Modern skinheads: who are they? Who are skinheads: neo-Nazis or teenage subculture.

Have you perhaps come across groups of young people with shaved heads, wearing the same black jeans and camouflage jackets without collars, wearing high combat boots, with the flag of the slaveholding Confederacy sewn on the sleeve? These are skinheads, or, in other words, skinheads. They call themselves the short word “skins”. Now almost no one writes about them, but among teenagers in big cities they are already a legend.

The first skinheads appeared in England in 1968. Today's followers would be surprised to learn that their predecessors got along well with mulattoes and blacks. The fact is that skins appeared as a working, and not a racial, subculture, directed against both the official culture and in defiance of many alternative movements. For example, they considered rockers “fake” because they were a threat to the roads only on weekends, and on weekdays they worked hard in the office. The one skinheads didn’t like were the “Pakis” (Pakistanis). And not as foreigners, but as traders. And the blacks and Arabs who worked with the skinheads in the same factories were their own guys.

Skinheads of the “first wave” got along well with mulattoes and blacks

The first skinheads were not skinheads in the literal sense of the word, it was just that their short haircuts with sideburns contrasted with the long hair that was fashionable at that time. The style of clothing was not “militaristic”, but proletarian: coarse wool jackets or short coats with a leather yoke, rough trousers with an “eternal arrow”, a long, knee-length zoot jacket and heavy, durable high boots for construction workers and dockers. The first skinheads had no followers, and by 1973, when the guys grew up and started families, the movement faded away.

Skinheads of the “first wave”, 60s of the XX century

Skinheads were revived in the late 70s, when Margaret Thatcher's government liquidated entire sectors of the economy, which led to an unprecedented increase in unemployment and unrest in the so-called depressed regions. The new skins were no longer a working aristocracy, but a declassed environment; they were brought up not on relaxed reggae, but on aggressive punk rock. These guys beat all the immigrants indiscriminately because they were “taking their jobs.” Neo-Nazi ideologists worked with the new skinheads. Skin clubs emerged, and the slogan “Keep Britain white!” was heard for the first time.

"Let's keep Britain white!" - slogan of the “second wave” skinheads

Then the “first wave” skinheads emerged from their apartments, furious that their movement had become associated with the fascists. Fights between “old” and “new” skinheads took on the character of street riots (especially in Glasgow). The result of these clashes was the emergence of two skin movements - on the one hand, the Nazi skins ("new"), on the other, the "red skins", "red skins" ("old"). Externally, the red skins differed only in stripes with portraits of Lenin, Mandela, Che Guevara and sometimes red laces in their shoes. They became widespread in England, France, Poland, and Spain. Nazi skins took root in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Canada, the USA, and later in France, Denmark, and Belgium.

Hoxton Tom McCourt, bass player for The 4-Skins, 1977

In Europe, Germany has become an outpost of the Nazi-skin movement

In America there were groups of white skinheads, black skinheads, Puerto Rican skinheads, Jewish skinheads, and Latin American skinheads. In Germany, the Nazi Skins became famous not only for beating guest workers (foreign workers, mainly Turks and Kurds), but also for killing them. At the same time, the judges, who were more afraid of the “Red Terror,” showed rare favor to the skinheads (in the 80s in Germany, skinheads were convicted only once for the murder of the Turk Ramazan Avsi in the summer of 1986).

Meanwhile, skinheads turned into a political force: they smashed anti-fascists and dealt with trade unions. The authorities realized who they were dealing with when in 1987 in Lindau skins attacked Christian believers during a church holiday in St. Stephen's Cathedral (the city authorities refused to provide a municipal hall for a skinheads' convention). The Vatican intervened, and the police clamped down on the skinheads.

Skinheads appeared in Russia in the early 90s

But soon the Berlin Wall collapsed, and the ranks of skinheads swelled with Germans from East Germany, where unemployment and despair reigned among the youth. German neo-fascists began to be considered throughout the world as “experts” in working with youth, and Germany in the 90s became notorious for setting fire to immigrant dormitories.

After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, skinheads appeared in Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria and Russia.

Their actions are condemned by society all over the world. They are feared and despised, called “murderers of democracy” and “Nazi bastards.” They are tried and imprisoned for murder. Many programs have been filmed about them and countless books have been written. Skinheads - who are they? Let's try to figure it out in detail.

The history of skinheads

The first skins respected (!) blacks and mulattoes. Not surprisingly, there were many immigrants among the workers of that time. Skins and visitors from Jamaica had common views and listened to the same music, in particular reggae and ska. The skin movement was greatly influenced by the movement of football hooligans. In many respects, the skins owe it to him to have bomber jackets, which made it easy to slip out of the hands of an opponent during a street brawl, and a shaved head, thanks to which it was impossible to grab the bully by the hair. Of course, the skin youth had a lot of trouble with the police. Typically, both boys and girls took part in the movement. It would not be amiss to note that, like all football fans, skinheads loved to spend time in the pub with a glass of foam.

But time passes, people grow up, and the first wave of skins began to decline by the early 70s. The skinheads began to start families and slowly forget about their former violent lifestyle. However, nothing passes without a trace, and now England is already exploding with a wave of wild and aggressive music - punk rock. This style was ideal for working-class youth who were looking for harder music for their movement. Street punk appeared - an excellent solution for skins, which, with the light hand of one English newspaper scribbler, was given the name “Oi!” The style was different from punk - it was classic guitar riffs superimposed on a clearly audible line of bass guitar and drums. The choruses were similar to the screams of fans in the stands (hello hooligans!). With the music came additions to clothing - second wave skins began to wear army T-shirts more often. All this was alien to the old skins, who grumbled at the youth of the 70s for their music and clothes. At that time, the slogan “stay true to ’69” was common among the first wave of skinheads. It is believed that the peak of popularity of the skinhead movement occurred in 1969. So, English youth began to become more and more interested in punk music, and the working class got its own movement. Since the skins already had their own musical style and clothing style, their views turned to politics. Many skinheads began to support the struggle of right-wing parties, joining British neo-fascism, while others defended the ideas of the left, promoting the working class and the ideas of communism. Basically, the leftists were the first wave of skinnies who opposed racism. There were also apolitical groups that preferred their own subcultural politics.

The impetus for the development of the Nazi skinhead movement, that is, skins as they look now, was the transition of the punk group Skrewdriver from street punk directly to skinhead music. This was the first street punk band to publicly declare their neo-Nazi views. They opposed communism and sympathized with the National Front. By the end of the 70s, the right-wing movement intensified, and a racist skinhead appeared on the streets of London. This was a must see! All the media sounded the alarm, English society, not yet coming to its senses from the Second World War, looked with horror at any skinhead, seeing him as a fascist. The misconception about the “racist” nature of each skin was reinforced by the National Front and the Skrewdriver group. Politicians skillfully hurled the terms fascism and racism at the skins. Such actions had a result - skinheads began to be viewed extremely negatively.

Finally, by the mid-90s, the third wave of skinheads was forming. 17-18 – summer punks shave off their mohawks and join the ranks of skins. Old skin ideas are being revived and classic skinhead groups are being formed in most European and Western countries. Now it's basically a mixture of classic football hooligans and hardcore punk skins. In Russia, unfortunately, 99 percent of skinheads are supporters of neo-Nazi views. Modern Russian society firmly believes that any skinhead is a racist.

The history of skinheads

Skinhead clothing style

So, clothes. The “uniform” of skinheads is taken from the very origins of the movement, namely the London dock workers. These are heavy boots, camouflage pants and T-shirts. The classic type of skin is a black “bomber” (a wide, heavy jacket), blue or black jeans with rolled-up legs, suspenders and black ankle boots. Naturally, his head is shaved to a shine. The ideal shoe for skinning is the so-called “Grinders” boots. However, they are not cheap, so they are mainly limited to military shoes. Laces are a separate issue in the skin’s equipment. By the color of the laces you can determine whether it belongs to a particular movement group. For example, white laces are worn by those who killed or participated in the murder of a “non-Russian” person, red ones by antifa, brown ones by neo-Nazis. You can, of course, wear laces of any color without belonging to one group or another, but in this case it is better not to catch the attention of skinnies who respect traditions. In general, skinhead clothing is very practical - it helps to protect oneself in a fight and significantly makes blows harder. Attributes such as metal chains, carabiners, and so on also serve the same purpose. Some skins like stripes in the form of German crosses, swastikas and the like. True, they are used very rarely, because in this case the skin becomes easy prey for the police, revealing its ultra-right views.

Many skinheads love tattoos. They are usually applied to covered parts of the body that are not visible under a jacket on the street, since they can easily be used to identify a supporter of the movement. The theme of the tattoo is mostly monotonous - these are political far-right slogans, swastika symbols, German and Celtic crosses, images of the skins themselves in various poses, various inscriptions such as “Skinhead”, “White Power”, “Working class”, “National Front” and so on . For such tattoos, skinheads are often subject to persecution and violence from law enforcement agencies, since they directly shout about Nazi beliefs, so some prefer to apply less obvious images like pagan gods, weapons, animals, and so on. Letter codes are often pinned, for example, “88”, “14/88”, “18”. Here the number indicates the serial number of the letter in the Latin alphabet, that is, 88 - Heil Hitler, 18 - Adolf Hitler. 14 is not an alphabetic code, it is 14 words of the White Struggle motto, formulated by one of the ideologists of the skinhead movement, David Lane, who is serving life in a closed American prison: “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” (“we must protect the present of our people and the future of our white children." Often there are double runes in the zig (SS) lightning bolt, the otal rune and other runic combinations.

This is the style of a modern skinhead. Of course, one should not assume that he is typical of everyone - many skins today dress like most ordinary people, since it is more difficult to identify them that way. Authentic skin clothing is a tribute to the traditions of the movement.

Skinhead clothing style

Skinhead ideology

Go. Classic skinheads. They stood at the origins of the entire movement, therefore they are honored veterans. Their ideology is the opposition of the simple working class to the bourgeoisie, the opposition of young people to their parents. This is a rebuff to power over the poor and parental prohibitions. This is pride in ordinary workers and hatred of the rich. Classic skins are apolitical. They drink beer and love football - a tribute to the football hooligans who had a major influence on the movement. Not a single classic skinhead can do without a good fight - again, the influence of hooligans is noticeable. Actually, nothing special can be said about this trend. They love ska, reggae, Oi music! and so on.

Nazi skins. But here there is something to dwell on: racist skinheads are the scourge of modern society. They constantly organize fights, beat up foreign citizens, and protests. They are arrested, convicted, imprisoned, but they remain true to their ideals. The idea is simple - white supremacy and cleansing the country of alien elements. Taking advantage of popular hostility towards foreigners, skinheads often recruit an impressive number of young people into their ranks. In Russia, the Nazi skinhead movement is outrageously popular. Recently, things have reached the point that foreigners are simply afraid to be in the country and prefer to live where the problem of Nazism is not so acute. On the one hand, the Nazi ideology seems cruel and inhumane. The actions of skins find a huge resonance in modern society - they are hated, despised, and attempts are made to catch and punish them. Killing people is certainly not a good thing. On the other hand, one cannot help but notice that the actions of the skinheads had an effect - foreigners do not feel as free in the country as before. Objectively, we can say that skinheads are a way of protecting society from overly insolent immigrants. It is true that it is a pity that the killings of blacks and other citizens are often unjustified and do not have a retaliatory nature that could be explained. Protests by Russian skins are usually an attack on innocent black students, entrepreneurs, and so on.

Nazi skins are divided into two groups - ordinary skins and ideological leaders. The former, accordingly, participate in fights and actions and play an executive role. The latter deal with the political side of the issue, promote the ideas of Nazism in society, plan actions, and so on. Their sphere is the struggle for power in the country. In theory, the victory of such leaders in the political arena should mean a peaceful, political settlement of the issue of the growing number of immigrants. Agree, patriotism is not alien to any of us, and one day we don’t want to wake up in a country that is no longer ours. Many skinheads follow the straight edge trend (straight edge from English - “clear edge”, abbreviated as sXe), that is, they lead a healthy lifestyle. This behavior undoubtedly ennobles the skin, so abundantly slandered by modern media and politicians. However, how to treat nationalists is a controversial issue; their movement contains both positive and negative sides. Everyone must make a decision for themselves.

And finally, antifa. Red skins, redskins, as they are also called. For every action there is a reaction, as Uncle Newton used to say. Supporters of the Red movement oppose racial prejudice and promote left-wing views - communism, class struggle, "factories to workers" and so on. There are two antifa movements: S.H.A.R.P. (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice) and R.A.S.H. (Red and Anarchist SkinHeads). In addition to “leftist” views, antifa have one more feature. They hate skins and carry out actions aimed at suppressing them. Fights between skinheads and antifa are not uncommon today. And again, the controversial question is how modern people should relate to anti-fascists. On the one hand, opposing racial murders is, of course, good. On the other hand, fighting using the enemy’s methods is pointless. You could say that antifa create as many problems as skinheads create. Moreover, the struggle of the Redskins is similar to the opening of a “second front” during the Second World War - late and with little results. Skinheads manage to repel antifa attacks and plan their own racist actions. The fight against illegal activities should be carried out by law enforcement, and not by a group of young people who are as aggressive as the Nazis.

These are the directions of skin movement. There are a huge number of nuances in them, and there is an endless amount of debate on each issue.

Skinhead ideology

Conclusion

And now that you have read this article, I will ask you to answer one question. So, what do you think now, who are skinheads: neo-Nazis, or an ordinary teenage subculture?

The media often uses the word "skinheads", and in the vast majority of cases it carries a negative connotation. Let’s not allow ourselves superficial judgments and let’s figure out who they are, and why in the minds of the British a skinhead is still more often dressed in a Crombie or Harrington than in the usual bomber jacket.

As we described in the previous article (see), in the sixties, the youth of Great Britain were captivated by the image of fashion - a young esthete, hedonist and dandy.

In the second half of the decade, several ways of developing this image were outlined. The world of music was captured by a wave of psychedelia, and fashion could not stay away. Parties became a veritable kaleidoscope of surreal patterns and bright colors. Young people developed a completely different style for themselves, who became known as “hard mods”. It was simpler, more practical and strongly contrasted with the images of bohemia.

It cannot be argued that this was a deliberate opposition to fashion. The differences between hard fashion and representatives of the “golden youth” and the creative intelligentsia were natural: the difference at the level of the social environment led to a divergence in tastes and outlook on life. However, by the end of the 60s it became more noticeable within the subculture itself. Those mods that went on a rampage during the famous pogroms in the south of Great Britain in the mid-60s can safely be considered hard mods. They loved to fight, engaged in thefts and robbery, carried bladed weapons and often united in real gangs. These were young people born after the war.

The adolescence of this generation came at a time when the difficulties of the war and post-war years were left behind: it was possible to live without thinking only about how to feed themselves and restore the country. The fashion revolution of the sixties, aimed at teenagers, was beginning. Everyone wanted to keep up with the times. A lot of music, clubs and stylish clothes appeared around, and all this could be yours - if only you had the money!

The booming British economy provided jobs, making it possible to earn money through honest work for a stylish suit and a motor scooter. It was possible to take an “easier” route - crime in all its forms helped to get money for new clothes, drugs and trips to the most fashionable clubs in the city. On Friday night, fashionists behaved like playmakers, pop idols and high society people, but the day came, and many of them had to go back to work or look for illegal income.

“I was called a hard mod... The media seized on the story of the pogroms [the famous clash between mods and rockers in the south of England in 1964] and described the mods as a crazy crowd of drug addicts, prone to violence and disorder. Of course, there was a grain of truth in the nonsense that the newspapers wrote. Among the mods there were those who went to Brighton, Margate and other cities just to cause complete chaos there. I must admit, I was one of them.

Reputation was everything. I started carrying a weapon (an axe) with me and was ready to use it if necessary... Appearance was very important - everyone around me was literally obliged to wear a woolen suit."

John Leo Waters

British hard fashion of the late 60s, London

The fact is that, despite the desire for elitism, the origins of the fashion movement largely lay in the working environment. The poor and disadvantaged areas of south London were home to many mods and ordinary teenagers who absorbed the city's culture with the vivacity of their age.

Brixton was one such area and included a large Jamaican diaspora. A declining economy, a crime wave, a hurricane that devastated eastern Jamaica in 1944, and the promise of jobs from the British government attracted immigrants from the Caribbean to London. A sharp influx of foreigners from a distant country played a crucial role in the transformation of hard mods into skinheads. In 1962, the former British colony gained independence, but such a large-scale political event could not but have negative consequences for the population. Many Jamaicans continued to emigrate to the former metropolis.

In a new place, Jamaican youth introduced their London peers to their culture. The island had its own subculture: rude boys - literally “rude guys”, but in Jamaican English they are more likely “hard”, “severe”. The Rude Boi were from working class backgrounds and were often violent towards each other and those around them. Their life was not easy, because they often grew up in the most disadvantaged areas of Kingston, the capital of a not very peaceful country. Like many young people, especially the more daring ones and often involved in crime, Rud Boi tried to dress like a brand: suits, skinny ties, Trilby and Pork Pie hats. Perhaps this style was inspired by US jazz musicians. The Rude Boys preferred the latest and most modern local music: ska and then rocksteady.

Ska is a musical genre that originated in Jamaica at the turn of the fifties and sixties. Combining American rhythm and blues with the Caribbean styles of mento and calypso led to the emergence of a completely new and very distinctive sound.

In the second half of the sixties, ska music evolved into rocksteady. Compared to its predecessor, this style is characterized by a slower tempo, syncopated bass and the use of small groups with an electric bass guitar (early ska groups were large ensembles and mainly used double bass). The most important ska bands and performers were and remain Toots and The Maytals, The Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Wailers (the latter's leader became one of the most recognizable musicians in history), The Upsetters (the band of the famous producer Lee "Scratch" Perry), Derrick Morgan , Max Romeo, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker and many others.

So, on a wave of emigration, Jamaican youth culture came to the shores of Foggy Albion. It is not surprising that due to their close age, love of music and desire to look interesting, the English guys began to adopt the ore fighting style. The Mods traditionally loved American soul and rhythm and blues, but were also quite interested in Jamaican music. A huge credit for this goes to the English label Melodisc Records, founded in 1949 and releasing Afro-Caribbean music. The company began recording Jamaican musicians in London and, building on the success of these recordings, founded the Blue Beat Records division. It specialized in the music of ska and rocksteady, beloved by ores, mods, and then skinheads.

One of the brightest musicians with whom the label collaborated was Prince Buster, a man who made a huge contribution to the development of ska and the popularization of the genre in the UK.

The youth of south London with great interest visited clubs aimed at Jamaicans, which were called “ska bars,” learned to dance ska and adopted elements of the style. Records of African-American and Caribbean music were selling like hot cakes in stores.

Thus, when some of the mods began to gravitate towards psychedelic music in the late sixties, the south London mods already had a special connection with the music of Jamaica, and the hard mods did not follow the bohemians. Native Londoners and immigrants, hard fashion and ore fighting merged into a subculture that came to be called skinheads. The name of the subculture is made up of two words: “skin” - “skin” and “head” - “head”. There is a version that this word was taken from the vocabulary of American infantrymen.

“...Fashion and music changed. Clubs started playing weird music like The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix, and the mods had no choice but to go to Jamaican clubs - only they didn't stop playing black music. So the mods went to ska clubs and adopted the rudboy style, but since they weren't black, they couldn't call themselves that, so they borrowed the word "skinheads", which was the name given to US Marine Corps recruits who had their heads shaved when they went into army. In the Marine Corps, only the officers called a recruit a “skinhead,” like, “Hey, you skinhead, come here!” So originally the skinhead style was a white version of the rudboy style."

Dick Coomes

These people moved further and further away from the refinement of mods, and after several decades the connection between the two subcultures was barely traceable. But let’s take a closer look at the first generation skinheads, the so-called Traditional Skinheads.

What did they look like? To the usual “Sta-Prest” mods, which kept their shape perfectly, several more equally practical elements were added: jeans, suspenders and heavy work boots. Haircuts have become shorter and simpler. Some, in the fashion of the fighting or the practicality of the workers, shaved almost baldly. Skinheads wore mohair, beloved by mods and hard mods, but with a slightly elongated cut, and plaid “button-down” shirts, the collar of which was secured with buttons.

The classic and famous MA-1 bomber jacket was extremely popular, which later became an icon of the subculture image and, in fact, its synonym. Even jackets have not disappeared from the wardrobe of hard mod skinheads. Among outerwear, the windbreaker was also popular - a cotton semi-sports bomber jacket with border stripes on the collar, sleeves and elastic at the bottom, as well as a working jacket for British dockers.

A curious detail was the manner of tucking the trousers. Lightly at first to show the boots, then harder to show off the colored socks taken from the Rudo Boi style. According to the recollections of those years, once the organizers of the concert gave the famous reggae singer Desmond Dekker a suit, and he asked to shorten his trousers by fifteen centimeters. In imitation of their idol, teenagers began to roll up their trousers. Not to mention that, to a certain extent, Mr. Dekker also contributed to the fashion for short haircuts among the future skinheads who admired him.

Recently, both on TV screens and on the pages of newspapers and magazines, there has been a lot of talk about “skinheads” (we put this word in quotation marks, since the real subculture of skinheads is very different from the image of them that is imposed by the media). Moreover, from the stories of journalists, more aimed at stirring up emotions than at a truthful and detailed explanation, it is difficult to understand: who are they, how many are there, what real danger do they pose to society? Meanwhile, the skinhead subculture has been quite well studied by Russian and foreign scientists - psychologists, cultural scientists, sociologists, political scientists (but the opinions of these specialists are not covered in the electronic media and are not known to the general public). There are many detailed studies of this kind available on the Internet. Let us mention at least the work of M.V. Vershinin "Youth subcultures: skinheads ", which contains a detailed account of the history and current stage of development of the skin movement. Having familiarized yourself with them, you never cease to be surprised: how far is the image of skinheads that the media create from reality and you inevitably ask the sacramental question: who benefits from this?

Who are skinheads?

Skinheads (from the English words skin head - literally: bald head) are a trend in the Western and then international youth subculture that arose in the 60s of the twentieth century and still exists. It should be immediately noted that youth subcultures are not political or even ideological organizations, although sometimes they are associated with individual parties and movements. A subculture is a unique way of life that presupposes certain patterns of behavior: style of clothing, music, hairstyle, its own jargon that is incomprehensible to others. Subcultures arise spontaneously and, as a rule, oppose themselves to the world of adults. Examples of subcultures other than skinheads are hippies, punks, rappers (fans of music in the style of RAP (rhythmic American poetry), “metalheads” (fans of the musical style “heavy metal”), etc.)

The skinhead movement had several stages, each of which was characterized by its own specifics. Initially, skinheads were a movement of young people who came from working-class neighborhoods, who themselves worked on the docks or in factories, or even frequented the labor exchanges (the post-war economic crisis in England regularly supplied more and more young people to the skinhead movement). Unlike other spontaneous youth movements - for example, the dudes, they did not seek to imitate the clothing and manners of the youth of the bourgeois classes. On the contrary, skinheads cultivated a kind of “proletarian pride”, trying to emphasize that they were the children of factory, plant and port workers. Hence the short hairstyle - it is unsafe for workers to wear long hair, it can be pulled into the machine, mandatory suspenders and boots - like English dockers, a passion for the “proletarian drink” beer - while the “majors” or “hippies” preferred strong alcohol, marijuana and chemicals drugs, the cult of “proletarian sports - primarily football (skinheads became famous for brawls after football matches). The greatest liberties that skinheads allowed themselves were short skirts for their friends (skin girls), who were also simply and neatly dressed and had short hair. The first skinheads listened to American rhythm and blues music, then reggae music that came from Jamaica. From this alone it is clear that initially the skinheads did not have the slightest racial prejudice, because both of them were the music of “colored people”. Moreover, in the ranks of the skinheads of the 60s there were many boys and girls with black skin!

The Skins of that time were mostly apolitical. If they showed interest in political ideologies, it was most likely to the left, as befits representatives of proletarian youth. Thus, a tattoo with a crucifix was popular among them, under which there was the inscription: “The capitalists crucified him.” Those of the Skins who did participate in politics preferred the Labor Party as a workers' party.

The second wave of the skin movement came in the 70s. The clothes are changing a little: now they are jeans and an American pilots' jacket, musical fashion - punk and music in the style of "Oil" are replacing reggae. But most importantly, the politicization of the movement begins, it splits into the right, with which today all skinheads are usually identified (and completely wrongly!) and the left. The birth of right-wing or brown skins was the result of intense propaganda among street youth of English ultra-right illegal parties - primarily the National Front and the British National Socialist Party. Neo-Nazis from such skins began to form street fighters of neo-fascist parties for fights with communists and anarchists and for attacks on “coloreds”. It was these “new skinheads” who began to apply tattoos in the form of a swastika or Celtic cross, use Nazi salutes, and chants of racist and anti-Semitic content. Since their actions - beatings and murders of blacks and Asians - attracted the greatest attention from the media, the average person mistook them for skinheads as such.

Much less was noticed and noticed a little later by the left wing of skinheads - the so-called “red skins” (redskins). With a similar appearance - a paramilitary uniform, short hair, they profess anarcho-communist views. Their slogan: “skinheads against racism and capitalism.” They often have fights with brown skins and not always in favor of the brown ones. Red skins also participate in the anti-globalization movement; its street fighters fought on the barricades in Seattle, Genoa, and Davos. The demands of the red skins are an end to the predatory exploitation of Third World countries by " golden billion "as a minimum and a world socialist revolution as a maximum. Naturally, not only people with white skin color can join the red skinheads. The Red Skins consider themselves - and not without reason - to be the true successors of the skinhead movement of the 60s, since they see in it an expression of the energy and worldview of proletarian youth. They perceive “brown skins” as marginal groups that do not have the right to appropriate the name and external attributes of skinheads.

Close to red skins are SHARP skins (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice - “skinheads against racial prejudice”), a movement that arose in New York in the 80s. Without being anarcho-communists, they also oppose racism and for the equality of all peoples.

It should be noted that the classic, apolitical skinheads, “bisons” of the 60s and their young supporters also did not recognize the ultra-right and began to call them nothing more than “boneheads” (“bone heads”, or loosely translated - “stupid”, “ brainless"). Experts in youth subcultures also believe that there is nothing in common between boneheads and skinheads, except for some elements of clothing (for example, for youth subcultures, the most important attribute is their favorite music, but boneheads and skinheads listen to different music: boneheads - heavy metal, skinheads - reggae or Oil -punk). Therefore, it is not accidental that experts concluded that boneheads are an artificially formed and alien trend in the skinhead movement, while real skinheads, as befits a youth subculture, arose spontaneously (M. Vershinin). By the way, among specialists the concept of “skinhead” is usually applied to this entire youth subculture, and those whom the media call “skinheads,” that is, neo-Nazis, are called boneheads.

In Russia, skinheads appeared in 1991, among students of the capital's vocational schools and technical schools, and generally among young people in the “dormitory areas” of Moscow and Leningrad. Unlike the West, our skin movement did not arise entirely naturally (although there was an economic crisis similar to the one that broke out in England after the war, or even worse), but under the influence of Western mass culture. That is why the children of Moscow and St. Petersburg turners and mechanics wear the boots and braces of English dockers, and not caps and overalls, like their fathers. If they shout anything about Russia and the Russians, it is more often in English, waving either the German flag or the flag of the American Confederates (of course, they mean boneheads). All types of skins are also represented in Russia. There are red skins (they even publish their own magazine - “Blown Up Sky” and have a website on the Internet - “Redskins.ru "), there are anti-fascist skins (who have repeatedly organized skin security - a kind of skin security for concerts of rappers - the eternal enemies of neo-Nazis). But few people know about them. Official television of the Russian Federation, like in the West, which verbally opposes racism and neo-Nazism, diligently suppresses the existence of anti-fascist skinheads and actually “promotes” boneheads with its stories...

The clothes, looks, favorite music of Russian skinheads - all this repeats Western models. The only difference is that Russian boneheads consider Aryan nations not only the peoples of foreign Europe and the Anglo-Saxon white population of the USA, but also the Slavs and in particular the Russians (alas, they do not know that their Western “brothers by race” absolutely disagree with such conclusions and treat to the Slavs as “racially inferior”). Just like in the West, Russian boneheads are “patronized” by “adult” ultra-right organizations like the People’s National Party of Ivanov-Sukharevsky, trying to turn them into their stormtroopers. Naturally, some boneheads join the ranks of ultra-right organizations, but the bone movement as such remains a fairly autonomous entity.

Russian skinheads in general and boneheads in particular do not have a single organization. They are a collection of disparate and unrelated groups (on average 10-15 people each), which do not always and not everywhere engage in beatings and murders; often the matter is limited to drinking beer and listening to heavy rock and break up just as easily as arise. True, in November 2002, the boneheads tried to hold a Russian congress in the capital, timed to coincide with the birthday of the cult figure of the Western brown skins, Ian Stewart (400 people arrived at the congress), but this attempt was stopped by the police. The number of boneheads in Russia is generally small. According to 2003 data, there were 15,000 people throughout Russia, in Moscow with a population of 7 million - about 5,000, in St. Petersburg - about 3,000 (by this year, 2006, their number, of course, has increased, but not significantly and is unlikely exceeds 20,000 in Russia). As a rule, our boneheads are students of high schools, vocational schools, and, less often, universities. The overwhelming majority are the so-called “pioneers,” street fighters who are not very sophisticated in ideology and are only good for drinking beer, listening to rock, hanging around the streets and starting fights. Without the ideologists of the movement, they do not pose a great danger, because their ardor itself can easily dissipate and the movement will disintegrate. There are no more than a few hundred ideologists and leaders of boneheads. There are no more than a hundred of them in Moscow. They publish samizdat magazines (“Under Zero”, “Street Fighter” (Moscow), “Russian Fist” (St. Petersburg)), create Internet sites, prepare and distribute training manuals on street fighting. The names are indicative: “Hooligan style of hand-to-hand combat”, “Use what is at hand”, “Fight as it is”, as well as quotes from them: “... Razor blows along their trajectory resemble glancing blows with a fist... ...eyes, skin of the forehead (bleeds heavily - blinds), neck, large arteries of the arms and legs, stomach.... ...the muscles of the peritoneum, often covered with a thick layer of fat, are pierced by a powerful circular blow... ...there are no invulnerable places for a razor... ...and it heals slowly, unlike wounds inflicted by a blunt weapon...".

It should also be noted that boneheads are mainly grouped in two capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg (about 90% of brown skins are located there). They carry out their actions regularly, but against the backdrop of general criminal statistics, the crimes they commit are, as they say, a drop in the bucket (which, naturally, does not negate the need for moral condemnation of each such act, especially since for the relatives and friends of the victims these statistics are weak comfort). This can be seen, for example, according to the Polit.Ru website (“Radical nationalism in Russia and counteraction to it in 2005 (annual report of the information and analytical center “Sova”)”) For the entire 2005, boneheads (whom anti-fascist analysts incorrectly call skinheads) There were 366 beatings that resulted in injuries and 28 murders. At the same time, according to electronic media (“article “Criminal Russia "on the website of the Perm branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation) according to the report of Prosecutor General Ustinov on the crime level in the country, in 2005, about 30,000 murders were committed in the Russian Federation (it should be noted that in reality there were, of course, more: according to electronic media, less than half are registered crimes). So, out of 30,000 murders committed in the Russian Federation in 2005 (according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which are clearly underestimated), only 28 were committed by “skinheads” (according to human rights activists who, on the contrary, are interested in exaggerating the “degree” of extremism). This is about one thousandth of a percent - a value that sociologists usually do not take into account due to its statistical insignificance (it is included in the so-called “percentage of error”). Nevertheless, this thousandth of a percent is constantly in the field of view of the media, while all other crimes are not only hushed up, but no one particularly “promotes” them.

Skinheads in the distorting mirror of the media

So the reality is that:

Skinheads are heterogeneous and include completely apolitical, anti-fascist, and even anarcho-communist groups;

Skinheads are a youth subculture and, by definition, cannot coincide with criminal groups. The concept of subculture is broader; as already mentioned, it presupposes a way of life (it may seem that the very facts of the beating of Africans and Asians by at least some skinheads refutes this thesis, but this is not so. To clarify, we can give the following example: the hippie subculture does not exclude and even welcomes the use of soft drugs (primarily marijuana). Naturally, some of the hippies are therefore engaged in selling marijuana and are therefore associated with the drug mafia. But it does not at all follow from this that the drug mafia and the hippie movement are actually one and the same);

Skinheads are not a political party, although they have contacts with parties and movements of the far right (Slavic Union, National People's Party). Belonging to a party implies only ideological agreement. A member of RNU, for example, can be both a lover of folk music and a rock lover, as long as he shares the ideas of Russian nationalism. For boneheads, as for all youth groups, music is the main distinguishing principle. A bonehead can't be a bonehead if he doesn't listen to hard rock. In addition, the party arises artificially, at the will of its creators, the skin movement arises spontaneously, from groups of idle workers or unemployed youth;

Boneheads have nothing to do with Russian traditional culture and traditional Russian nationalism at all (unlike, for example, Black Hundreds , who, indeed, are trying to revive the Russian national movement of a century ago). Russian skinheads in general and boneheads in particular are the product of the transplantation of Western mass culture phenomena onto our soil (just like rappers, Rastafarians, Hare Krishnas, Mormons, etc.). If there had not been the fall of the Iron Curtain, the guys from the outskirts of Moscow and St. Petersburg would not have watched “Fight Club”, would not have heard “black metal”, and there would be no “skinheads” in Russia. This is evidenced by their very appearance, copied from Western boneheads, the manner of calling themselves by nicknames in English or German (Hans, Martin, etc.), the set of their favorite rock bands, mostly German- and English-speaking, and finally, dislike to blacks in a country where there have never been areas with a black population and tensions between whites and blacks have no social roots;

Boneheads are scattered, small in number, grouped mainly in the capitals, the crimes committed by them make up a tiny percentage of the total number of the same crimes committed for other, non-ideological reasons.

The media paints us a completely different image of “skinheads”:

Skinheads are presented exclusively as neo-fascists of the most primitive kind. All sorts of reports on TV news programs depict drunken teenagers stupidly shouting Nazi slogans and insults towards non-whites, all of which journalists present as “skinhead parties.” Some journalists go so far as to say that “skinheads” can be dressed in any way they like, and not necessarily in “bomber jackets” and army boots and may not even be shaved (!), thus, skinheads are identified with any nationalist hooligans and are generally dismissed as framework of youth subcultures (!). At the same time, the author of these lines has never heard television journalists mention the existence of red skinheads or anti-fascist skinheads. There is either blatant lack of professionalism or a deliberate suppression of facts;

The media does not differentiate between members of radical nationalist parties and the skinhead movement. Thus, at the beginning of April 2006, when anti-skinhead propaganda reached its apogee on TV, the NTV channel broadcast a story about the admission of Ivanov-Sukharevsky to membership in the organization. Despite the fact that the young people were dressed in neat shirts and trousers reminiscent of the NSDAP uniform, it was implied that the viewer was skinheads (although the only thing that resembled them was their short hairstyles);

Skinheads are portrayed as a formidable and extremely dangerous force for society. Statistics on murders committed by boneheads or simply neo-Nazi militants are not provided; dry numbers are replaced by emotional stories about the cruelty of beatings. The number of “skinheads” voiced by TV and radio journalists is many times higher than the figures we find on the Internet, in official reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the works of specialists in youth subcultures, and even in the reports of human rights activists.

From all this, it is obvious that M. Vershinin was completely right, who argued that the media, with a persistence worthy of better use, are creating a political bogeyman out of the skinhead movement - a heterogeneous, small, imitative and purely adolescent phenomenon.

We would only add to this that such a media policy not only misleads society, but also contributes to the quantitative growth of such “skinheads” as the media portrays them. Describing the atrocities of skinheads, the media, hypocritically declaring themselves “fighters against fascism,” form such an image of a skinhead that he turns out to be the most attractive to teenagers, to whom the “adult world” is not turned on its most pleasant and best side. “Skinheads” are portrayed as strong, brave, invincible and elusive, they can beat anyone and not be afraid of retribution, even if they are arrested by the police, they supposedly get off with “a slight fright.” As for the condemnation of the inhumanity and xenophobia of the “skins”, these are the terms of the “adult” world, alien to them, and, moreover, proclaimed by liberal journalists, defenders of a regime that has brought little good to the workers and their children. So, the result of the fight against the skinheads of the liberal media is imitative actions on the part of young people, who learn about everything from television programs. Previously, they were just “gopniks”, drinking beer in the entrances, fighting among themselves, now, having watched NTV and ORT programs about skinheads, they “play skins” - the way they are represented in the media (about the suspenders of English dockers and Oil-punk they had never even heard of it). Sometimes these “games” end in blood. Journalists receive the coveted sensation, with even greater enthusiasm they begin to expose skinheads and everything repeats itself...

3. Who benefits from this?

The question of Roman law: “look for who benefits” is more than appropriate in this case. Obviously, both in Russia and abroad there are powerful political forces that are interested in inflating the myth of evil Russian nationalism, and in creating such a small and manageable, but very noisy and odious phenomenon. We will not argue that these forces directly “order” journalists to write false and provocative stories about “skinheads.” Most likely, here we are not dealing with external, repressive censorship, as in Soviet times, but with internal self-censorship of journalists - media workers know in advance what their new owners want and are trying to please them, creating more and more ideological myths. But be that as it may, without the support of a certain segment of society and the political elite, such large-scale operations to manipulate public consciousness, and even with the use of central mass media, are not carried out.

It’s easy to outline a short list of who benefits from inflating the topic of Russian nationalism:

Further, these are our Russian radical liberals, who are also not averse to speculating on the topic of “Russian fascism.” After all, firstly, this meets the interests of their masters from the West and coincides with their own calls for the destruction of the Russian Federation as the last stronghold of the empire. In addition, this coincides with their spiritual impulse to throw mud at the Russians as often as possible, because our liberals are almost completely irrational and notorious Russophobes. Finally, this looks like a blow to President Putin, who supposedly cannot cope with the threat of “Russian fascism.”

Internal Russian nationalists and separatists also benefit from the hysteria around “Russian nationalism,” since their dream is the separation of its national regions from Russia. And for this, the demonization of Russians in the eyes of residents of the national regions is very, very necessary, which is served by provocative stories about skinheads in the liberal media (especially since the bond of separatists from the outskirts and liberals in Moscow was formed during the time of the first Chechen company, in which Kovalev and Kiselev and their comrades acted as “information support” for Dudayev and Basayev).

And, no matter how paradoxical this may sound, it is also beneficial for Putin’s regime. Of course, like any state, it is not interested in social order being “shaken” by gangs of neo-Nazi teenagers, but it is interested in creating such a feeling among ordinary people. The more ordinary people will appreciate Putin and his “United Russia” members, who, although not ideal, are still better than fascist lawlessness.

Thus, no matter how you look at it, inflating the propaganda show about skinheads is only beneficial for everyone. Naturally, with the exception of the people of Russia. But the above-mentioned players of the political “chessboard” do not care about the people.

Vakhitov R.

It’s the 19th century, and the appearance on the streets of a representative of one or another youth subculture will not surprise anyone. What is a subculture anyway?

Subculture (from Latin - “subculture”) is a piece of any culture that differs from the majority; public carriers of this culture.

Nowadays, there are a large number of diverse youth subcultures. The most famous are hippies, rastafarians, emo, punks, goths, bikers, skinheads and others. Let's talk about who skinheads are.

The origins of the skinhead subculture

If we look a little into the history of the emergence of this subculture in Russia, skinheads (or skins, as they are popularly called) appeared here in 1991. Moreover, this movement arose under the influence of Western culture.

In modern society there is an opinion that skinheads are supporters of Nazi ideology. But it is not so. There are several directions of this subculture:

• Traditional Skinheads. They are apolitical. They listen to reggae and SKA.
• S.H.A.R.P. (Skinhead Against Racial Prejudices). Against racial prejudice.
• R.A.S.H. (Red & Anarchist Skinheads). They adhere to the ideas of anarchism, communism, and socialism.
• NS-skinheads/Boneheads. They adhere to National Socialist ideas.
• Straight edge skinheads (sXe Skinheads). They adhere to a healthy lifestyle, believing that alcohol, cigarettes and drugs are bad.

Unfortunately, in our time in Russia, skinheads are neo-fascist groups. And it's a little frustrating and scary at the same time. As has already become clear, the skins have shaved heads, they mostly wear jeans and army combat boots. You can often see tattoos on them: Hitler’s swastika or a cross in a circle (a version of the celt).

Initially, skinheads listened to SKA and punk rock; now they listen to rock and patriotic music, because they consider themselves true patriots of their country.

Skinhead ideology

Who are the skinheads fighting against? What is their ideology?

Who do skinheads hit? This subculture adheres to the ideology of positioning itself as a national liberation movement; they believe that the white-skinned race is the superior race; they are the true racists and xenophobes. Therefore, skinheads are against Caucasians, Tajiks, Armenians, Chinese, Gypsies, Jews and blacks.

If we generalize everything, then skinheads are a group of young people who live according to their own specific laws, have their own attributes and symbols, and listen to certain music.

If you want to watch films about skinheads, I can offer you some. For example: “American History X”, “Made in Britain”, “Fanatic”, “This is England”, “Skinheads”, “Peria”, “Skinhead Position” and others.

I would also like to say: do not forget that there is criminal liability for inciting hatred based on national race. Don't ruin the life of yourself and your loved ones! Think before you join the ranks of skinheads.