History UsefulNotes / Skinheads

Ah, skinheads. Right up there next to UsefulNotes/{{feminis|m}}ts when it comes to subcultures people are most likely to have the wrong ideas about. Quick answer: yes, there are Nazis among them, but they're not ''all'' Nazis, and a good number of them are [[BerserkButton likely to strongly disagree with such an assertion]].

* ''Film/TheBeliever'' is centered on Danny, a neo-Nazi skinhead who is [[YouAreWhatYouHate secretly a Jew]]. At one point, he runs into a Jewish childhood friend who assumes he's an anti-racist skinhead.

Ah, skinheads. Right up there next to UsefulNotes/{{feminis|m}}ts when it comes to subcultures people are most likely to have the wrong ideas about. Quick answer: Yes, there are Nazis among them, but they're not ''all'' Nazis, and a good number of them are [[BerserkButton likely to strongly disagree with such an assertion]].

These days, the skinhead subculture isn't as large as it was, but it still pervades among working class Brits as well as working class Americans. It's just that the stigma is hard to avoid. It's a little bit easier in Britain, where while skinheads still bear racist associations, there are also vocal and active skinhead groups that speak out against racism, which kind of blunts the stigma (hell, skinheads are something of a fetish amongst European gay men). America kind of developed the skinhead subculture "second hand," however while skins did make their way over from the first days on, and while the [=SHARPs=] came together in New York City, skinheads aren't really well understood as a subculture outside of the punk/hardcore/street subcultures assembly. As a result, "skinhead" and "Nazi" are practically synonymous in American media. This is possibly because, in the United States, there has yet to be a single skinhead movement or subculture which has received any media attention at all for being anything ''other'' than a pack of neo-Nazi scumbags. SHARP might have got its start in New York City, but by this point it may as well not exist in the US. Nowadays, "bonehead", or less commonly, "hammerskin" is the proper nomenclature for white supremacist/National Socialist skins, and it's often not hard to tell the two apart based on how long their hair is (skinheads usually buzz theirs, boneheads usually shave it off completely) or - of all things - what color their boot laces are (racist skinheads prefer white or red laces, almost always laced in a straight bar fashion).

* The Creator/KimNewman short story "[[Literature/DiogenesClub The End of the Pier Show]]" revolves around a young policeman who's gone undercover in a white supremacist skinhead gang, only to get caught up in a more supernatural form of evil to whom the skinheads, constantly depicted as a bunch of over-macho and violent but ultimately inconsequential thugs, pale in comparison (along with the [[ThoseWackyNazis horrors of the people who inspired them]]). Throughout the story, he expresses discomfort with having shaved all his previously long flowing hair off, but by the end he's used to it and even after getting reassigned to other duties decides to keep the look, deciding that the skin look deserves to be reclaimed.

Ah, skinheads. Right up there next to [[UsefulNotes/{{Feminism}} feminists]] when it comes to subcultures people are most likely to have the wrong ideas about. Quick answer: Yes, there are Nazis among them, but they're not ''all'' Nazis, and a good number of them are [[BerserkButton likely to strongly disagree with such an assertion]].

** In the second gag, [[Creator/DylanMoran Bernard]], [[ZanyScheme planning to injure himself and get out of tax payments]], taunts the same group of skinheads hoping they'll beat him up. They either don't understand his insults, or are baffled by his approach, until he resorts to [[SeriousBusiness insulting the football team they support]]
- Millwall FC, whose fans have a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_brick reputation for violence.]]

** In the first, [[Creator/BillBailey Mandy]], having [[ItMakesSenseInContext eaten, swallowed and absorbed the Little Book of Calm]], gives advice from the book to a group of Skinheads, who promptly punch him. This leads to him saying a BreadEggsBreadedEggs gag involving several previous pieces of advice he'd already given, and then promptly snapping out of "Calm" mode.
** In the second gag, [[Creator/DylanMoran Bernard]], [[ZanyScheme planning to injure himself and get out of tax payments]], taunts the same group of skinheads hoping they'll beat him up.

* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': In "The Murder Frame", the villain hires a gag of skinheads to attack Modesty and Willie in the village graveyard, as part of a much larger scheme. Predictably, Modesty and Willie wipe the floor with them, with Willie delivering a lecture on respecting the sanctity of the graveyard.

-->'''Gene''': The NF are far too stupid for that. That could stick a shotgun up me arse, pull the trigger two times and still miss.

* In the book [[BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary]], Bridget and her friends haven't heard from their gay friend Tom for a while and are worried he must've gotten attacked by some bigots and skinhead types. She also mentions that Tom had friends in the non-racist and queer-friendly rival group of the National Front. Thankfully Tom is safe albeit with some cosmetic surgery done to his nose.

'''Gently''': They told ''my'' generation, 'keep your nose clean work, hard young.' Young people today know that's a lie. What if these toe rags are the future, John? What then?

-->-- '''DropkickMurphys''', "Never Alone"

* The Creator/KimNewman short story "[[Literature/DiogenesClub The End of the Pier Show]]" revolves around a young policeman who's gone undercover in a white supremacist skinhead gang, only to get caught up in a more supernatural form of evil to whom the skinheads, constantly depicted as a bunch of over-macho and violent but ultimately inconsequential thugs, pale in comparison (along with the [[ThoseWackyNazis horrors of the people who inspired them]]. Throughout the story, he expresses discomfort with having shaved all his previously long flowing hair off, but by the end he's used to it and even after getting reassigned to other duties decides to keep the look, deciding that the skin look deserves to be reclaimed.

** In the revival series, the costume theme for each Doctor is (by admission of WordOfGod) based on a British subculture. Both the Ninth Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor were modeled after different kinds of skinhead - the Twelfth the more classic, 1960s-style kind, with close-cropped but not shaved hair, brogues with Doc Marten's-like soles and a Crombie coat; and the Ninth the 00s, LGBT-skinhead kind with a crew cut, more conventional Doc Martens and lots of beat-up leather.

These days, the skinhead subculture isn't as large as it was, but still pervades amongst working class Brits, as well as working class Americans. It's just that the stigma is hard to avoid. It's a little bit easier in Britain, where while skinheads still bear racist associations, there are also vocal and active skinhead groups that speak out against racism, which kind of blunts the stigma (hell, skinheads are something of a fetish amongst European gay men). America kind of developed the skinhead subculture "second hand," however; while skins did make their way over from the first days on, and while the [=SHARPs=] came together in New York City, skinheads aren't really well understood as a subculture outside of the punk/hardcore/street subcultures assembly. As a result, "skinhead" and "Nazi" are practically synonymous in American media. This is possibly because, in the United States, there has yet to be a single skinhead movement or subculture which has received any media attention at all for being anything ''other'' than a pack of neo-Nazi scumbags. SHARP might have got its start in New York City, but by this point it may as well not exist in the US. Nowadays, "bonehead" is the proper nomenclature for white supremacist/National Socialist skins, and it's often not hard to tell the two apart based on how long their hair is (skinheads usually buzz theirs, boneheads usually shave it completely).

As has been outlined extensively, skins dance all over the political spectrum, from neo-Nazi skins to anti-fascist skins, who are likely to try and club the shit out of each other if they were to meet in a dark alley. There are also traditionalist skins, who try to avoid politics all together and focus on the working class pride the subculture originally was supposed to embody. Skinhead fashion is mostly uniform amongst guys: flight jackets, Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts, suspenders (braces), tight "bleachers" (bleached jeans), and work or combat boots (usually Doc Martens, though many skinheads have switched over to other brands after production for Doc Martens moved out of Britain to countries known for sweatshop labour).

Now, as for the racism... in the early '60s, there were individual attacks launched by skins on Pakistani and other South Asian immigrant families. It wasn't until the '70s, with the rise of the National Front, that a number of skinheads organized and adopted racist dogma. At the same time, though, there were still skinheads who joined up with other movements opposed to the National Front, such as Rock Against Racism, or would found their own, such as the [=SHARPs=] (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). It's just that, around that time, there were neo-Nazi groups that operated openly and were made up mostly of skinheads, and the media put two and two together and got headlines.

These days, the skinhead subculture isn't as large as it was, but still pervades amongst working class Brits, as well as working class Americans. It's just that the stigma is hard to avoid. It's a little bit easier in Britain, where while skinheads still bear racist associations, there are also vocal and active skinhead groups that speak out against racism, which kind of blunts the stigma (hell, skinheads are something of a fetish amongst European gay men). America kind of developed the skinhead subculture "second hand," however; while skins did make their way over from the first days on, and while the [=SHARPs=] came together in New York City, skinheads aren't really well understood as a subculture outside of the punk/hardcore/street subcultures assembly. As a result, "skinhead" and "Nazi" are practically synonymous in American media. This is possibly because, in the United States, there has yet to be a single skinhead movement or subculture which has received any media attention at all for being anything ''other'' than a pack of neo-Nazi scumbags. SHARP might have got its start in New York City, but by this point it may as well not exist in the US. It should be noted that there is a semi-proper term for racist/neo-Nazi skins in the form of "boneheads", and it's often not hard to tell the two apart based on how long their hair is (skinheads usually buzz theirs, boneheads usually shave it completely).

->''Young skinhead, [[UnfortunateImplications they call you]] [[GetTheeToANunnery hooligan]]'' \\

''But they still call you racist on the evening news''
->--'''DropkickMurphys''', "Never Alone"

** Although he does wear swastikas, as revealed in the third book. However, he has only the vaguest idea what they represent, or why wearing them when you've time travelled back to 1943 is a bad idea.

* The Creator/KimNewman short story "[[Literature/DiogenesClub The End of the Pier Show]]" revolves around a young policeman who's gone undercover in a white supremacist skinhead gang, only to get caught up in a more supernatural form of evil to whom the skinheads, constantly depicted as a bunch of over-macho and violent but ultimately inconsequential thugs who pale in comparison to the [[ThoseWackyNazis horrors of the people who inspired them]]. Throughout the story, he expresses discomfort with having shaved all his previously long flowing hair off, but by the end he's used to it and even after getting reassigned to other duties decides to keep the look, deciding that the skin look deserves to be reclaimed.

* Barry Kent of the ''Literature/AdrianMole'' books is one in the early books. He is racist at first, but in the second book becomes an anti-racist after a politician from the Send 'Em Back Where They Came From Party comes around to the school looking for support to deport everyone not of Anglo-Saxon blood. Kent threatens him with bodily harm and joins a group called Rock Against Racism.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Tea Peter", the government has been shut down and the town has gone to hell. In one scene, Mort has dyed his hair blond and his hiding from a group of skinheads, and proceeds to sell out his own people.

The original movement still exists and has spread to cities on all continents, but because of the Aryans, they don't refer to themselves as 'skinheads' anymore. They are longest-lived subculture currently existing, probably due to remaining under the mainstream radar, which they're content to continue doing. The Aryans simply co-opted a few costume elements, and care less about preserving the movement than their own high profile.

* In the revival series of ''Series/DoctorWho'', the costume theme for each Doctor is (by admission of WordOfGod) based on a British subculture. Both the Ninth Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor were modeled after different kinds of skinhead - the Twelfth the more classic, 1960s-style kind, with close-cropped but not shaved hair, brogues with Doc Marten's-like soles and a Crombie coat; and the Ninth the 00s, LGBT-skinhead kind with a crew cut, more conventional Doc Martens and lots of leather.

* A major feature on British cop shows, as you would expect. Especially in period dramas: On ''Series/LifeOnMars'' they were [[StupidCrooks inept clowns]] (not even the real killers, just a red herring).

* A major feature on British cop shows, as you would expect. Especially in period dramas: On ''Series/LifeOnMArs'' they were [[StupidCrooks inept clowns]] (not even the real killers, just a red herring). ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'' portrays them slightly more sympathetically.

Skinheads first truly emerged in British culture in the '60s, following the long post-war economic boom. They were working class youth who made use of their money by buying clothes that reflected their lifestyles (straight-leg jeans, work boots, braces [suspenders], and occasionally suits) and going to dance halls to enjoy styles such as ska and rocksteady. They were technically [[ScooterRidingMods mods]] (more famously known for their upper-class, more refined image), but broke off from the other mods around the late '50s and became their own subculture, eventually becoming known as skinheads around the late '60s.

Skinheads first truly emerged in British culture in the '60s, following the long post-war economic boom. They were working class youth who made use of their money by buying clothes that reflected their lifestyles (straight-leg jeans, work boots, braces [suspenders], and occasionally suits) and going to dance halls to enjoy styles such as ska and rocksteady. They were technically mods (more famously known for their upper-class, more refined image), but broke off from the other mods around the late '50s and became their own subculture, eventually becoming known as skinheads around the late '60s.