Gopniks are a mass phenomenon of Russian society. Gopnik and the church

In the 1990s it seemed that “ Gopniks" will soon take over, if not the whole world, then at least one sixth of the land. "Gopniks" ruled the roost in all 11 time zones of Russia. Gopniks - or Russian men, who adopted the style of Gopniks, surged into all spheres of life, from “business”, where they played the role of sixes, to politics, where they formed the core of the resistance Western influence…

Gopnik(gop. ras. normal guy; goper, gopar, gop, gopota, punks, gopson; in post-revolutionary Petrograd - a resident of the City Dormitory of the Proletariat (the current Oktyabrskaya Hotel), according to contemporaries, everyone wore red socks and were identified by them, and it came from there) - the lowest multicellular, a bastard from the criminal world, but in fact - a punk, a petty street criminal and a redneck larva, an example of one of the types of street animals (cats, dogs, gopniks, etc), whose main hobby is doing push-ups with passers-by and cell phones, well and of course, fuck up emo and others. In the West, gopniks call themselves hooligans.

The appearance of Gopniks is not difficult for our readers: these are Russian guys of the “don’t put your finger in your mouth” type with pimply skin and dull faces, which reflect only one thought: “I’ll give it to you!”

"These guys are more comfortable squatting than standing. But, most importantly, they are the last males on planet Earth who can wear leather gangster caps from the 1920s with style - everyone else in such caps looks only like fagots from theater school rehearsing some musical,” the newspaper writes.

Even the fact that Gopniks like to blast techno at full blast, sing shitty karaoke songs in cheap cafes with color music, or wear cheap pointed leather boots to match their 1920s ragtime-style pillbox caps cannot take away their status as the most dangerous. scum in the world.

History of the word, Gopnik culture

About the word: there are few terms that one hundred percent correspond to the designated object. "Gop" sounds angry, stupid and funny, but not so funny that you dare to laugh in the face of a gopnik. The word "Gopnik" is based on the abbreviation: "State hostel of the proletariat." Add to "G.O.P." the suffix “nick” - and the new biological species is ready.

Gopniks appeared after the revolution. The first gopniks came to Petrograd in the 1920s in search of work. By origin, they were peasants or completely landless scum.

Since they were outsiders in their villages, often children from single-parent families, and many already had petty crimes on their record, if not something worse, indigenous people Petrograd, and then Leningrad, were disgusted with Gopniks.

Later, the meaning of the word changed, and the expression “gopnik” meant any dubious type with a shaved head, wearing a thick leather jacket, stupid leather boots and a pillbox cap.

1990s - the rise of Gopniks

In the 1990s, it seemed that Gopniks would soon take over, if not the whole world, then at least one-sixth of the land. "Gopniks ruled the roost in all 11 time zones of Russia. "Gopniks - or Russian men who adopted the Gopnik style - surged into all spheres of life, from "business", where they played the role of sixes, to politics, where, as deputies from the LDPR, they formed the core of resistance to Western influence"

Some gopniks have changed leather jackets and “olympics” on brown blazers from Hugo Boss, but couldn’t resist complementing this splendor with shiny mules: gold chains on the hands and neck, fancy watches and so on. The Gopnik culture in the 90s was accompanied by techno music. However, the 1990s turned out to be not so much the rise of the Gopnik Nation as the Beginning of its End.

Have Gopniks survived to this day?

To explore the culture modern gopniks, the newspaper's correspondents went to Lyubertsy - a city that in the 1990s was known as the capital of Gopniks. Criminality was as common there as tracksuits and sunflower seeds.

Imagine the surprise of the journalists when they could not find any gopniks there. Then the representatives of the newspaper decided to go to one of the most sinister areas of Moscow, Brateevo, but they didn’t find any gopniks there either.

What happened to the Gopniks? Most sources agree that two factors contributed to their extinction. First: in the 1980s and 1990s, hard drugs and weapons suddenly became widely available.

Their introduction into such a fearless and primitive culture as the Gopnik culture meant that in one decade almost half of the individuals left for another world.

"The second reason has more to do with changes in the environment. The advent of Western bourgeois values and cultural preferences, as well as the beginning of a period of external stability, growth and sobriety under Putin, means that Gopnik's 70-year reign as the king of the world of rebels has suddenly come to an end: Russians of all social classes layers quickly hated the dork aesthetics of Gopniks"

Nothing speaks more eloquently about the tragic disappearance of Gopnik from the face of the earth than the fact that Shnur is from the Leningrad group, big fan Gopnik culture, is going to open the “Gopnik Museum” in his native St. Petersburg

Shnur's group romanticizes the Gopniks to a middle-class audience that has finally come to appreciate them, albeit in a semi-ironic spirit that would not have been possible if the Gopniks had not disappeared. Even the original cradle of Gopniks - house 10 on Ligovsky Prospekt - today is nothing more than a three-star hotel.

Anatomy of a Gopnik

A pillbox cap is a key element of a Gopnik's outfit. Leather ones are for serious murders, stripes are for all sorts of trifles like rape in the country.

Ears - usually protrude more than those of ordinary homo sapiens, thanks to fights, as well as the indispensable haircut to zero.

Shashlik - Gopniks (like all Russians) believe that meat tastes best when it is roasted on a stick over a fire.

Sweatpants still remain the most ergodynamic for squatting.

Shoes - Gopniks prefer a) pointed leather boots or b) slippers, but as they assimilate culturally, they sometimes wear sneakers.

Glass - everyone knows that vodka tastes best when it is served warm in a glass. plastic cups. It is very important that several midges float on its surface.

Jacket - if he had a bumper sticker, it would say "Don't think I have a leather jacket."

Forehead - convex frontal lobes are inherited from distant ancestors - humans.

How to avoid becoming a victim of gopniks - instructions

“Once there was an incident at about 7 pm... My friend and I took a bottle of tonic and were standing around drinking civilly near the store, then suddenly one of the locals came up and extended his hand to say hello (like everyone else usually does).

There were the usual questions: who are they, where are they from, on what occasion are you drinking, then eight more different people showed up age groups, everyone started asking questions, who was good at what, some about money, some about cell phones, some about concepts (some about life)..."

Something similar has happened to almost everyone at least once. They take a person in pincers and begin to trick him - first for a conversation, then for a cigarette, then for a “call”, and in the end – for money. For many, this causes fear and confusion. What to do in such situations? How to behave when meeting with “gopniks”?

Their weapon is our fear

Our fear is that we do not know the rules by which “that” world operates. But we certainly respect them. Because these are the rules of the strong - concepts. We obviously accept them, but we do not know their principles and norms. This is where the dog is buried. We accept the rules of the game without knowing them.

Naturally, a more or less “blamed” freak, even with a measly income, knowing a couple of “tricks”, will beat you in no time. Because you agreed to play by his rules. And a person who voluntarily agreed to play by rules that he does not know is called a sucker.

Who are Gopniks

The word probably comes from the famous "gop-stop" - which in Fen means robbery or robbery.
Gopniks are not exactly criminals. They walk a fine line - first they “run into” the victim with a “bazaar” and probe. Moreover, this is done without a direct threat of violence - from the outside it will seem that the gopnik is all politeness, and you, on the contrary, are a nervous, unbalanced, or even completely aggressive type.

As a result of such a hit, the victim, as a rule, gives up his property himself - usually small money, mobile phones, watches.
Everything is often on the verge of a “joke”, a conversation “in terms of concepts”, so then during a showdown you can always say - he gave it to me himself. This is often confirmed by the victim herself.

If you are in the “cop”, then the officer begins to get nervous, or even go berserk, and, in the end, tries to get rid of you. There are no legal grounds. If there is a showdown among the lads, then you get the status of a sucker. And getting it from a sucker is a sacred thing for a gopnik. He's a kid, you're a sucker. Conceptually, he is right. The conversation is over.

How to answer questions like: “Hey, come here!”

This is a test for the Sucker suit. The sucker will certainly look back and hasten to approach.

Let's say you made a mistake, i.e. stopped and turned around, in a word, expressed some interest. But they didn’t come.
- Hey, come here, I said!
Answers like “come here yourself” are not suitable unless you are a boxing champion.
You're standing.
They come up to you. Scary.
- Don’t you hear? (frostbitten, swollen...)
Don't pay attention, freeze, like, further:

We're not suckers

Let’s say your “conversation” did not begin with a direct provocation like the one described above. In this case, usually the gopnik will extend his hand to you when he meets you and greet you like a boy. This obliges you to be moderately polite and answer the first questions. Which is what he is trying to achieve.

This is one of the main tricks of a gopnik - after such a gesture “ good will“He gets the right to “fairly” be indignant that you, for example, do not want to communicate with him. Plus, he immediately creates an alibi for himself - “I approached him like a boy, they shook him with his claws. Was it like that!?” - “Well, yes...” - “And people over there saw it. And then he started to show off for me...” Ten points in favor of the gop.

We break it off at the very beginning. It is very difficult to withstand - the look and the hand extended to you. The stencils of politeness are driven deep into us. The hand reaches out on its own. Let's hold on. Let's look it in the face. We smile.

Who are you?

The most common question asked to candidates for suckers. You don’t need to answer it, otherwise you’ll get hooked.
Important! If you are the wrong guy, that is, a sucker, then you will certainly shake the gop’s hand without even knowing who is in front of you. In prison they don’t shake hands, for example, but prison rules are sacred to a Gopnik.

Remember that during the conversation you will be asked questions in such a way that it is impossible to answer them. “Why are you walking here?”, “Why are you smiling?”

Your main task as a true sucker is NOT to stay within HIS rules, NOT to break off the gopnik using his own methods. Better try to appeal to universal morality and quote the Constitution, and then you are guaranteed to return home with a broken nose and emptied pockets.

If this option does not suit you, and you want to know how to emerge victorious from the game, then read on.

Hitting the market

If they obviously didn’t come to beat you, then what follows is part two – “a hit at the market.” In any case, if you are not yet lying on the asphalt and people are talking to you, then everything is in order.
- Who are you?
-Who are you? Where are you from?
- Let me see your phone number (do you have money? On what occasion are we drinking?)
- I do not know you.
Go (stand) further.
If this doesn't work (most likely it doesn't) and the questions continue, you need to go on the offensive:

The best defense is attack

The universal answer is that it always works:
- For what purpose are you interested?

It is important to understand and remember the main thing - in order to attack you, you need a reason. Aggression without a reason is lawlessness. They are waiting for a reason from you. As long as you don't give it, you're safe.

Under no circumstances make the slightest concession - do not answer anything. NOT ONE QUESTION, even a completely innocent one.

As soon as you answer something, even the most neutral one, and want to interrupt the conversation later, the aggressor has the “moral right” to accuse you of disrespecting himself. You “supported” the conversation, and then refuse to continue. Ugly.

Of course, you won't get a direct answer to your question. Lots of options for further development:
- What, a bastard with the boys? (Are you being rude? Don't you respect me? I don't understand...)

Don't "go to the market"

You can't go off topic. Under no circumstances answer questions like “I respect you, but...”, “I’m not being rude, but...”. Your “but” will be immediately regarded as weakness; only suckers respond that way. This will be followed by the phrase “What are you making excuses for? Do you feel what?

This is 100% a trick - it doesn’t matter what you answer or just remain silent, everything will be turned as an attempt to either make excuses or be rude.

“I’m not making excuses,” look at yourself from the outside, you understand that it just sounds stupid.
- Justify it.
- Why should I justify?
- Because you are making excuses.
- Yes, I’m not making excuses!
- What are you doing now?
- I... well... fuck you! I do not want to talk to you.
- Oh, you're also a rude...

Let's break the situation

What, it's a waste of time to splurge with normal boys? is a likely response to your counterattack. Remember - no “no”, “no”, and especially “but”.
-You didn't answer my question.
- And you are on mine.
— Are you going to run into chaos?
-Are you accusing me of something?
- Answer my question. Do I have the right to ask?

Please note - just “inquire”. "Ask" has double meaning on a hairdryer - they ask someone for something that will immediately be regarded as an assault - “I have the right to ask.” - "What? Ask me? For what? Justify." That's it, it's a dead end again, you're in a bag.

— I’m interested for myself.
“I’m interested for myself” is a stock phrase-answer to the question “for what purpose are you interested?” Everything is fine. As soon as you heard something like that, the enemy wavered - you forced the “right guy” to justify himself. Now the main thing is not to go too far.

- I do not know you.
Under no circumstances should you continue this phrase: “and I’m not going to talk to you,” “why should I answer you,” “it’s none of your business.” Only stupidly neutral phrases. As long as you haven't given a formal casus belli, you're in a better position.

Hold position

The cycle can be repeated in different variations. You simply hold on to your position, the meaning of which is that whoever started the conversation must justify the reason.

In fact, there is ONE reason, and you must remember it - to provoke you and gain the moral right to attack, insult, humiliate, hit, rob. But, naturally, the “right guy” will never voice it, because then he himself admits to being a lawless person.

And this is no longer common sense - the right guys don’t cause chaos. Those. you are asking a question that he cannot answer, but, according to his own rules, he is obliged to. In chess, this is called a “fork” - we attack two pieces with one piece. The only choice the opponent has is which piece to lose.

Let's not bend

Do not comply with minor requests under any circumstances - by any standards, you can demand to state the reason first or qualify this as a direct attack. What you should say directly.

-Give me a glass.
We are silent, we smile. We are waiting for accusations...

- Are you screwed, or what?
and go on a counterattack.
- Do you want to run into me?
“I’m asking you like a normal guy.”
You earned a point, it pays off. And in front of everyone he calls you a “normal kid.” One more point.
- Ahh. I'm sorry, i do not understand. On the.

A draw on a foreign field is a victory

If you don’t want to be defeated, then the gopu has only one thing left:

1. or start beating you, which puts him in the category of offenders from the point of view of the law or into the category of lawless people from the point of view of concepts. He doesn’t need this, because the gop just wants to rise at the expense of your humiliation.

2. or “admit” that the goal was different - to get to know each other, communicate, spend time together. That is, to avoid defeat. That's what was required. A draw on a foreign field suits us quite well.

“Fork” - he already chooses only between which option of defeat to accept. Most likely he is not a fool.
- Don't know me? Well, let's get acquainted.
You can shake paws.

Don't get carried away with winning

If you feel a fracture, then you may well give him the opportunity to rehabilitate himself in your eyes and the eyes of the boys. This is what needs to be done - otherwise the feeling of defeat will most likely lead to a new wave of aggression, which cannot be stopped by the market.

How to become a victim

Everyone's normal desire normal person is to avoid street collisions. Although in some cases they are inevitable, most often people become victims of bullshit due to ignorance elementary rules"that" world.

So, what do you need to do to ensure that you are definitely beaten: Or, at worst, you are simply cheated out of money. Let's list the main mistakes:

Make excuses.
Anwser the questions.
Break into “high” tones.
Don't demand an answer to your question.
Mutter something inarticulate.
Exceed the permissible collision dose.
Fulfill requests: “let me light a cigarette (call, look at the phone number)”

Verification passed

If you don’t make a mistake, and your “opponent” doesn’t leave the battlefield himself, then you may well find new friends, or even better kents.

And if a turning point has already occurred, then maybe you shouldn’t give up on further developments - it’s quite likely that you will be offered to drink beer together and have some fun.

This often happens - if you pass the “toddler” test, you become not only an equal, but also a respected equal. In crowds of gopniks there are usually one or two “real” boys, the rest are sticky. The leader always knows this and, in general, he is not interested in them - they are his own pathetic copies.

Therefore, quite honestly and sincerely, they may want you as a friend. The choice is yours. If not, then no. They patted each other on the shoulder, and even hugged each other like brothers. The market is over, it's over.

The last and most important rule

The last and most important rule is not to turn around. Either don’t start at all, or, once you start, don’t give up.

Remember Russian fairy tales - don’t turn around. Whoever turns around loses.

Of course, this is just an outline; your creativity will always be needed. Fear will make its own adjustments, but, nevertheless, it is possible to remember this.

Outskirts. Street lights, of course, do not light up, and you are holding the phone in your hands, illuminating the concrete path with it. It’s dark, deserted, cold - the desire to find yourself in a warm, cozy apartment is greater than ever. Suddenly, a dashing whistle comes from the depths of the playground. "The Nightingale the Robber?" - you think. But let's take a closer look: who is it that is calling us in a hoarse voice and unfriendlyly demanding that we approach him?

Gopniks, gops, gopars. Collectively - gopota, gopyo. We met in courtyards, at public transport stops, in underground passages. Over time, from the name of the most widespread subculture it became a household name. Swearing obscenities in a minibus is a gopnik. If you didn’t throw the cigarette butt in the trash bin, you’re a gopnik. If you drink alcohol on the street, laugh loudly in public, you are a gopnik. But few people think about what the history of this culture is, what rules it has and characteristics. We decided to dispel the haze of uncertainty with our historical excursion and tell everything.

HISTORY OF ORIGIN

The history of Gopniks begins not with the dashing 90s, as many people think, but with late XIX century. In rainy and chilly Petrograd, on Ligovsky Prospekt, the State Prison Society is being created. Abbreviated as GOP. It receives homeless children and children caught in petty hooliganism and theft. A little later, after the October Revolution of 1917, the Prison Society was renamed the State Hostel of the Proletariat. The function has not changed, only the number of young lawbreakers has increased several times. Residents of the city began to call the students of the hostel “Gopniks,” and the expression appeared in everyday life: “The number of Gopniks is measured in leagues.” And ill-mannered people were asked: “Do you live on Ligovka?”

After the Great Patriotic War, when gopniks had not yet become a truly large-scale phenomenon, Soviet punks were operating in the courtyards of outlying areas. Their gangs were divided into areas and were at odds with each other, constantly organizing mass brawls. The police did not interfere because the punks managed without serious criminal charges and did not maintain connections with the world of crime.

The term “Gopnik” became widely known in the late 1980s, during the period of perestroika. It was the only subculture that did not “clog” certain musical genres behind itself and did not oppose itself to the masses. But the cultural influence eventually took its toll - the gopniks began to use the “gangster fenya”, adhered to “prison concepts” and felt in their hearts the criminal thieves’ romance - dirty, but honest and boyish. By the dashing 90s, they became a full-fledged part of culture - with chanson borrowed from those sitting, sportswear, due to the cheapness and a huge amount counterfeits in local markets, as well as authentic rules and habits.

RULES

Gopnik differed from Gopnik; not everyone adhered to the established canons. Just a few important points distinguish a gopnik from an ordinary street hooligan and lawless man:

Rule #1: “Opponents fight one on one.” An attack by a crowd is something that was done in exceptional cases.
Rule #2: “Do not call your elders for help and do not complain to them.” Since this is a manifestation of weakness and cowardice, which was condemned and punished.
Rule #3: “There must be a reason for a fight.” Hitting for no reason is lawlessness, which is punished by elders.
Rule #4: “You can hit, but you can’t maim.” They fought until the first blood was drawn and never hit the person who decided to separate the fighters.
Rule #5: “You can’t brag about something you haven’t done.” A person could always be asked to prove his heroic deeds. If he cheats, the braggart is guaranteed universal contempt.
Rule #6: “Don’t touch lovers.” Even if a “stranger” from another area escorts his girlfriend through foreign territory. But as soon as the girl crosses the threshold of the house, a showdown begins.
Rule #7: “You can’t hit or insult girls.” But this rule did not apply to girls of “easy virtue” or those who smoke cigarettes.
Rule #8: “You can’t rat out your friends” - never, under any pretext.

CHARACTER TRAITS

Sportswear, a hedgehog hairstyle, rosary beads, a cap with a visor or a black sports cap on the back of the head (the most likely version is that the gopniks are copying the habit of demobilizers, who wore caps in a similar way before civilians; another legend says that during the Kievan Rus men thus showed that they were ready for a fight).
Distorted “prison concepts” - according to “prison concepts” one cannot call a person who does not belong to it a representative of non-traditional sexual orientation. Moreover, you should not touch homosexuals, so as not to get “stirred.”
Loose speech, deviant behavior, “patriotism” - Gopniks fundamentally prefer cars from domestic manufacturers.
Squatting - and it is very important that your heels do not leave the ground. This is how prisoners in places of deprivation of liberty rested during walks in the yard so as not to sit on cold concrete.

How to deal with a gopnik who wants to provoke a conflict?

As mentioned in the article, in order not to be considered a “lawless”, you cannot fight without a reason. Therefore, conflict must be created. What follows resembles either a simple chess game or a verbal duel. And everyone is able to win it by following simple tips:

Don’t come if your name is called: why should you follow his instructions?
Don't shake hands: According to prison rules, you shouldn't shake a stranger's hand. What if it’s not the right guy, but a rooster - and you’ll get screwed?
Don’t make excuses: your “but” will be regarded as weakness.
Don't worry: weakness only provokes them to aggression.

Such data is contained in the Report of the Center for Problem Analysis and Public Management Design, dedicated to youth subcultures in modern Russia and their socializing potential. The report was published as a separate 72-page brochure in 2014. Author of the report, O.V. Kuropatkina (Zelenova), understands “subculture” in a broad sense as “a part of culture that, in its values and external forms, differs from the culture of the social majority. The main identifying features of a subculture are a special worldview, hobbies, appearance, attitude towards society, etc. The “carriers” of the subculture are social groups.”

In total, Kuropatkina identifies 4 types of subcultures:
1) subcultural groups functioning as communal communities;
2) communities whose members regularly gather for joint activities, share common values and fairly strict rules;
3) groups that are united by common hobbies, but do not necessarily gather together;
4) communities that are united primarily by lifestyle and appearance.

The second type includes several subtypes, one of which is “semi-criminal groups” - the “Gopnik” subculture belongs to them. This is what is written about Russian gopniks in this report:

Gopniks. The number is up to 50 million people, of which 21-24 million are teenagers 14-18 years old. Subculture in modern form took shape in the USSR in the late 1980s, although it has long traditions(street punks in the USSR). The word "gopnik" comes either from the word "gop-stop" (in thieves' jargon this means "robbery") or from an abbreviation from the 1920s. GOP - City hostel of the proletariat. Gopniks usually do not classify themselves as a separate group, preferring to call themselves “boys.” Grouped around the yard and area. Each such association has its own leader, a regional prince, who, in turn, is subordinate to the “elders” - superior criminal authorities.

Gopniks aggressively defend the “district” from “strangers,” especially from informals and “blacks.” They always attack in groups. The importance of a company of like-minded people has been elevated to a cult: any feat is good only if it is seen and appreciated by comrades. The behavior style of gopniks is arrogant, rude and aggressive. Despite the fact that gopniks are “real boys”, i.e. A purely male fraternity, their subculture, as “friends,” also includes girls who share the values of Gopniks—as a rule, from poor families and without a complete secondary education. Gopniks wear cheap tracksuits, sneakers and caps - “pills” or baseball caps. Hairstyle: short haircut. Usually they listen to the so-called “Russian chanson” or “thieves’ song.” Within the gopnik subculture there are mini-subcultures - “chavs” and “half-gops”.

Chavs- the same semi-criminal group of petty hooligans who have become well-earning specialists. They wear sports-style clothes, but, unlike ordinary gopniks, they wear branded and expensive clothes.

Half-gops- respectable representatives of the middle class, trying to look no different from ordinary people, however, retaining the “gopnik” arrogant and aggressive self-confidence, narrow-mindedness and extreme pragmatism, the cult of the company of “real boys” (only these are not regional princes, but successful businessmen) and semi-prison jargon.

Actually, from this description of the “Gopniks” I didn’t learn anything new for myself; I actually read about the “Chavs” and “half-Gopniks” for the first time, but what really surprised me was the figure of 50 million Gopniks among Russians. Considering that total number Russia's population today does not exceed 150 million people, but the number of gopniks is simply off the charts. And if you take away from total number very young children and decrepit old people, then almost every second Russian is essentially a gopnik. Maybe this is the secret of Putin’s super popularity, who also has a “boyish psychology” and likes to use dubious jokes and phrases in his speech, typical of the Gopnik subculture? Another thing is also surprising - what kind of subculture is this if there are so many gopniks among the total number of Russians?! Rather, this is already a second culture, or maybe even the main, official one... Chavs and semi-gops who have become deputies, ministers and effective managers, without any doubt or twinge of conscience, smash Russian science and culture. optimize the entire humanitarian sphere in order to curry favor with the boss. IN public speaking they use greasy obscenities like “Rashka-shit”, etc. Or is there something wrong with the 50 million figure in this report?

________________________________________ _____

"Good afternoon to all discussion participants! Thank you for your interest in the report. I would like to give some clarifications in connection with by the question asked. The introduction of the report states that there is practically no scientific data on the number of subcultures; we have to use very rough estimates. 50 million is not my data, but taken from the article to which the link is provided. The article provides very approximate data - I, as the author of the report, should have taken a more critical approach to it. I agree that the figure of 50 million is excessive - there is no verified data: after all, gopniks include not only semi-criminal teenagers, some of whom are registered, but also numerous courtyard companies, and many adults from “depressed” areas - and they can be counted very approximately. In addition, during the calculations, everyone who in one way or another fell into the field of this subculture over a long period - since the 1990s, and not until currently. This should have been specifically stated - I apologize for this omission.
A few more words about the number of Gopniks. According to self-identification (2010 data), about 30% of young people in the Russian province consider themselves gopniks [Gavrilyuk V.V. Gopniks as a phenomenon among young people // SOCIS, 2010, No. 1.]. That is, in any case we're talking about about millions of people. There is also a large “periphery” of gopnikism - students, businessmen, officials who assimilate and transmit the worldview, values and behavior of gopniks. It is the transmission of “Gopnik” values to almost all layers of Russian society that makes the Gopnik subculture so dangerous and creates the idea of it as almost universal - you can see more here -

In the 1990s, it seemed that the “Gopniks” would take over, if not the whole world, then at least one-sixth of the land.

"Gopniks" ruled the roost in all 11 time zones of Russia. Gopniks - or Russian men who adopted the Gopnik style - surged into all spheres of life, from "business", where they played the role of foot soldiers, to politics, where they formed the nucleus of resistance to Western influence ...

Gopnik - (normal kid, goper, gopar, gop, gopota, punks, gopson) in post-revolutionary Petrograd - a resident of the City Dormitory of the Proletariat (the current Oktyabrskaya Hotel, according to contemporaries, everyone wore red socks and were identified by them, that’s where it came from) ) - the lowest multicellular, infantry from the criminal world, but in fact - punks, a petty street criminal, whose main hobby is squeezing money and cell phones from passers-by, and of course, kicking emo and other representatives of less aggressive subcultures.

The appearance of Gopniks is typical and predictable: Russian guys of the “don’t put your finger in your mouth” type with dull faces, which reflect only one thought: “Yes, I’ve laid it on you!”

These guys are more comfortable squatting than standing. But, most importantly, these are the last males on planet Earth who manage to wear 1920s gangster caps with style; everyone else in such caps only looks like fagots from drama school rehearsing some kind of musical.

Gopniks are cool because there is no place for self-irony in their world. They are very "authentic". Proof of this is their fantastically adventurous tastes: a mixture of bad taste, menace and garish Third World chic. Even the fact that Gopniks like to blast techno at full blast, sing karaoke songs in cheap cafes with color music, or wear cheap pointy leather boots to match their 1920s ragtime-style pillbox caps cannot take away their status as the most dangerous scumbags. in the world.

History of the word, Gopnik culture. About the word. There are few terms that one hundred percent correspond to the designated object. "Gop" sounds angry, stupid and funny, but not so funny that you dare to laugh in the face of a gopnik. The word "Gopnik" is based on the abbreviation: "State hostel of the proletariat." Add to "G.O.P." the suffix “nick” - and the new biological species is ready. Gopniks appeared after the revolution. The first gopniks came to Petrograd in the 1920s in search of work. By origin, they were peasants or completely landless scum.

The species "common gopnik" even had its own specific habitat - Ligovsky Prospekt, building 10. Actually, this is a hotel, now called "Oktyabrskaya", and the gopniks, in their own way, turned it into a collectivist gangster club. Since they were outsiders in their villages, often children from single-parent families, and many already had petty crimes on their record, if not something worse, the indigenous population of Petrograd, and then Leningrad, treated the gopniks with disgust.

They went down in legends as thugs and lucky ones, whom even the Soviet system could not break. They had their own code of honor, they lived by their own rules, they had their own tattoos on their fingers, their own fashions. They represented something like a caste of “thieves in law” in the world of delinquent “hooligans”. Later, the meaning of the word changed, and the expression “gopnik” meant any dubious type with a shaved head, wearing a thick leather jacket, stupid leather boots and a pillbox cap.

Some gopniks exchanged leather jackets and sweatshirts for brown blazers from Hugo Boss, but could not resist complementing this splendor with shiny mules: gold chains on their hands and necks, fancy watches and so on. The Gopnik culture in the 90s was accompanied by techno music. However, the 1990s turned out to be not so much the rise of the Gopnik Nation as the Beginning of its End.

Have Gopniks survived to this day?
Most sources agree that two factors contributed to their virtual extinction. First: in the 1980s and 1990s, hard drugs and weapons suddenly became widely available.
Their introduction into such a fearless and primitive culture as the Gopnik culture meant that in one decade almost half of the individuals left for another world.

The second reason is more related to changes in habitat. The advent of Western bourgeois values and cultural preferences, and the beginning of a period of external stability, growth and sobriety under Putin, meant that the Gopnik's 70-year reign as the king of the rebel world came to an abrupt end: Russians of all social classes quickly came to hate the Gopnik's loutish aesthetic.

Nothing speaks more eloquently about the tragic disappearance of Gopnik from the face of the earth than the fact that Shnur from the group “Leningrad”, a big fan of Gopnik culture, is going to open (perhaps he has already opened, I don’t know) in his native St. Petersburg “Gopnik Museum”. Shnur's group romanticizes the Gopniks to a middle-class audience that has finally come to appreciate them, albeit in a semi-ironic spirit that would not have been possible if the Gopniks had not disappeared. Even the original cradle of Gopniks - house 10 on Ligovsky Prospekt - today is nothing more than a three-star hotel.

Anatomy of a gopnik. A pillbox cap is a key element of a Gopnik's outfit. Leather ones are for serious murders, stripes are for all sorts of trifles. Ears - usually protrude more than those of ordinary homo sapiens, thanks to fights, as well as the indispensable haircut to zero. Shashlik - Gopniks (like all Russians) believe that meat tastes best when it is roasted on a stick over a fire. Sweatpants still remain the most ergodynamic for squatting.

Shoes. Gopniks prefer a) pointed leather boots or b) slippers, but as they assimilate culturally, they sometimes wear sneakers. Glass - everyone knows that vodka tastes best when it is served warm in plastic cups. It is very important that several midges float on its surface. Leather jacket, alternatively an Olympic jacket. Forehead - convex frontal lobes are inherited from distant ancestors - humans.

Gopnik Guide different countries

When traveling abroad, Russian tourists sometimes decide that other countries have exclusively intelligent, friendly, stylishly dressed law-abiding citizens. Have you ever seen Gopniks in Japan? No? In fact, you only missed them because you didn't know what they looked like. From this material you will learn who to be wary of or, conversely, who you can squat next to and talk about life abroad...

Let's start with the classics.

"Chav" comes from the Romani word "сhavvi", which means "child". As a rule, these are representatives of disadvantaged families who live on unemployment benefits. Because of this, they become objects of contempt: the British complain that slackers live on their taxes, without contributing to society. What chavs prefer in clothing sport style, although they are rarely seen playing sports.
Chavette girls wear tight T-shirts with logos famous brands, skinny jeans or short skirts, UGG boots or sneakers, but especially stand out for their hairstyles: bleached hair with grown roots is pulled into a tight ponytail, and the ears are decorated with large hoop earrings. Chavettes generally love shiny jewelry that imitates gold. Both men and women rarely let go of a can of beer and a cigarette, so they can be safely classified as wardrobe items.
Chavs prefer hip-hop and R&B when it comes to music, despite the fact that they do not shun everyday racism. Chavs love cars very much, but are not patient enough (or too adventurous) to save up money and buy good car. They prefer to take a heavily used one and spend time and money on tuning it. They communicate in typical slang with a strong accent, their vocabulary is rich in swear words.

The Irish word "knacker", in addition to the local equivalent of "gopnik", is also used to describe a person who buys old or sick cattle in order to kill them and sell the meat. It can be assumed that the offensive connotation extends to all its meanings. Besides this, Irish neckers are not much different from British chavs - they have the same appearance and lifestyle. The abbreviation “ned” stands for “non-educated delinquent,” translated from English as “uneducated criminal.” They differ from English chavs mainly in their accent and addiction to fake Burberry caps. They often smoke hashish, which is crushed and rolled into rolled-up cigarettes. This habit is so widespread that it took special word for holes in clothes burned by the ashes of cigarettes with pieces of hashish - “bommers”.

The appearance of bogans is radically different from the style of other gopniks: they wear flannel shirts, black jeans or leggings, black wool sweaters and UGG boots. Bogans drive around in used Holden Commodores or Ford Falcons. Unlike other gopniks of the world, bogans wear long hair or at worst long bangs.
It cannot be said that they are extremely aggressive or trying to “squeeze out the mobile phone,” but in the minds of Australians, bogans occupy the place of uneducated, immoral elements of society. Bogans gather in pubs, where they watch Australian football with adoration and occasionally get into fights. Bogan girls are considered much more aggressive and uncontrollable. They while away the time by walking around shopping centers and supermarkets with a bottle of beer, constantly shouting and bullying other women.

In different autonomies of Spain, the subculture of working-class youth is called differently. Common name- kani, but in reality there are more than two dozen of them: surmanito and willi in Seville, burraco in Malaga, doncho in Granada, garrullo in Catalonia, ueso in Almeria, macoy in Extremadura, pokero in Madrid and many other names in different autonomies, cities and Selah. If we talk about clothing style, it all depends on the capabilities of each individual kani. If a cani has an El Niño down jacket, he won’t take it off even in August. Under the down jacket there must be a tracksuit. If a guy has a sculpted torso, then it will be possible to force him to wear a T-shirt only before Christmas. Both of them adore sunglasses and wear them, regardless of the time of year and the amount of sunlight.
The same goes for baseball caps. On public transport they like to play music from a mobile phone, often flamenco, raggaton or bacalao - a local subtype of club music. Of course, on public transport you can only meet those who do not have own funds movement. As a rule, this is a Yamaha Jog-R scooter with a replaced muffler - the factory one is too quiet. It is considered especially chic to replace as many spare parts of the scooter as possible so that it can go faster and make louder noise.

Nieros (also known as turros in Argentina, nados in Mexico and tukkis in Venezuela) differ from canis primarily in their hairstyle - mullets (or “sevens”, as the Colombians call them) are still held in high esteem on the South American continent. According to local testimony, the highest concentration of niero is observed in the city of Medellin, which in last years strengthens its status as the capital of the drug trade.
El Zarco, the hero, was chosen as a role model for the nieros novel of the same name Mexican writer Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and the film based on him. El Zarco is the leader of a criminal group, young and handsome, but aggressive and merciless. Like the Kani, the Nyero's uniform is fake Nike, Puma and Adidas tracksuits. Sometimes it is supplemented with amulet or images that are hung around the neck, and a dog that sits at the feet. The angrier and bigger the dog, the better. They often shoot at passers-by's cigarettes, half coins and telephones. They listen to regular Latin American pop music, sometimes Latin American hip-hop.
In addition to petty theft and drug distribution, they sometimes make a very good living in an unusual way: they sell sweets on buses, inventing a tragic story for themselves or borrowing it from a telenovela (the wife of my father’s twin brother killed him, the family was left without a breadwinner). The older Nieros work as driver assistants, sit on a side stool and collect money from passengers, while the oldest ones become drivers and decorate their workplace icons, flags and keychains. IN free time nieros love to play mini-football, always bare-chested, photo of themselves on mobile phone like ordinary Russian chicks.

Rakai stand out from the crowd with their Lacoste tracksuit (sometimes Sergio Tacchini or Airness) and their habit of tucking their pants into their socks. Worn over a tracksuit waist bag(also Lacoste), and the mobile phone hangs on a cord around his neck. Like the Spaniards, French gopniks love to listen to music in in public places, without using headphones, but their playlist is slightly different: they prefer hip-hop, R&B and the forgotten tectonics.
Rakai travel on mopeds, which allows some of them to deftly snatch bags from the hands of passers-by while riding. Raki's special territory is the RER commuter trains. They are similar to our metro, only the cars are double-decker and very dirty, and the stations are longer. There they gather in huge groups of 15-20 people, squeeze the girls, swoop down as a whole group on some frail Frenchman to take away money or a phone, swing on the handrails and spit on the floor.

In Japan, “Yankees” are not called Americans, as in the rest of the world, but Japanese youth working class with antisocial habits. They are often talked about as future members of the Yakuza, but the Yankees are much more harmless and their crimes are limited to petty theft, hooliganism, vandalism and fights. The Yankees could get along well with ordinary Russian boys: both of them prefer to communicate while sitting “on the courts.”

The word "dress" originated in the 1990s thanks to the tracksuits (dres) that flooded the markets. It is assumed that previously no one united the dres into a single subculture and they were simply called hooligans or criminals. Habitat: sleeping areas big cities, just like ours, built up multi-storey buildings. That’s why sometimes the boys proudly call themselves blokersi, that is, “the boys from the area.” A self-respecting dress always has a pseudo-golden chain with a cross on its neck. Hairdressers don’t go to barbershops, but prefer to shave their heads bald with the help of friends or put their hair back, pouring plenty of gel on their heads. When it comes to cars, they prefer Germans; basically they can only afford old Volkswagens, Opels, and Audis. The risen karki (neck, bull neck, bros) drive used BMWs. Very young people with no experience of street robbery are forced to travel by bus. It also has its own culture: the dres, regardless of the number of brothers, occupy the last six places.
Those whose level is not supposed to sit hang on the handrails, rock the bus and pester the townspeople. Sometimes, if there is a particularly grumpy grandfather, they may give him a seat. In general, elderly people are outside the concept of suckers, so they are not beaten or “thrown on the mobile.” What’s interesting is that dres, unlike our skinny gopniks, visit rocking chairs. Fighting breed dogs (Staffordshire terriers and pit bulls) are also often adopted.

If in urban areas the honor of gopniks is defended by well-known black gangstas, then in the provinces there is a broad concept"white trash" Back in the 19th century, “white trash” began to be called poor white workers who, along with black slaves, harvested crops on plantations. Now white trash is the name given to poorly educated poor Americans whose behavior does not fit within the framework of generally accepted morality. Although they do not look like the gopniks of other countries, they are perceived precisely as declassed elements.

The most common image of white trash is a white man who lives in a trailer or at least drives a pickup truck, has his own gun, wears a mullet hairstyle, and has a lot of tattoos on his body, done at home by his boyfriends. Even if he works, he earns very little, and immediately spends the money he receives on a “new TV” instead of food for the children, and more often he simply receives unemployment benefits. He amuses himself by visiting the “village club”, where he is sure to start a fight. The habitat is throughout the country, but the greatest concentration of such people is in the south. It is distinguished by zealous patriotism and interethnic hatred.

In small towns, gangs of young people very often form, who can also be classified as white trash. Each settlement usually has several warring factions that fight for authority and influence over the residents. They are very well organized, subordinate to the oldest member of the gang, who distributes tasks to the younger members. Usually this is petty street hooliganism, squeezing money out of “boys and suckers” or burglary. Stereo systems and weapons are most often removed from homes. Sometimes they sell drugs and weapons. It is interesting that such gangs have their own codes. For example, one of the rules is that everything that happens in a gang should not affect the families of the participants.

The word "ars" appears to be derived from the Moroccan word for "pimp." Ars are young men who carelessly wander in packs under the scorching Israeli sun and pester girls. They differ aggressive behavior in public places, do not hesitate to speak very loudly on the phone among strangers(apparently to show their superiority), they prefer to make circles around the city in a car with open windows, from which everyone can hear rap or Arabic music.
Arses gather in pseudo-Greek cafes, where they drink cheap wine and argue with waiters and guys at neighboring tables. The arses dress in trousers with motny and wear giant gold chains - the more chains on their necks, the better. Worn short hairstyles"under the potty." The arses are also extremely different disdainful attitude to the female sex, while each ars strives to acquire his own (or at least one for two) freeha. The word “freeha” is translated from Arabic as “joy”; it is used to describe girls without outstanding mental abilities. Israeli “freshies” are distinguished primarily by their revealing outfits.

It’s a dark, cool evening, two people are leisurely strolling through an old park on the outskirts of the city. The atmosphere of love and harmony overwhelms them, when suddenly from around the corner comes the simple phrase “Hey, kid, is there a call?” After which a crowd of guys come out to meet them, dressed in old tracksuits with fancy caps on their heads. The outcome of this meeting is not difficult to predict - today the lover in love will most likely return home without his mobile phone.

Gopniks: who are they?

So, who are the gopniks? Photos of these guys can be seen on the pages of many websites, but even more often they can be seen in crime news releases. Which, of course, is not surprising.

In fact, a gopnik is a petty criminal who leads a dissolute lifestyle. Such guys rarely act alone; as a rule, they gather in small groups. You can often find them in quiet alleys and parks, as they are rarely crowded. Seeing a lone traveler on the horizon, they immediately begin to process him. To do this, they use criminal jargon, threats or brute force.

Where did the term "gopnik" come from?

There are many versions regarding the background of this concept. Which one is true is quite difficult to determine, and besides, there is a high probability that there is some truth in each of them.

So, there are three main versions of the origin of the term “Gopnik”:

The first one dates back to pre-revolutionary times. Then there were the so-called state societies charity (GOP). Such organizations monitored the poor, unemployed and beggars who were in the territory of their province. Everyone who came under the supervision of the charity committee was popularly called gopnik.
The second theory dates back to the early 80s. At that time, the global migration of people to megacities began in the USSR, since there were much more opportunities to earn money here than in the countryside. The poorest were housed in state hostels for the proletariat, so it is not surprising that such institutions often housed all sorts of extraordinary personalities. A little later, the residents of these hostels began to be called gopniks, thereby indicating their place of residence.
Another version is based on the thieves' concept of “gop-stop,” or theft. And that’s why the guys who earn their living only by robbery and extortion are called gopniks.

The rise of crime in the early 90s

Decay Soviet Union led to the fact that judicial system greatly weakened. took advantage of this moment and selected for yourself most authorities. Lawlessness flourished throughout the country, Gopnik realized this and began his wild hunt.

Gopniks, like predators, scoured the streets of the city in search of new victims. Sometimes it was a random passerby, sometimes the target was determined in advance. Indeed, in those days, local authorities quite often used the services of gopniks, so as not to dirty their own hands. For example, they were often used to destroy competitors' stores or to intimidate bystanders.

But as the years passed, they became stronger and stronger. Therefore, thieves in law began to conduct their affairs more thoughtfully, without raising unnecessary dust. And they clearly didn’t need the stupid internecine fight between the Gopniks. Therefore, they stopped using their services, much less covering up small pawns in the face of the law.

Modern gopniks: photos with caps are back in fashion

Now the cult of gopniks still exists, albeit not on the same scale as before. Today's petty criminals, as before, “live in packs” and also lead a predatory lifestyle. True, now they are quite easy to spot even in the most crowded crowd.

The modern Russian gopnik is a “clean boy” who lives “by the rules.” But these concepts are very different from those to which we are accustomed normal people. Gopnik is often devoid of even basic compassion, since he believes that there is nothing unnatural in his actions. In his mind, everything is quite simple: survival of the fittest.

Another problem is that the image of a gopnik is idealized. Thanks to TV series, for example, the same "Brigade", the criminal life began to attract many guys. Especially if their life was far from perfect.

The laws by which Gopniks live

Even if Gopnik is the scum of society, even in his world there are certain laws. First of all, he obeys Zonov’s orders, and Gopnik has no right to violate them. Otherwise, he may lose authority in the eyes of his comrades.

That is why gopniks first of all try to intimidate their victim morally. To do this, they use conversational tricks. "Who are you?" or “Why are you walking here?” Such questions are a kind of greeting, and if a person answers incorrectly, then the gopnik begins an active verbal assault. Everything goes according to a long-established pattern, thanks to which the victim turns into a sucker. But “by concept”, it’s not a sin to ask a sucker.

Who becomes a gopnik?

Often, a similar lifestyle is led by those who were born in Deprived of parental warmth and affection, they early years watched others enjoy life. This has hardened their hearts and minds, moreover, they passionately want to get everything that they were deprived of, no matter how.

Alcohol also plays an important role. Gopniks drink beer, sometimes even vodka, from an early age, because getting alcohol is now easier than ever. What to expect from a person who starts drinking at the age of 10-12?

The final factor is bad company. After all, if you live with wolves for a long time, then you begin to howl like a wolf.