Concept
The Punk subculture is an identifiable subgroup within a society, characterized by similar ideologies, values, interests, and forms of expression reflected in music, fashion, arts, dance, literature, film, and politics. The Punk movement emerged in the mid-1970s as a response to societal norms, in a profound statement of defiance, individuality, and a yearning for authenticity in an ever-conforming world. Initially, the term 'punk' was used in a derogatory way - a criminal or troublemaker - and was later repurposed to convey a 'counter' subculture that revealed its outsider status. The punk ethos comprises beliefs such as non-conformity, anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporatism, a do-it-yourself ethic, anti-consumerist, anti-corporate greed, direct action, and not "selling out". There is a wide range of punk fashion, including T-shirts, leather jackets, Dr. Martens boots, hairstyles such as coloured hair and spiked mohawks, cosmetics, tattoos, jewellery, and body modification. Women in the hardcore scene wore clothing categorized as masculine. The Punk subculture has generated a considerable amount of poetry and prose, and has its own underground press in the form of zines. Many punk-themed films have been made. History of the punk subculture The punk subculture emerged in the mid-1970s; in New York in 1974 and in the United Kingdom in 1976. Some suggest the name "punk" was borrowed from prison slang. Early punk had an abundance of antecedents and influences, and Jon Savage describes the subculture as a "bricolage" of almost every previous youth culture in the Western world since World War II, "stuck together with safety pins". Various musical, philosophical, political, literary, and artistic movements influenced the subculture. In the late 1970s, the subculture began to diversify, which led to the proliferation of factions such as new wave, post-punk, 2 Tone, pop punk, hardcore punk, no wave, street punk, and Oi!. Hardcore punk, street punk, and Oi! sought to do away with the frivolities introduced in the later years of the original punk movement.