The New Romantics were a subculture born out of dissatisfaction with the way ‘punk had become a parody of itself’ (Cole, 2000) that, once adopted by the mainstream, began to alienate ‘many of those who were at first attracted to it’s embracing of difference and individuality’ (Cole, 2000). In its beginnings, ‘punk’s deliberate association with deviant sexualities made it relevant to many LGBTQ youth’ (Steele, 2013). However, it eventually streamlined into something uniform and hyper-masculinised. In doing so, the scene became much less of a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ youth, such as George O’Dowd (better known today as cultural icon, Boy George) and the Bromley Contingent (which included Siouxsie Sioux and Billy Idol) who ‘spent more time hanging
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Combining the the visuality of Bowie’s Glam, it’s ostentatious androgyny and narcissism, and punk’s anti-establishment attitude allowed these gays kids an ego. Though Strange’s strict door policy was considered totalitarian by some, it meant that beyond those doors, ‘heteronormative’ societal norms were shunned. The club goers contestation of these norms created a ‘collective identity’ whose ‘symbols, identities and cultural practices’ subverted rather than maintained ‘dominant relations of power’ (Rupp and Taylor, 1999). New Romanticism validated the youth’s desire to be non-conforming-'dressing up at the Blitz became an act of affirmation’ (Johnson, …show more content…
Life in early Eighties England was bleak under Thatcher’s austere rule. Unemployment rose rapidly, twenty-thousand miners were put out of work by pit closures and with the implementation of ‘right to buy’ house prices soared (BBC News, 2015). For LGBTQ+ people specifically, it was a period plagued by bigotry. The Conservative government effectively went to war against the community, with Thatcher launching ‘a series of homophobic and sexist moral crusades’. She exploited gay people to gain right-wing votes (Tatchell, 2012). Beyond quoting Robert Elm’s description of the scene as ‘a refusal to be grotty’ this historical backdrop isn’t something Cole’s piece particularly touches
Combining the the visuality of Bowie’s Glam, it’s ostentatious androgyny and narcissism, and punk’s anti-establishment attitude allowed these gays kids an ego. Though Strange’s strict door policy was considered totalitarian by some, it meant that beyond those doors, ‘heteronormative’ societal norms were shunned. The club goers contestation of these norms created a ‘collective identity’ whose ‘symbols, identities and cultural practices’ subverted rather than maintained ‘dominant relations of power’ (Rupp and Taylor, 1999). New Romanticism validated the youth’s desire to be non-conforming-'dressing up at the Blitz became an act of affirmation’ (Johnson, …show more content…
Life in early Eighties England was bleak under Thatcher’s austere rule. Unemployment rose rapidly, twenty-thousand miners were put out of work by pit closures and with the implementation of ‘right to buy’ house prices soared (BBC News, 2015). For LGBTQ+ people specifically, it was a period plagued by bigotry. The Conservative government effectively went to war against the community, with Thatcher launching ‘a series of homophobic and sexist moral crusades’. She exploited gay people to gain right-wing votes (Tatchell, 2012). Beyond quoting Robert Elm’s description of the scene as ‘a refusal to be grotty’ this historical backdrop isn’t something Cole’s piece particularly touches