Sydney Tribes
Tribes of the Sydney
SACHA MOLITORISZ, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 7, 2010
The tribes, from left: The Emo, The SuperGeek, The Jock Dolly, The Gangsta, The Punk Lite, The
Glamazon, The Hipster, and The Techno Boho. Photo: John Shakespeare
A decade ago, Sacha Molitorisz described the subgroups of Sydney's youth culture. So how have they changed? And what of the new breeds out there on the streets? Just occasionally, a young person will make the mistake of thinking that tribes, cliques and crews are unimportant. This erroneous thought occurs to Rick, the dorky protagonist of the 2008 teen comedy Superhero Movie, as he's chatting to a friend on a school bus.
"Nobody ever messes around outside their group, man," says his friend. …show more content…
Twilight fans are "Twihards". Happy Emos are "tryhards".
Most tribes hate Emos, including Emos. "Emo is a pile of shit," says Gerard Way, singer of My Chemical Romance and paragon of his music-obsessed tribe.
Meanwhile, the rise of Emo has seen a corresponding fall of Goth. "They're kind of dying out in younger generations," says one teen. This is great news, primarily for
Goths, who love dying out.
The Supergeek
In retrospect, it's all so clear. Just as they had us distracted with Y2K, Dorks and Web
Geeks plugged USB cables into one another's ports and merged into Supergeeks. "The only sub group I think that has really emerged as a force in the past decade is the Nerd or Geek," says Robbie Buck, the departing veteran of youth network Triple J. "If you look at a heap of fashion around at the moment - yacht rock '80s polo shirts and geek
Buddy Holly glasses - that's the one that has had the most momentum." In the transient world of tribes, Geeks are unchanging. Functional haircuts. Thick glasses.
Comfortable clothing. Geek chic is typified by Harry Potter, Hermione and Seth …show more content…
Collared shirts, high-waisted skirts, ties ... the uniform is formal informal. "Glamazons are everywhere," says a University of
Sydney student. "It's both girls and guys and basically they're these youths that keep up with all the fashion mags and then dress as if every occasion is their catwalk opportunity. Needless to say, some of these students have a lot of mummy and daddy's money to spend on designer clothes." It's a select tribe but the queue to get in is long. "They [the wannabe Glamazons] are mostly into brand names and music that's on the radio," says Susanna Obmann, 18. "They're kind of the 'norm', teenage schoolgoers who are materialistic and major consumers."
The Hipster
Technology is having a huge effect, including spawning a meta-subculture: the
Hipster. "People used to form tribes based on proximity but tribes can now be formed on the basis of interests alone," says Ashley Chang, a 22-year-old editor at pedestrian.tv, adding that the young are more chameleon-like than ever. "If I own a computer I can see what kids in Japan are wearing or what kids in France are listening to. The transfer of information is so quick that the disparity between early
SACHA MOLITORISZ, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 7, 2010
The tribes, from left: The Emo, The SuperGeek, The Jock Dolly, The Gangsta, The Punk Lite, The
Glamazon, The Hipster, and The Techno Boho. Photo: John Shakespeare
A decade ago, Sacha Molitorisz described the subgroups of Sydney's youth culture. So how have they changed? And what of the new breeds out there on the streets? Just occasionally, a young person will make the mistake of thinking that tribes, cliques and crews are unimportant. This erroneous thought occurs to Rick, the dorky protagonist of the 2008 teen comedy Superhero Movie, as he's chatting to a friend on a school bus.
"Nobody ever messes around outside their group, man," says his friend. …show more content…
Twilight fans are "Twihards". Happy Emos are "tryhards".
Most tribes hate Emos, including Emos. "Emo is a pile of shit," says Gerard Way, singer of My Chemical Romance and paragon of his music-obsessed tribe.
Meanwhile, the rise of Emo has seen a corresponding fall of Goth. "They're kind of dying out in younger generations," says one teen. This is great news, primarily for
Goths, who love dying out.
The Supergeek
In retrospect, it's all so clear. Just as they had us distracted with Y2K, Dorks and Web
Geeks plugged USB cables into one another's ports and merged into Supergeeks. "The only sub group I think that has really emerged as a force in the past decade is the Nerd or Geek," says Robbie Buck, the departing veteran of youth network Triple J. "If you look at a heap of fashion around at the moment - yacht rock '80s polo shirts and geek
Buddy Holly glasses - that's the one that has had the most momentum." In the transient world of tribes, Geeks are unchanging. Functional haircuts. Thick glasses.
Comfortable clothing. Geek chic is typified by Harry Potter, Hermione and Seth …show more content…
Collared shirts, high-waisted skirts, ties ... the uniform is formal informal. "Glamazons are everywhere," says a University of
Sydney student. "It's both girls and guys and basically they're these youths that keep up with all the fashion mags and then dress as if every occasion is their catwalk opportunity. Needless to say, some of these students have a lot of mummy and daddy's money to spend on designer clothes." It's a select tribe but the queue to get in is long. "They [the wannabe Glamazons] are mostly into brand names and music that's on the radio," says Susanna Obmann, 18. "They're kind of the 'norm', teenage schoolgoers who are materialistic and major consumers."
The Hipster
Technology is having a huge effect, including spawning a meta-subculture: the
Hipster. "People used to form tribes based on proximity but tribes can now be formed on the basis of interests alone," says Ashley Chang, a 22-year-old editor at pedestrian.tv, adding that the young are more chameleon-like than ever. "If I own a computer I can see what kids in Japan are wearing or what kids in France are listening to. The transfer of information is so quick that the disparity between early