Friday, January 31, 2014

Pussy Riot and Topshopification

Seen any 8-year-old girls running around in coloured full-face masks? Me neither.
Seen any children with Pussy Riot slogans on their t-shirt? Thought not.
That's what proper subversion looks like; just too awkward and damn dangerous to be commercialised.
Back in the day when punk people were toying about with swastikas and sex-garb, it was not only too close for comfort, but also too close to what creepy people felt to be titillating anyway, wasn't it?
I got fed up of being groped by dirty old men and welcomed my boiler suit with open arms; I suddenly understood why Andy Pandy had been my hero and Barbie had not.
It seemed like nanoseconds after the first safety pin was noted on a King's Road punk that Miss Selfridge and Top Shop were displaying 'safety pin' ear-rings so young teenagers could play punk games.
Because music was so embedded in the subculture, as soon as the record labels saw audiences reaching critical mass, they popped up with wads of cash and bought as many bands as possible. In a recession, who can blame the bands for taking the money and running? The No Future slogan was for real for our generation.
I felt hugely heartened by the Pussy Riot collective, for so many reasons. The anonymity, the sheer bravery, the appeal to young people ('girls like us' rebelling, not crusty old grumpy artist-men). The fact that they have come out of jail all the more determined to campaign for justice and not crushed into submission. The fact that they were really scary to people who think girls are there for decoration, and they removed their faces from the picture show to disrupt that.

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