In Durkheim’s theory of anomie and deviance, he theorizes that subcultures form when certain segments of the population are denied access or cannot relate to the values, norms, and behavior of the established society. As a manner of rebellion, many of these subcultures evolve based on member desires to react against these values, norms, and behaviors. In so doing, their behaviors, language, and even their clothing become crucial in positing an identity on them, one that is reactionary and stands in direct opposition to mainstream culture. Such a subculture is the punk subculture. Punks represent a youth protest movement that began in Britain nearly two decades ago. In Subculture: The Meaning of Style, author Dick Hebdige defines exactly what a subculture is, and, how the style they choose to adopt is often representative of their relationship to the mainstream or dominant culture. Using a Marxian analysis, Hebdige explains that class systems based on ownership and the means of production typically assure that the higher percentage of goods and services in society will be divided among the wealthy and dominant socioeconomic classes. Often, members of subcultures do not believe they have a means of access to these goods and services, thus they reject them by refusing to adopt the norms and values of the dominant group as well as constructing a style that displays their separation from it “We are intrigued by the most mundane objects—a safety pin, a pointed shoe, a motor cycle—which, none the less, take on a symbolic dimension, becoming a form of stigmata, tokens of a self-imposed exile” (Hebdige 3).
Thus, subcultures develop as a style as much as an ideology and rebellion. Everything about the style is meant to demonstrate a reaction against dominant norms, values, and behaviors. As Hebdige (18) argues “Style in subculture is, then, pregnant with significance.” We see in the punk culture in London society the w...