Rock on Essay

Submitted By halliegrace42
Words: 826
Pages: 4

Rock Out During the seventies punk rock emerged and along with the music came a distinct style of dressing. People wore leather jackets, torn shirts, dyed hair, tattoos and piercings. The punks dressed this way in order to identify with their beliefs and ideas, and differentiate from the mainstream. In society today we still see this style of dress on many people. However in the seventies the style was considered very taboo and unacceptable by society. When punk rock resurfaced in the 1990’s the style of clothing became a trend in society. Stores like hot topic sprang up in the malls, and no longer were tattoos and outrageous hair colors considered improper. With the popularization of the punk style came a divergence in the scene. People assume that because punk is know accepted by the mainstream the scene must be over. However, the style of punk and punk ideology are two separate entities now. Dressing punk has become a trend but the punk scene still exists. In the documentary Punk’s Not Dead by Susan Dynner they discuss the transition from the seventies until now and how the style has been commercialized. In the seventies dressing punk was a way to identify what people believed the same ideas as you and who your friends were. People in the seventies would see people dressed this way and attack them on the streets, they were considered outcasts and dangerous to society. “Punk rock gave people something to believe in, it was a way to express themselves,” says Tim Armstrong in Punk’s Not Dead. To the people in the seventies punk was about being different and standing up for your beliefs. The way they dressed was to show society who they were and stand out. In the 1990’s bands such as Green Day and The Offspring emerged. These bands really brought about the commercialization of punk rock. In Punk’s Not Dead Billy Joel Armstrong states, “Green hair and tattoos have now become the norm.” Hot Topic, a store that provides the “punk” look emerged around the same time as bands like Green Day gained popularity. Punk then started to be scene as a trend. As many things, punk then became a trend. Punk clothing was used as a social standing, a way of saying look at me and how different I am. It was no longer about associating with the idealism of punk and representing the culture and music. It became about trying to look rebellious and full of angst and a sign of your social status. In the article Selling Out Selling Out by David McRaney he states, “Today, everyone is a consumer, and has to pick from the same selection of goods as everyone else, and because of this people now define their personalities on how good their taste is, or how clever, or how obscure, or how ironic their choices are” (McRaney). People in today’s society dress in a punk style to show that there are different and more authentic then their peers, even though they do not listen to punk music or believe punk ideology. The music and message is no longer as important as looking “punk”(McRaney). “What was once about an