Skinhead

[tomgallagher]

I guess I should cancel my appointment to have a swastika tattooed on the bald skull...

[Arnie]

...This is all changing (for the good) as the shaved head is really a main stream style and any concerns of appearing to be a skinhead are groundless as they are conveyed by as dress, attitude and lack of smarts...

Well said, because it is those combination of factors that make up the skinhead community.

On a positive note, how many people have you seen with the sly look since you joined SBGs?  I've seen a lot and in the past few months  and make it a point to see if they know about SBGs...if not, they usually want to know...my point, SLY is in style!

[Vash]

Some of us apparently just have "that look" with our heads shaved. I've been told that I'm more intimidating with my head shaved clean than I do with a Mohawk (I always thought the hawk was much more agro, but hey). The bottom line is that some people are gonna think what they're gonna think and there's not much you can do about it. The good news is that the people who will misjudge are people you don't wanna know anyway. Those who know you will know you no matter what your haircut is.

That said there IS more to the Skinhead look than the hair cut:



If you are looking for what NOT to wear:

Don't wear Dr. Marten boots with Red or White laces (I wear Docs almost elusively, just stick to black laces), These is are Racist Skinhead code. Avoid German insignias (Swastika, Iron Cross, SS lightening bolts, etc.) on clothing and especially in tattoos.

Avoid the high cuffed pants/suspenders (braces)/shaved head combo.

That's about it.

I live in Portland, OR. And there's a pretty strong Racist Skin presence here, as well as S.H.A.R.P.s. it's really no better to identify as a S.H.A.R.P. than it is to identify as an Aryan or a Hammer Skin. It's just a different flavor of thug. The only difference is that the S.H.A.R.P.s Beat up the Racist Skins. It's still ridiculous, pointless violence, just aimed at a different group.

The "Traditional Skinhead" Look may have started a class/political/music/culture movement in England, but the racists took it over so completely that I don't know that the movement can ever get back on track. At least not in the general public eye.

http://www.io.com/~qsb/words/faq/skin.html

Sad but true. I personally like the "traditional Skinhead" asthetic and wear it to varying degrees. I just got used to occasionally having to say "Don't let the haircut fool ya" or "no, no, it's just a haircut" to random strangers who stare too much on the bus.

 

[Manta Ray]

I've got a bald head and a Confederate flag in my living room...oh-oh...(actually, I just like to collect Civil War stuff... )

[calbito]

This reminds me of an incident that happened in Tacoma WA back in the mid 1980's.  Some long-haired rock band was playing there and they were cruising the local mall.  They happened upon some guys with shaved heads and wearing military clothes.  The rockers presumed them to be neo-nazi skinheads and started to harass them and beat them up.  Big mistake.  The "skinheads" were actually freshly trained Army Rangers from nearby Fort  Lewis.  Those long-hairs learned a valuable and unforgettable lesson about judging a book by its cover. 

[Jodah777]

You have to be especially nice to everyone. Skin-heads aren't nice. Most people are intimidated by a bald head, but nobody thinks "neo-nazi" when a bald person is nice to everyone.

[bubbadave3]

Vash, I was surprised when I read that article and saw that they listed the Dropkick Murphys as an American oi band.  We saw them in concert in Spokane, WA about a week ago.  (As a proper Bostonian in exile, they made me homesick). 

[jc71corvette]

good topic i was meaning to make one myself.

When your chromed domed, you are not called that name a lot. Its usualy when you buzz it off. I agree with the first page, get a good tan. Carry yourself well. That means how you act towards everyone. And SMILE!!

Now its kinda hard for me though. Because I usualy have that rock look going. None of my tattoos are visable though. You gota smile

[mangosink12572]

Just be a good person  - -the Skinhead was not  - - - and who cares now   "  BALD IS BEAUTIFUL "

[Alexander215]

Vash, I was surprised when I read that article and saw that they listed the Dropkick Murphys as an American oi band.  We saw them in concert in Spokane, WA about a week ago.  (As a proper Bostonian in exile, they made me homesick). 

An excellent band.

[Undercover]

Yeah it doesn't happen very often but I still hear the occasional "Nazi" comment when I walk down the street, I just let it roll off my smooth bald head and not worry about it, like its already been said, its THEIR problem, not yours.

Although there was this one instance where I actually had a chance to retort to a certain comment. I was walking down a bike path, minding my own business and enjoying the day when a couple of obvious wanna-be hippie type chicks walk by (You know, the kind that rock the look and think they can save the world with their dreadlocks but are otherwise innefectual posers who work at Starbucks) and one of them says "Nazi" and the other one "Racist" with an incredibly smug look on their faces.

I admit I was taken aback, I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, not a swastika, thank you very much. I stopped, turned around and said "Excuse me? I'm quite certain that there is no way you were just talking to me.

To which they responded with a tirade of cliche's and insults that would have pissed off anyone else, so what did I do?

I very calmly explained to them that not only am I NOT a Nazi Skinhead, but that my father is a Holocaust survivor from Holland whose entire family was exterminated by the Nazis in both Stalag 13 and Treblinka, and who had to spend over a year being hidden in a false closet like Anne Frank, and how deeply hurt I was by their comments and how insulted I was that they would say such a thing about someone simply because they shave their head. I even explained the origins of skinheads and how the white supremists stole and then raped that image for their own twisted purposes.

You have never seen a couple of posers backpedal faster in your entire life. By the time I was done they were both in tears, so hopefully that opened their eyes a little bit and they won't be so quick to shoot their mouths off next time.

It doesn't happen very often, but man does it feel good to put someone in their place, even if it means dredging up unpleasantness.

NEXT!

[bubbadave3]

Yeah it doesn't happen very often but I still hear the occasional "Nazi" comment when I walk down the street, I just let it roll off my smooth bald head and not worry about it, like its already been said, its THEIR problem, not yours.

Although there was this one instance where I actually had a chance to retort to a certain comment. I was walking down a bike path, minding my own business and enjoying the day when a couple of obvious wanna-be hippie type chicks walk by (You know, the kind that rock the look and think they can save the world with their dreadlocks but are otherwise innefectual posers who work at Starbucks) and one of them says "Nazi" and the other one "Racist" with an incredibly smug look on their faces.

I admit I was taken aback, I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, not a swastika, thank you very much. I stopped, turned around and said "Excuse me? I'm quite certain that there is no way you were just talking to me.

To which they responded with a tirade of cliche's and insults that would have pissed off anyone else, so what did I do?

I very calmly explained to them that not only am I NOT a Nazi Skinhead, but that my father is a Holocaust survivor from Holland whose entire family was exterminated by the Nazis in both Stalag 13 and Treblinka, and who had to spend over a year being hidden in a false closet like Anne Frank, and how deeply hurt I was by their comments and how insulted I was that they would say such a thing about someone simply because they shave their head. I even explained the origins of skinheads and how the white supremists stole and then raped that image for their own twisted purposes.

You have never seen a couple of posers backpedal faster in your entire life. By the time I was done they were both in tears, so hopefully that opened their eyes a little bit and they won't be so quick to shoot their mouths off next time.

It doesn't happen very often, but man does it feel good to put someone in their place, even if it means dredging up unpleasantness.

NEXT!

Good for you!  I'm glad that you told them.  I'm 100% Middle Eastern, (Christian), and my wife's family is 100% Jewish.  My family lived through the Turkish genocide.  My grandfather lost his first wife and two kids in the genocide.  There's this loopy woman at our church that told me with all seriousness that she's afraid of me because I look like Saddam.  Two weeks ago, I was talking to these people that I'd just met, and she walks up, and proceeds to ask me if I've blown up any planes lately.  She also wanted to know where my sheet was.  (Please don't blame Christians for stupidity;  I'm NOT saying that you're doing that).  I just give this woman a 's)wide birth and figure that she's a nut job!  (Worse yet, I think that she's in her late 60's, early 70's).

BTW, welcome to the group.

[Undercover]

Vash, I was surprised when I read that article and saw that they listed the Dropkick Murphys as an American oi band.  We saw them in concert in Spokane, WA about a week ago.  (As a proper Bostonian in exile, they made me homesick). 

An excellent band.

Yeah, those guys made a stop in my city (Edmonton) last summer & a good time was had by all! There were shaved heads and kilts a-plenty, not to mention a bevvy of beauties that really like the former & the latter 

[Undercover]

(Snipped for space)

Good for you!  I'm glad that you told them.  I'm 100% Middle Eastern, (Christian), and my wife's family is 100% Jewish.  My family lived through the Turkish genocide.  My grandfather lost his first wife and two kids in the genocide.  There's this loopy woman at our church that told me with all seriousness that she's afraid of me because I look like Saddam.  Two weeks ago, I was talking to these people that I'd just met, and she walks up, and proceeds to ask me if I've blown up any planes lately.  She also wanted to know where my sheet was.  (Please don't blame Christians for stupidity;  I'm NOT saying that you're doing that).  I just give this woman a 's)wide birth and figure that she's a nut job!  (Worse yet, I think that she's in her late 60's, early 70's).

BTW, welcome to the group.

Hey Bubba,

Thanks, its nice to be here. 

I have to admit, I found myself saying "WHAT?!?" out loud a few times when I read your post. Man, talk about IGNORANCE. The thing is, I agree with you and I don't blame Christians for stupidity, I blame stupidity itself. People need to learn to think for themselves, rather than have guys like Glenn Beck do it for them. Its a good thing that I wasn't present during the 'blowing up planes' and 'where's your sheet' comments, as I would have let that woman have it with both barrels for saying such a thing.

I'm not saying I'm perfect, far from it, I make mistakes all the time. As a matter of fact the last time I made a mistake was when I thought I was WRONG. 

In all seriousness though, what was she thinking? I'm going out on a limb and assuming she was thinking, just not about the right things.

It seems that people are still easily influenced by the media and pundits like "Faux News" which depresses me on a daily basis.

Oh well, like I always say: "Hug an a**hole today, because if it weren't for them we wouldn't know who all the cool people are!"

BTW, you do NOT look like Saddam Hussein. A bald Omar Sharif maybe, but definitely not Saddam What bothers me when people say things like that is that its based on an irrational fear brought on by media oversaturation. Again if I had been there I would have said something like "Oh yeah? Well I'm afraid of you because you look like Phyllis Diller!"

[Razor X]

The average Joe Sly that I see on any given day is between 35 and 45 years old, usually has the tell-tale shadow of MPB, often wears glasses, khakis and a polo shirt.  I don't see how any of those things screams out "skinhead."   

Admittedly, a shaved head can give a guy a tougher-looking appearance but a lot depends on how the person is dressed and "accessorized", as well as his physical build, facial hair, etc.  I would think that "bouncer" or "biker" would come come to mind before "skinhead" in most cases.  But generalizing about these things is like swimming in shark-infested waters.  I'm sure plenty of people who see me out in public make assumptions about me based on my appearance -- and they are probably way, way off in most cases.  But I've never worried about being labeled a skinhead.  Anyone who thinks someone is a neo-Nazi simply because his head is shaved is oblivious to the world around them and has been for the past 15 years or so.  Shaved heads have been commonplace for quite some time now.