A Semiotic Analysis Of Punk

Jason Croy
ENG 1A
Prof. Ramos
08 Feb. 2017
Punk: A Semiotic Analysis Punk is a reflective subculture which means it is a culture that exists within another culture and it illuminates features of the dominant culture. However, punks can still be viewed as a culture that has their own political views, values, philosophy, language and style. Punks have their own ideas of gender boundaries and gender roles, folklore, art, and symbolic objects. There are many aspects of punk, and this article will look at cultural factors leading to punks and the punk movements of the late 70s to the 90s. No discussion would be complete without a look into the way punks dress and present themselves. Everything from the spikey hair, the leather jackets, the combat
The straight edge movement is against smoking, drinking, doing drugs, and gratuitous sex as well. Followers of the straight edge movement find empowerment in staying clean and being themselves. Straight edge hardcore (sXe) started from a single song from Minor Threat called, of course, Straight Edge. The cultural Ross Haenfler writes that straight edge was “Born … in the early 1980s, sXe has survived music industry trends, the waxing and waning of youth culture fads and musical tastes, and the rise of the Internet to a near-30-year existence with little outside recognition” (Haenfler). Straight edge hardcore (sXe) is an underground movement that tries to correct the over excesses of punk with putting less emphasis on sex, drugs, and alcohol. The musical style is still the same as traditional hardcore, the message mainly social and political, but the emphasis on drug use is gone. This has been a very popular culture among the punk subculture but has never received mainstream success: “[I]t is a genre that has never experienced the crossover success experienced by other ‘scenes’ that have risen to levels of mainstream music … [b]ecause of its lack of popular press coverage coupled with its dogmatic dictation of a lifestyle free of drug and alcohol use …” (Haenfler). The adoption of the straight edge lifestyle is
It is a view that you should not have to rely on big business to get things done and adherents to the DIY aspect produce everything they can for themselves. As Ian P. Moran states in his essay, “The do-it-yourself, or D.I.Y. aspect of punk is one of the most important factors fueling the subculture. Independent record labels, the D.I.Y. press, and the D.I.Y. venues are what have kept the punk subculture alive since the late 1970s” (Moran). They produce their own records, tapes, and CDs. They also create their own magazines which they call fanzines or just zines. Moran also states that, “Once punks decide to voice their political views, they look to the D.I.Y. ethic in order to share their views with other punks. They might publish their political views in fanzines which are distributed to other punk collectives” (Moran). Riot Grrrl Press was formed in the early 90s as a way for women to fight back against the oppression American punks were putting them under. Dunn and Farnsworth note that, “Riot Grrrl Press was formed directly out of the frustration felt by many in the movement that the mainstream media was misconstruing their message and producing damaging representations steeped in gender stereotypes” (Dunn 146). The riot grrrl movement began gaining a lot of traction in the punk subculture, and even became a mainstream buzzword. This gave the riot grrrl’s hope to rebalance punk