Punk rock. Dividing people since year zero (Or How The Dickies became the most talked about band in the world)

In recent years it feels like there has been a move away from people exploring the middle ground of any debate.

It doesn't really matter what it is. 

Only two positions can ever be taken in an argument.
There’s no give or take.
You are either for or against. You must be one hundred percent supportive or opposed.

You can’t broadly agree or disagree with anyone. You must nail your colours to the mast with firm determination on every single subject.

Anything less than full commitment to one side or another is deemed unacceptable. No quarter must ever be given or it will be construed as a sign of weakness.

And to maintain this level of commitment it could be argued that context must be kicked into the long grass, extenuating circumstances definitely cannot be considered, and any sort of balanced rationality has to be pushed to the back of the queue as combatants embrace their positions with fundamentalist fervour.

The most recent storm surrounding The Dickies is a perfect example of this.

Are you a pussy, or a punk, is the question that has been asked again and again. The line has been drawn in the sand that it is only true punks who support the Dickies, and if you don’t? 

Then ergo you are a pussy.

Setting aside the derogatory nature of the term pussy, and the true punk bullshit, this is still a ridiculously divisive question that highlights that an unbending stance must be adhered to.

Are you with us, or against us?

And to be fair both sides of the argument are shouting this as loudly as each other.

Are you with us, or are you against us?

If you support The Dickies then you are supporting misogyny, and if you oppose them then you are opposing free speech. 

Think about that for a couple of minutes. Are there any winners in choosing one or the other? Or are there just lots and lots of losers?

Is anything ever really as simple as this in life?

Of course it isn’t, and it’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that any adults who have demanded an answer to such a binary question should be hanging their heads in shame.

They are embarrassing themselves. It is devoid of any subtlety. It refuses to acknowledge the complexities of any argument.

 

If the intent of the rallying call is in support of defending the Dickies then it falls at the first hurdle.

It’s the debate level of the sandbox. Adults screaming like infants.

Agree with me or you’re a pussy. A weak fuckin’ pussy! Throw in libtard, snowflake, and accuse people of being supporter of feminazis for good measure too. It’s pathetic.

The sound that you hear from that side of the so called debate is not righteous thunder, but the clatter of toys hitting the ground as they are thrown from the pram.

Who wants to side with this sort of inane crap? It’s a massive turn off and reinforces the view from those looking in from the outside that punks in general are stupid.

But on the opposing side the argument isn’t much better because ignoring the wider context of the incident to further an agenda sets everything out on very shaky foundations.

You can’t take the moral high ground when the reaction was deliberately provoked.

Blatantly creating a situation and then using the outcome to support your position is to put it simply wrong.

The woman that was protesting went to the performance with the intent to draw the reaction she got.

The band was played, Leonard Philips Graves was played; the audience were a prop in this, and ultimately all of the people rushing to take sides are being played too.

And I don’t like being played by anyone.

None of that should be construed as a defence of the reaction though, but in my opinion the argument for equality in punk, never mind life in general, is strong enough without having to resort to cheap stunts to draw some attention.

So yeah, thanks for that one step forward and two steps back cluster-fuck in getting everyone on board with supporting a safer environment for all at gigs.

All that has been achieved is that entrenched views are being held onto even tighter as more people refuse to come to the table and talk about these issues.  

Now there’s a job well done that deserves a slow handclap.

It’s not as if there was a lack of alternative options to the protest available, proactively positive ones.

How about a charter of rights being written and promoted with bands signing up to it? No one is forced to comply with it, but if enough artists signed up and refused to play events that didn’t adhere to what is in the charter then it would be in the interests of promoters to get on board with some basic equality rules.

Or similar to the recent online release of an album in support of Chelsea Manning there could be an ongoing online compilation of artists who promote gigs as inclusive and safe events.

With every additional artist being added to the project it would extend the reach of the message.

Music fans can sign up to it and for a fee per month get access to downloads with that money going towards supporting charitable groups that promote the same ideals.

I’m sure others can think of many more ideas. It's really not that hard if the brain is engaged rather than just choosing to hit head repeatedly on the outrage button.

So can all this be put to bed now? It’s boring and hasn’t really placed anyone in a positive light.

Yours sincerely,

An anti-misogyny, pro-equality, punk loving Dickies fan.

PS. Punk is not about shocking people, but it can be, and it doesn’t have to be about sticking it to the man either, although again it can be, and it’s not just about being serious all the time, or silly all the time. It can be everything and nothing that you want it to be. It’s the ultimate oxymoron. 

Think about that too.