole new collection is entirely black with a strong presence of studs and ripped fabric. It is amazing how he is able to originally create new collections. Not only were the designs the main focus of the show, but the way in which he decided to showcase it, as a rave-themed in an abandoned Harlem theater.

Punk has also inspired many hair and make up artist and stylist who create amazing looks for female models in magazines all around the world. These edgy looks contain not only make up and hair productions but also amazing accesries related to DIY asthethic like safety pins, a characteristic of the punk DIY.

Punk is remembered by being a movement started by young people fighting against mainstream ideals and consumerism, and the DIY idea is still continued by many people today who have taken part of the original movement. Many artist take great inspiration o what has been a great movement, but what is also great is to get to know that there is more beyond the classic punk of boy-bands such as the Sex Pistols. Punk feminist deserve the recognition of having being women on a very sexist movement who found their way to express themselves and to find a place in a world which still is very hard for women to success in. The Riot Grrls has been one of the bravest movements inside an ideology which is truly inspiring and its even more amazing that they have received such recognition for their courage. Maybe someday everyone will not only remember Punk as a movement lead by boy-bands but as a movement who had incredibly strong female members who had to fight to get what they had and who are definitely great stars of the PUNK ideology.

Bibliograhpy and images:

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/punk/gallery-views

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/bratmobiles-allison-wolfe-on-riot-grrrl-new-feminist-punk-w444304

http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/autumn-winter-2017-ready-to-wear/alexander-wang/collection/

http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9923-the-story-of-feminist-punk-in-33-songs/

http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1281&context=scripps_theses