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Society & Culture Subcultures

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Caesar

Caesar

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Was just thinking about this when I realised I haven't seen an emo in years. The dominant subcultures during my life have sort of been as follows:

Primary school (early 90s): skaters
Junior high school (late 90s): surf rats, goths/metalheads
Senior high school (early 00s): emos (mostly my younger brother's contemporaries)
University, any time I have been in Melbourne (mid 00s-present): hipsters

All those groups had their own music:

Skaters: Nirvana
Surfers: Mid-90s college rock
Goths/Metalheads: Cradle of Filth, Pantera, Megadeth
Emos: My Chemical Romance, Radiohead if you were cultured
Hipsters: Wilco, anything you can play on vinyl

Hipster-King.jpg


Anyway I guess I was kind of wondering if these subcultures have really waned in popularity (together with the bands they are associated with), or whether I am just not seeing them because they are a phase of life thing (e.g. pissing off parents with profanity-laden metal is what 15 year olds do, most cutters are 17 year old girls, etc.).

TLDR: Where have all the emos gone?
 

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Bluelegs said:
These days it's all indie's and hipsters though they're basically the same thing, then there are metalheads and scene kids.
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Will show my age here, what the heck is a scene kid? And while I'm at it what happened to good old Goths? Doesn't anyone listen to the Cure or the Sisters of Mercy anymore? Any Goth from the 80's worth his or her salt would kick the living shit out of one of those anaemic looking, tight jeans wearing, make up laden lads those days.
 
Saw a group of goths hanging around along side the yarra the other day

existence still confirmed, job not done yet

hipsters give me the shits more than any other culture though. I dont mind goths or emos, they tend to stay out of your way. Hipsters are all up in your face like 'look at my better way of living by not caring what you care about and doing my own thing with all my shirt buttons done up to the top'
 
Gough said:
High School in the 80's, see The Breakfast Club, that got it pretty much right.
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what a great movie. so many memories. i wasn't in high school in the 80's, but i don't reckon it's really changed a whole lot.
 
I think emos are less likely to exist currently, because pop music in general has arguably become more uplifting in nature recently, from indie to hip-hop, and there is less melancholy on the charts. The stereotypical emo-associated bands seem to be dying off as well. There will always be a market catering to emo types as well, just their moment in the sun has gone imo.

Hipsters to me are a mix between bohemian hippies and psuedo-intellectuals, but the lines are blurred. I have friends that would have qualified as hipsters at one stage. And Melbourne tends to be the natural habitat, not as prevalent away from there. And while hipsters could be associated with Wilco at one stage, I think Sky Blue Sky is exactly the sort of album hipsters would absolutely hate, and that was 5.5 years ago. I think they are more likely to like lots of bands that start with 'The..'

You could argue that social networking like Facebook might have some influence on this, associated with a theme of globalisation and homogenisation. But I would tend to disagree, lots of little groups and cliques still exist, and will continue to exist, regardless of the effects of homogenisation.
 
Miqar_Baqfhied said:
Always found I get along with every stereotype except hipsters. I know some hipsters who are friends of friends (who say they arent hipsters but they are). I just dont get them, and who they are trying to be. Like they do and say this arty stuff, and I'm just sitting there thinking "is this meant to make sense cos I seriously dont get what theyre there on about?". Their art looks shit and makes no sense. Their hair looks shit. Their clothes look shit (straight from the salvos bin). They talk shit. Their music is shit and no one can play an instrument. And their frail and sick looking. Why do you think theyre so good then?!!!
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sounds like your the one who thinks he's superior mate.
 
If every hipster was beaten to death with his or her own arm, the world would be a better place.
 
Gough said:
Will show my age here, what the heck is a scene kid? And while I'm at it what happened to good old Goths? Doesn't anyone listen to the Cure or the Sisters of Mercy anymore? Any Goth from the 80's worth his or her salt would kick the living shit out of one of those anaemic looking, tight jeans wearing, make up laden lads those days.
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Essentially a mix of goth and emo but more colourful and 'quirky'. And while I'm a big fan of old music people tend to like music that is being released as they grow up rather than twenty or thirty years ago.
 

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Hipsters is a pretty broad term in Australia, especially in Perth.

I think two 'sets' are categorised under the hipster banner. You're 'traditional,' infuriating, absent minded hipster – seen on Brunswick Street riding fixies with dress shoes paired with a bum-fluffy little mo. They're the actual hipsters.

And then there's the bogan 'hipster'. They shop at General Pants, wears those chinos with elastic in the bottom, love crew neck jumpers with massive logos on them, and wear stupid t-shirts with faggy little quotes that mean nothing – "Cherish the young days" is a pretty WTF one I've seen. This is basically reared on Tumblr images.

I dunno, I think there's the pretty dominant subculture now. I hate them both equally.

I can't really think of any more...
 
SA how can you claim to hate hipsters when you are one. Saying that you are not means nothing as the common feature in hipsters is they're in denial about being a hipster. Has anyone ever met a hipster who admits to being a hipster?

Hipsters aren't bad. I have friends who've bought properties in footscray and get excited about "the hipster cafes" popping up, like mushrooms. On the basis that interesting things are arriving in the area (only so many Vietnamese restaurants specialising in 'pho' before it gets boring).
 
nicky said:
SA how can you claim to hate hipsters when you are one. Saying that you are not means nothing as the common feature in hipsters is they're in denial about being a hipster. Has anyone ever met a hipster who admits to being a hipster?

Hipsters aren't bad. I have friends who've bought properties in footscray and get excited about "the hipster cafes" popping up, like mushrooms. On the basis that interesting things are arriving in the area (only so many Vietnamese restaurants specialising in 'pho' before it gets boring).
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lmao I can imagine
 
Caesar said:
Was just thinking about this when I realised I haven't seen an emo in years. The dominant subcultures during my life have sort of been as follows:

Primary school (early 90s): skaters
Junior high school (late 90s): surf rats, goths/metalheads
Senior high school (early 00s): emos (mostly my younger brother's contemporaries)
University, any time I have been in Melbourne (mid 00s-present): hipsters

All those groups had their own music:

Skaters: Nirvana
Surfers: Mid-90s college rock
Goths/Metalheads: Cradle of Filth, Pantera, Megadeth
Emos: My Chemical Romance, Radiohead if you were cultured
Hipsters: Wilco, anything you can play on vinyl
I was kind of wondering if these subcultures have really waned in popularity (together with the bands they are associated with),

TLDR: Where have all the emos gone?
Click to expand...

Interesting topic. I think the rise of Facebook and social media has seen a blurring of the lines between traditional subcultures, with most young people essentially becoming very similar in both style and outlook (this is a generalisation, but I think it's true).

When I was a kid (80s) and young teen (early 90s), there were some serious extremes of deviance from the "norm". Serious punks, really raw, denim, patches mohawks, tats. Serious goths, full make up and clothing. There were also skaters, full bogans, grunge, sport kids etc etc. Subcultures were essentially a way for people to belong to a community of some sort in the adolescent years.

Seems to me that the rise of Facebook has meant that there has been a general "blanding" (I made that word up) of young people. Now, most young people seem essentially very similar, both in appearance and outlook. I also reckon the rise of "friending" (on FB) everyone a kid could possibly know (as in EVERYONE in their year level, EVERYONE in their sport team...) means that FB itself has become the dominant subculture....
 
courtjester said:
Interesting topic. I think the rise of Facebook and social media has seen a blurring of the lines between traditional subcultures, with most young people essentially becoming very similar in both style and outlook (this is a generalisation, but I think it's true).

When I was a kid (80s) and young teen (early 90s), there were some serious extremes of deviance from the "norm". Serious punks, really raw, denim, patches mohawks, tats. Serious goths, full make up and clothing. There were also skaters, full bogans, grunge, sport kids etc etc. Subcultures were essentially a way for people to belong to a community of some sort in the adolescent years.

Seems to me that the rise of Facebook has meant that there has been a general "blanding" (I made that word up) of young people. Now, most young people seem essentially very similar, both in appearance and outlook. I also reckon the rise of "friending" (on FB) everyone a kid could possibly know (as in EVERYONE in their year level, EVERYONE in their sport team...) means that FB itself has become the dominant subculture....
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Agree, and the rise in sport and video games also mean the two stereotypes of nerd and jock have become more of a hybrid.

There are really only 3 defining groups that have something that makes them standout; The ones that do drugs and drink alcohol from a young age, involved with graphing and all that delinquency. The nerds and the drama kids (hipsters).

And there wouldn't be a surprise if the people in the 3 groups didn't share an element of the other 2.
 
nicky said:
SA how can you claim to hate hipsters when you are one. Saying that you are not means nothing as the common feature in hipsters is they're in denial about being a hipster. Has anyone ever met a hipster who admits to being a hipster?

Hipsters aren't bad. I have friends who've bought properties in footscray and get excited about "the hipster cafes" popping up, like mushrooms. On the basis that interesting things are arriving in the area (only so many Vietnamese restaurants specialising in 'pho' before it gets boring).
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I'm not a hipster! I don't get where this comes from. Gibbsy and Smeagle can attest to this.

The people who claim to be hipsters are the people who, basically, aren't. They still let their mum dictate their haircuts, dress like children, and are general douchebags.

Hipsters aren't particularly bad people, but they're infuriating and pretty selfish, vain, and (wrongly) elitist.

Also, what's all this about Footscray being a hipster hub? Surely gentrification takes a little longer than this? From what I understand, there's still a pretty big stigma attached to the place. Eh.
 

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nicky said:
SA how can you claim to hate hipsters when you are one. Saying that you are not means nothing as the common feature in hipsters is they're in denial about being a hipster. Has anyone ever met a hipster who admits to being a hipster?

Hipsters aren't bad. I have friends who've bought properties in footscray and get excited about "the hipster cafes" popping up, like mushrooms. On the basis that interesting things are arriving in the area (only so many Vietnamese restaurants specialising in 'pho' before it gets boring).
Click to expand...
I'm not a hipster! I don't get where this comes from. Gibbsy and Smeagle can attest to this.

The people who claim to be hipsters are the people who, basically, aren't. They still let their mum dictate their haircuts, dress like children, and are general douchebags.

Hipsters aren't particularly bad people, but they're infuriating and pretty selfish, vain, and (wrongly) elitist.

Also, what's all this about Footscray being a hipster hub? Surely gentrification takes a little longer than this? From what I understand, there's still a pretty big stigma attached to the place. Eh.
 
Bluelegs said:
These days it's all indie's and hipsters though they're basically the same thing, then there are metalheads and scene kids.
Click to expand...

Pretty funny that they've won the culture war in the end. I mean there's punk music and underground-ish sounding bands on ads these days.
 
Silent Alarm said:
I'm not a hipster! I don't get where this comes from. Gibbsy and Smeagle can attest to this.
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My guess is your thread asking where to get a "hitler youth" haircut, and then the subsequent posting of said haircut, followed by the photo of you with a sign saying something like "not a hipster". You know how GD is :p
 
Caesar said:
Skaters: Nirvana
Surfers: Mid-90s college rock
Goths/Metalheads: Cradle of Filth, Pantera, Megadeth
Emos: My Chemical Romance, Radiohead if you were cultured
Hipsters: Wilco, anything you can play on vinyl
Click to expand...

Nirvana, Radiohead and Wilco are three of my favourite bands fwiw.

I have ridden skateboards and had slight hipster tendencies while I rode them.

But, I have NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE EMO...
 

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