Gay Skinhead Documentary

Documentry looking at the aspects of being gay also a Skinhead

Elizabeth the Golden Age

Director: Shekhar Kapur 2007

THE TOTALLY FRIGHTFUL ISSUE: GAY SKINHEADS

Last month, we entered new Queerty territory by unveiling The Narcissist Issue. Now, as Halloween approaches, we're going to scare the pants off you with The Totally Frightful Issue. From now until All Hallows' Eve, we'll be churning out the most horrifying, terrifying, blood-curdling stories this side of gayville. With pieces on scary styles, deranged artists, and twisted love, you're bound to shit yourself, so best to have an extra pair of undies readily available...

http://web.archive.org/web/20080716040245/http://www.queerty.com/queer/the-totally-frightful-issue/the-totally-frightful-issue-gay-skinheads-20061016.php

Interview with James West

Interview with James West, (Member of an active skinhead gang)

 12 December 2010

1. What attracted you most to becoming a skinhead?

James: “To me it was a mix of things, the music, from the trojan label reggae to the oi! Punk, and the clean cut image itself, to me it was sharp, but hard wearing, it seemed to suit my way of life.”

2. Have you only adopted the image of a skinhead, or do you hold the values and ideologies also?

James: “It depends what you consider to be 'skinhead ideologies'. A lot of people think its right wing and intolerant, but its largely a misconception and the whole culture came from reggae music and Jamaican rude boys. If anything its about unity and good music, and I feel I have adopted this.”

Email Response from Professor Peter Golding!!

Email Correspondence with Professor Peter Golding (Professor of sociology at Northumbria university)

24 November 2010

1. What do you feel self image and style has do with our role in society?

Prof Peter Golding: “The way we dress has an impact on how we are viewed upon or categorized in society. Whether we are at work, school, or simply taking a stroll in the park, we are judged just because of our clothing. We are a society quick to judge because of the "outside" which denies us the opportunity to really know a person at times from the "inside." The fact of the matter is, clothing plays a key role in how we live our lives in many ways and in how we will be portrayed or even 

Email Interview with David Ledman (gay Skinhead)

Email Correspondence with David Ledma (out gay Skinhead)

1 December 2010

1. Do you feel being gay plays a part in you being a skinhead?

David:  “I was a skinhead that just happened to be gay. It had nothing to do with the fetishes you hear about. Being gay isn’t a problem for me; I identify predominately as a Skinhead, then as gay. I became a skinhead in 2010 when I was 13, I’m a genuine skin.”

The Subcultures Reader: Ken Gelder

subcultures are groups of people that are represented - or who represent themselves

as distinct from normative social values or 'mainstream' culture through their particular 

i

nterests and practices, through what they are, what they do and where they do it. 

They come in many different forms, from teds and skinheads to skateboarders, 

clubbers, New Age travellers, graffiti artists and comic book fans.

Anna Freud

The ego and the mechanisms of defence: Identification with the aggressor


this study looks at the idea of taking in the characteristics of the aggressor 
as a way of reducing anxiety 

Skinhead Normalisation

Skinheads, however, can be defined by much more than racial discrimination. They make up a brotherhood of people united under one cause. To gain a better understanding of the practices of Skinheads, we consulted an online forum called the Skinhead Forum. We created a username, ResKins, short for Research Skins, and began to converse with Skinheads about their ideology, their history and their passion. The insight we gained directly from Skinheads provided us with an image that was remarkably different from the image we found in books, on websites and in scholarly journal articles.


www.skinheadz.com/docs/history/2009/042301.html

Gay Skinheads, A Fetish?

To most people, "gay skinheads" seems like a contradiction in terms. But in fact, there is a significant number of people who identify themselves this way. They are, by & large, non-political. That is to say that they are NOT neo-nazis. Their belief system has nothing to do with racism or white supremacy.
They are, however, interested in many things that the gay population at large does not embrace. This includes military and militaristic idealism, and an unusually strong sense of discipline. They often engage in dominant/submissive sexual behavior, and generally have an affinity for leather, rubber, bondage, water sports, and other "hard core" sexual activities. One thing they definitely all seem to have in common is an overwhelming love of 


boots.www.actwin.com/toaph/life/primitive/skin/skin.html

IDEOLOGY OF GAY RACIALIST SKINHEADS

Gay racialists have received scant attention by academic researchers. While many dismiss gay skinheads as a contradiction in terms, these individuals provide an opportunity to explore sociologically the strategies used to both challenge the homophobia of white power groups and manage the stigma of homosexuality. An analysis of a gay racialist website reveals 7 rhetorical strategies including: minimizing the stigma, appealing to master status, appealing to higher loyalties, attacking the stigmatizers, blaming the victimizers, denying the oppressor, and rejecting the stigmatizer. Content on gay racialist message boards suggests that sexual networking and not racial politics is the primary function of these sites. Yet, we note the potential for these boards to function as a transformative-prefigurative space or a place for gay racialists to connect with one another and potentially the larger White Power movement


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3719/is_200607/ai_n16855775/

1960-today: Skinhead Culture

"Most people’s reaction to the word ‘skinhead’ is not a good one. As a cultural group, skinheads have been seen as stupid, violent, racists. No one here is going to deny that a lot of skins have been involved in far-right groups or held racist views, but the origins of skinhead culture were much more linked to multi-racial working class unity than any kind of white pride bollocks."

Lower Class Culture as a Generating Milieu of Gang Delinquency

Walter Miller
Miller (1958, 1959) agreed with Cohen that there was a delinquency subculture, but argued that it arose entirely from the lower class way of life. There was a clear distinction in values between the two social classes. Whereas the middle class is achievement and social goal oriented, Miller thought that lower class parents were more concerned with ensuring that their children stayed out of trouble, e.g. sons avoiding fights and daughters avoiding pregnancy. Boys were expected to be tough and street-smart which gave them an incentive to join a gang. Given that their ordinary lives were boring, the excitement of crime was a welcome relief, bringing a sense of autonomy by denying the social controls imposed by the state. For the middle class, the most important institutions are family, work, and (for the child) school. For the lower class another institution plays a crucial role – the same sex peer group or gang is more important than family, work or school because it offers a sense of belonging, and a way to achieve status that they cannot easily achieve in mainstream society. Thus, delinquency was not a reaction against middle class values but rather a means of living up to their own cultural expectations for toughness and smartness. Indeed, the gang only recruited the most “able” members, so membership of a gang confirmed high status. Most delinquency is non violent and while thefts are more common than any kind of assault, they are, relatively rare. violence when it does occur is a response to apparent insults or rejection by specific people, not a random outpouring of senseless aggression

Aggression and Violence

Peter Marsh & Anna Campbell


Aggression and Violence offers a multitude of perspectives on violent and aggressive behavior. The editors have included contributions from areas as diverse as child development, communications, social administration and anthropology, some areas assess recent and current research, while others examine wider theoretical problems. Juxtaposed with them are the views of people whose direct contact with violence lends their work particular conviction and authority.

Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures

Editors: Stuart Hall; Tony Jefferson
At a time when youth culture had been widely publicised, but few people understood its significance as one of the most striking and visible manifestations of social and political change, these papers redressed the balance. Looking in detail at the wide range of post-war youth subcultures, from teds, mods and skinheads to black Rastafarians, Resistance through Ritualsconsiders how youth culture reflects and reacts to cultural change.

Does the Way We Dress Impact How We Are Caterogized In Society

http://www.docshare.com/doc/96933/Does-the-way-we-dress-impact-how-we-are-cater

Nonverbal Communication and Its Importance

Communication is the basis of our society, even if we are speaking about verbal or nonverbal communication. The relationships that we develop and build depend on the way we communicate: at home, with our family and with our friends, at work with our colleagues. The beauty of our life depends on the way we communicate and on the relationships we develop.

Few people know that nonverbal communication is much more important than words and that we cannot transmit everything we want to say if we are using only words. There are some other things which are much more important in a conversation, such as our body language, our hand gestures, our tone, our facial gestures, our personal grooming, the way that we dress. All these play a much more important role in a conversation.

So, if we want to communicate in a very efficient way, we have to develop our nonverbal communication skills very well! Nonverbal communication helps us transmit the right information...

www.ezinearticles.com/?Nonverbal-Communication-and-Its-Importance&id=5002236

Professor Examines the Complex Evolution of Human Morality

Although the question of what makes humans different from other animals doesn't have a single obvious answer, one seemingly conspicuous human trait is morality. Darwin, in his book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, published in 1871, singled out "the moral sense or conscience" as by far the most important difference between humans and other animals.


http://www.physorg.com/news193472479.html

Skinhead Cross Culture: Director Bryan Davis

Was Hitler a Weak Dictator

Much of Nazi propaganda was devoted to portraying the regime as a streamlined state, with a pyramid of power culminating in the figure of the Führer at its peak, Hitler as the strong leader above the political fray. Presented as a positive image at the time, this picture of the regime was simply given a different, negative shading in post-war representations of the Third Reich as totalitarian, with one leader, one party and one ideology dominating the population through a monopoly of the means of propaganda and coercion. This image of Hitler as the almost archetypal 'strong dictator' has perhaps pervaded popular images of Hitler ever since, as well as presenting a continuing thread in the historiography...


http://www.johndclare.net/Nazi_Germany2_WeakDictator.htm

Queen Elizabeth's Image

A great article on how the image of Elizabeth was adapted to benefit her rule

www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/in-depth/elizabeth/representing-the-queen/elizabeths-image

The Power of an Image

An article I found regard the power of imagery:
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Indeed, the earliest forms of communication used were symbol-based, dating back almost thirty thousand years. By comparison, writing as a form of communication only came into existence a mere seven thousand years ago. Although a multitude of people around the world today are able to communicate in written form, images are still a necessary tool of communication for many others...


www.buzzle.com/articles/power-of-an-image.html

Synopsis

Is the power of physical appearance and influence used intentionally within violence and dictatorship?

The question for this dissertation derived form a fascination with the way in which large numbers of people use clothing to portray an image of self confidence whether intentionally or sub-consciously, keeping in mind the psychological factor of why they feel the need to do so.

 Within subcultures the image is an important symbol, an essential way to display a number of aspects, from status to identity, elevating ones self worth, a factor which is apparent within images of social and political leaders/icons.

Taking an in depth look at specific symbols held with subcultures and important individuals through out history, questioning why the negative is associated with each and the power a symbol holds over the every day people. Such subjects would be; Skinheads, Adolf Hitler & the Nazi party, Mods, Queen Elizabeth 1, Queen Victoria & the British Empire and Punks to name a few, looking at the reasons we subconsciously hold a cemented assumption of individual subcultures and imagery just from certain features i.e. mopeds are associated with mods, safety pins are associated with punks etc, also how these ideologies developed. In regards to leaders within history, focusing on how their image and influence has a long lasting meaning and how they are symbols within their own right i.e. Queen Elizabeth I, her identity is seen as all powerful and all conquering, due to her heroic act of dragging England form out the dark ages (A characteristic that is depicted in a number of paintings.) Researching their effects upon society and individuals, leading onto subcultures, further exploring the way in which dominance and power is used and encouraged within such.

As the dissertation develops looking at how these ‘powerful’ symbols and images i.e. the German Nazis, are/were used to scare and threaten people into submission or recruitment. The implied violence of a symbol, image and group e.g. do skinheads use their image to threaten people? Why is their image intimidating?

 I intend to dissect a social group and subculture down to its raw value, ideals and their psychology, exploring the idea that their obsession with intimidating others and building a concrete image could possibly be a way of covering up mass insecurity within social class, such as the skinheads conveyed a dominant and aggressive image to make up for their lack a authority within mainstream society and a feeling of disregard towards them. I intend to answer the question “Is the ultimate security ‘blanket’ to intimidate people via your image, who you associate with and your influence, leaving you no longer vulnerable to others?” Looking at resources such as ‘Delinquent Boys’ (Albert Cohan) also ‘Subculture: the meaning of style’ (Dick Hebdige), films such as ‘This is England’ (Shane Meadows), ‘Quadrophenia’ (Franc Roddam) to name a few.

Extracting evidence in nature that shows a natural instinct to impersonate the aggressor in order to avoid becoming the victim of such, I will look at examples within society and delve into the reasons why such individuals have taken on this defense strategy also the taboos associated with such, for example a gay man taking on the image of a Skinhead could be seen as an insult to the gay community and moral, the same can be said for the black community although the skinhead culture derived from black – Jamaican culture, it has since transgressed into a racist and fascist movement, which is incredibly apparent within today’s Russia. (I use Skinheads as an example.) I intend to look at the views of such individuals whom choose to lower their chance of being attacked by impersonating their aggressors, taking onboard reasons for doing so and resulting effects, either from their native community or their chosen one, also whether they take on the responsibility of using such an identifiable and intimidating persona and exploring how we, the on looking, chooses to view and act towards this individual.

I wish to reveal a possible aspect of subculture, which is the primitive instinct to face fears and build security within groups rather than as a single entity, within such a complex civilization such as our own the raw animal instinct is covered up and lost within society due to a need to be sophisticated and intensely superior than our primate ancestors. Is the formation of gangs and subculture a ruptured pipe within the plumbing of society that allows the animal instinct to dominate and conquer, eat or be eaten, be seen in all its glory? I also wish to touch upon sub cultural theory and take a more in depth look at the basis and psychology behind it. The idea that the average working class male (especially) goes through life having failed in the education system, unable to gain status within the world due to social background etc, although having being denied legitimately, the young working class male still desires such, thus developing in to a search by illegitimate means, resulting in gang formation etc and building their own hierarchy.

 This dissertation shall be a written one with accompanying imagery; I plan to lay the writings out as a book rather than a regular hand in. The out come of this dissertation aims to fully understand the lengths people will go to feel secure within themselves and society also the subconscious effect symbols hold, opening up a door to the way in which people choose to convey an internal desire regarding authority and identity through physical appearance and evidently answering the question “Is the power of physical appearance and influence used intentionally within violence and dictatorship?”

Skinhead Out!

Possible Theory

I intend to dissect a social group and subculture down to its raw value, ideals and their psychology, exploring the idea that their obsession with intimidating others and building a concrete image could possibly be a way of covering up mass insecurity within social class, such as the skinheads conveyed a dominant and aggressive image to make up for their lack of authority within mainstream society and a feeling of disregard towards them.

Nature

Evidence in nature that shows a natural instinct to impersonate the aggressor in order to avoid becoming the victim of such, I will look at examples within society and delve into the reasons why such individuals have taken on this defense strategy also the taboos associated with such, for example a gay man taking on the image of a Skinhead could be seen as an insult to the gay community and moral, the same can be said for the black community although the skinhead culture derived form black – Jamaican culture, it has since transgressed into a racist and fascist movement, which is incredibly apparent within today’s Russia. 

Thought On The Formation of Gangs and Subcultures.

Is the formation of gangs and subculture a ruptured pipe within the plumbing of society that allows the animal instinct to dominate and conquer, eat or be eaten, be seen in all its glory?

Stanley Cohen

Stanley Cohen (1972) studied the youth of East London in the early 1970s. He examined the immediate and the wider context to determine how two different youth subcultures reacted to the changes occurring in their community. He suggested that the Mod reaction was to the new ideology of affluence. They wanted to show that they had money and knew how to spend it. In contrast, skinheads looked back to the more traditional working class community. Each generation tries to find employment or adapts to unemployment. But the 1920s had very different economic circumstances to later decades. Cohen argued that youth develop a cultural style as a means of coping with their particular circumstances and of resisting the dominant values of society.

Subcultural Theory

Subcultural Theory proposes that those living in an urban setting are able to find ways of creating a sense of community despite the prevailing alienation and anonymity. The cultural structure is dominated by the majority norms, which forces individuals to form communities in new and different ways.
The avaerage working class man whome fails within education and work, looses the oppotunity to gain status and develop within a hieracy. The theory of the gang and subculture proposes that for a working class male to gain status and 'respect' he feels the need to join a gang and create his own hieracy. 

People to look at:
Frederic M. Thrasher
E. Franklin Frazier
Albert K. Cohen
Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin
David Matza
Stanley Cohen

Delinquent Boys

Delinquent Boys: The culture of the gang
Author: Albert K. Cohen
Albert K. Cohen was the first man who attempted to find out the process of beginning of a delinquent subculture. Also, his perspective has been referred to as an integrating theory of several sociological theories such as the Chicago School sociologists’ work, Merton’s strain theory, culture conflict theory, and Sutherland’s differential association theory.

Thought!

Is the ultimate security ‘blanket’ to intimidate people via your image, who you associate with and your influence? 

Leaving you no longer vulnerable to others.

Quadrophenia

"Quadrophenia"  (The who films)
Director: Franc Roddam
London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company's mailing division. Only when he's together with his friends, a 'Mod' clique, cruises London on his motor-scooter and hears music such as that of 'The Who' and 'The High Numbers', he feels free and accepted. However, it's a flight into an illusionary world

Nick Knight: Skinhead

Isn't this exciting! Published the early 80's but still...

Dick Hebdige

The book finally came after waiting a week!

It explains it's self.

 

This is England

"This is England" (film 4) is the 1980's portrayal of working class life under the rule of Thatcher, with the subject falling on skinhead culture. 
Although it has been released for a number of years, still people have never heard of it, and i think it is a must see!!!



Director: Shane Meadows

From Russia With Hate

Some of the Neo's are hot but also violent!
This is a documentary shown on Current Tv, regarding how Neo Nazis rule russian working class culture with hate and violence.

Basis of Dissertation

Is the power of physical appearance and influence used intentionally within violence and dictatorship?

The power a symbol has over people: the image of Adolf Hitler

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Victoria & the British Empire etc.

The symbols that individual subcultures hold; the threats they impose upon society

How we subconsciously hold a cemented assumption of individual subcultures and imagery just from certain features i.e. mopeds are associated with mods, safety pins are associated with punks etc.

In regards to leaders within history, looking at how their image and influence has a long lasting meaning and how they are symbols within there own right i.e. Queen Elizabeth I, her identity is seen as all powerful and all conquering.

Looking at leaders and identifying their symbols, also their effects upon society and individuals, leading onto subcultures.

How these ‘powerful’ symbols and images i.e. the German Nazis, are/were used to scare and threaten people into submission or recruitment.

The implied violence of a symbol, image and group e.g. do skinheads use their image to threaten people?

Why is their image intimidating?