Concept in Definition ABC

In the last 50 years, various urban tribes have succeeded each other, each with its own identity, ideology and aesthetics. While the hippies of the 1960s opposed social conventions, advocated free love, and defended pacifist ideals, the skinheads of the 1970s stood out for their attitude defiant and even violent.

The movement skinhead was born in the working-class neighborhoods of the city of London and in a few years it spread to other western countries.

The germ of this movement is found in the so-called "rude boys", young people of Jamaican origin who are fond of music. music reggae and ska and who settled in the English suburbs in search of a better future. The first skins were, curiously, anti-fascist and anti-racist.

An urban tribe that does not arouse sympathy in the whole of society

Skinheads, also known as skinheads, do not have a philosophy defined, but a vital approach with some characteristics. They are individuals that today we could call antisystem. On the political level, a sector of this urban tribe has inclinations typical of the

Nazism, but the red skins subgroup is clearly anti-fascist.

In general, they are apolitical and a generally negative image is held about them, since their culture has been associated with homophobic, violent and racist attitudes.

Hobbies, aesthetics and signs of identity

Those who are part of this urban subculture are usually football fans and go to stadiums in groups with an attitude that is sometimes aggressive and provocative. In fact, a sector of the hooligans is integrated into the skin movement.

As for their clothing and aesthetics, the following features stand out: shaved hair, military-style clothing, soldier boots, bomber-style jackets with patches, jeans and suspenders.

Their musical tastes are very diverse: soul, rockstedy, oi, ska, r & b or punk metal (the genre Oi! is, without a doubt, the one that most identifies with skinheads). Films about this urban tribe have been made on the big screen, such as "Bronco Bullfrog" from 1969, "American history X" from 1998, "This is England" from 2002 or "Diary of a skin" from 2005.

The SHARP stream in the United States

A part of the skin movement considers that the media communication have distorted their image, presenting this group as a Nazi group in favor of the violence street. In reaction to this cliché, in the late 1980s an anti-racism skin organization was created in the United States. Its members founded SHARP, which stands for Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice.

Fotolia photos: maryvalery / sommersby

Themes in Skinhead