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i am inclined to be suspicious of political attitudes that derive from clothing choices and hair style--but then again, if these consumer choice function to generate more radical critiques of the basically fucked up system under which we live, then why not?
i was introduced to oi by an anarchist, to a bunch of related music by a leninist, to the uniform-fetishist gym-bunny approach to fascist regalia by a council communist. go figure. so my impression is that such skinhead culture as exists in canada and the states is much more diffuse than it was in the uk...i'm wasn't really aware that there was a discrete skinheadcult here, really.
anyway, it is no surprise that the discussion in the thread, which is based on a bbc article about uk skinhead culture(s) and their internal diversity would spark a conversation mostly about uk skinhead culture(s) and their internal diversity.
in the states such culture as there is seems to be about hair and clothes and music preferences without particular political associations, in that way like any number of other ways of expressing you consumer preferences. some people like skippy, some people like jiff: some people like hair, some people dont; some people like oi and its afterglow, others like sheets of white noise--blah blah blah--maybe these people would go to the same clubs, maybe not....in itself, all these are politically meaningless. but maybe they're like gateways too. so fine. everyone starts somewhere.
as for fucking with the middle-class and their rigid expectations about pretty much everything, go for it. there are thousands of ways to do that, and some of them are even fun to do. why not? it's easy peasy, like shooting ducks in a barrel from what i hear from those who enjoy that kind of metaphor.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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