Skinhead Culture in the Internet Era.

hey! It's me again. 

I know I talk a lot about being a skin, but it's a culture that's become very important to me, a very dear community, and I really want to talk about it so more people can know what it's like and maybe get into this subculture as well! 

Now, I'd like to preface this discussion with the fact that it applies to many less mainstream punk styles, it's just that I can only really speak for skins since I've never been any other specific style of punk.

that's all for the preface, now here's the real blog!

Lately, I've seen many, many people in the alternative music scene complaining about the mass media making "alt fashion" popular and mainstream, their favorite songs getting big on TikTok, and how that's causing a sort of "poser epidemic".

Now, I'm not someone who uses the term "poser" lightly, since I find it quite important that we don't let the scene die by gatekeeping too hard, and I'm a big advocate for educating people who don't know anything about punk instead of bullying them and chasing them away.

HOWEVER, it has gotten to a point in which I, too, am starting to lose my cool. 

Every single thing that gets put online gets popular at first because it fits a certain niche of people. The internet is made of niches, and nothing gets pushed out that can't be classified under a hashtag. Then, that niche gets bigger, more people find it, more people think its cool. That's good, at the beginning, as it creates fandoms and communities that help people find new interests and discover styles that resonate with them personally.

The problem is, the internet has become, as of late, a sort of competition for "who's more niche". Everyone tries to have a unique style, and a unique set of interests, that nobody else has, which is IMPOSSIBLE, since all eight billion of us are online, making it inevitable that every possible niche or combination of niches has at least a couple hundred people in it.

This search for individuality, in a world where consumerism strives to convince you that you're cooler than everyone else if you buy certain products, leads people to start getting into music, fashion and hobbies, for no other reason than to prove how "different" they are, and therefore watering down the original ideas that created that culture, turning it into nothing but an "aesthetic" that you can find in moodboards and GRWM videos categorized by a hashtag.

This has happened to the more "general" punk aesthetic, already a long time ago. People wear spikes, and English flags, and plaid, and dye their hair, just to look cool, and call themselves "punks" without comprehending any of the actual working-class ideals that created this genre. 

So, obviously, the question is, what about skinheads? That's the title of the blog, right?

Well, fortunately, for now, we seem to be free of that! 

I have yet to see someone call themself a skinhead "for the aesthetic", or start using the label as a way to show how cool and niche and different they are. Skinhead culture, specifically SHARP, seems unmarred by this ruthless watered-down Internet society.

Let explain why I think that is.

The short, simple answer would be that SHARP culture isn't, in any way, aesthetically pleasing.

I mean think about it: the style itself is very simple, not very accessorized, and honestly, kind of ugly. Tight pants, button ups or polos and suspenders aren't something that looks nice in a TikTok video or an Instagram post. It's a pretty "normal" looking style, it won't really stand out against everyone else or make you look cooler than your trad goth or scene mutuals, it won't make anyone stop and look, not really, unless they're a real punk who knows what skins stand for.

Not to mention, you have to shave your head to get the proper skinhead look, and if you're only doing it for a trend you won't have that level of commitment. 

Then, on top of that, you have the fact that it isn't really aesthetics-based at all. Obviously, calling yourself a skinhead with a full head of hair might garner a few laughs, but the main aspect of it is political: working-class struggle, unity and rage against the bourgeoise state. If you have that, and listen to the music, and are willing to fight against systemic injustice, you're one of us, style or not. 

There's also the fact that, in general, REAL punk culture isn't glamorous or exclusive. 

Sure, skins listen to Oi! and ska punk, but those genres aren't JUST for skinheads, and skins don't ONLY listen to those genres. Every underground concert you go to is full of people who all look vastly different from each other, some of whom don't even look punk at all, all of whom are united by similar ideals and aspirations, and a love for rough music and moshpits. 

Punk culture, especially skins, isn't something that you can make pretty, it's leaving the venue with a bloody nose and covered in other people's sweat, it's helping your drunk comrades get to the bus stop safely, it's kicking out right-wingers from concerts, it's yelling so hard you almost cry from your rage at the ruling class, at society, at life. 

Something as raw, as ugly, and as hard to turn into tiny little niches and put into boxes as punk culture, as REAL, UNDERGROUND punk culture, simply can't get popular online.

And skinheads, thank God, have never left that culture. Hell, part of it is the fact that most skinheads are old, you're hard pressed to find young SHARPs, but when you do they're always some of the most genuine punks you'll ever find.

Long live the international  real punks, long live SHARP culture, and long live the people who keep it alive!