The Meanings of Punk

There is a number of stereotypes and meanings attached to the word “punk”. A popular stereotype  would assume fast, loud, tuneless music welcomed by the young people who wear ripped clothes with bizarre haircuts. In a more complexed way to understand it, punk can be seen as an attitude, a lifestyle choice and a fashion.

As a musical genre the term "punk" is applied liberally in the most recent days. Punk means The Clash and The Damned and their contemporaries of the late 1970s. But punk also applies to the American acts of the mid 1990s, such as Green Day who bears only a passing musical resemblance to old punk. The label ‘punk’ has been applied to numerous bands, some with little or nothing in common with punk’s origins, as a means of marketing rebellion.

It is different in the clothing fashion field. Dick Hebdige attempted to define some youth subcultures in his book “Subculture: The Meaning of Style”. He analyzed what the young people’s choice of clothing. He thought the punk is a supposed representation of resistance, but this style is now outdated, a relic of punk’s early days. I have to say he ignored the wider implications of punk. According to Craig O’Hara, punk as a youth trend is “the least accurate but the most popular image of Punk”.
Punk is significant. It covers a wide array in different fields and is outstanding.