100 Counter-Cultural Signifiers That Are So Ubiquotous/Played-Out/Subsumed By The Mainstream That They've Lost Their Resonance

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100. Mohawks
99. Tattoos
98. Piercings
97. Ramones/Motorhead/CBGB t-shirts (rock t-shirts in general?)
96. studed/spiked belts/bracelets
95. Black Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars
94. Tye-Dye

Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago)

93. blue/green/purple/etc. hair coloring.

Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:20 (seventeen years ago)

Would you say The Bird counts or does this still piss people off?

Abbott, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:21 (seventeen years ago)

what counter-culture

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:23 (seventeen years ago)

How about my friend's Jimi Hendrix T-shirt that plays a MIDI of Purple Haze when you press this button on it?

Abbott, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:24 (seventeen years ago)

I mean there IS no counter-culture now - everything is just fragmented into their own little circles, there isn't even really a clearly defined mainstream culture to be AGAINST anymore

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:25 (seventeen years ago)

The t-shirts with no MIDI culture. Fuck that non-noize!

Abbott, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:27 (seventeen years ago)

hahaha

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:27 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/bingo.jpg

abanana, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:34 (seventeen years ago)

list threads

latebloomer, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:37 (seventeen years ago)

remember when we could stick it to the man by listing our favorite bands?

latebloomer, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:38 (seventeen years ago)

1. Long Hair (just to get that one out of the way)

latebloomer, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:51 (seventeen years ago)

95. Black Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars

Dude, that's like saying blue jeans have lost their resonance. Chucks will be around after we're not only old and uncool, but probably after we're dead.

kenan, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:58 (seventeen years ago)

I'm also not sure Motorhead t-shirts belong there. Not as a counter-cultural signifier, just as a bad-ass logo for a fucking awesome band.

kenan, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 23:59 (seventeen years ago)

xx. any song older than cellphones that has been made into a ringtone

mookieproof, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

But Wham's "Careless Whisper" was my ringtone!

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:02 (seventeen years ago)

Do you know what is so PUNK ROCK and DANGEROUS and RADICAND BADASS about Chuck Taylors? They fucking ruined my feet, that's what. Beware of foot tendinitis!

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:03 (seventeen years ago)

92. Circumcision
91. "Thinspiration"/anorexia bbs
90. Magic
89. Andy Warhol
88. Boob job
87. Shaved head (now RX for all balding mang)
86. Penny stocks
85. Organic food

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:08 (seventeen years ago)

84. Dropping out of high school
83. Hating the John Birch society

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:08 (seventeen years ago)

82. Withnail & I

W4LTER, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:10 (seventeen years ago)

81. Macs

wanko ergo sum, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:11 (seventeen years ago)

80. Virginity promise rallies
79. Wanting to see buttsecks on film

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:12 (seventeen years ago)

78. threads about who you would fuck

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:14 (seventeen years ago)

some of these are not counter-culturally significant

mookieproof, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:15 (seventeen years ago)

not like handjobs to 'more than this'

mookieproof, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:16 (seventeen years ago)

77. animated gifs

jhøshea, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:17 (seventeen years ago)

76. Crass and/or Misfits tees. (Minor Threat is getting there. Op Ivy is past there.)

wanko ergo sum, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:17 (seventeen years ago)

the following words:

75. "ass"
74. "bitch"
73. "damn"

max, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:20 (seventeen years ago)

72. motorcycles

max, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:20 (seventeen years ago)

I would distinguish between things that have merely lost their status as counter-cultural, and things that have no reason to exist now that they are no longer counter-cultural.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:23 (seventeen years ago)

i'm surprised you're not holding forth on boob jobs

mookieproof, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:24 (seventeen years ago)

No, a motorcycle will not make you Rob Halford, if it ever would have, but it's still not a shameful thing to have. Nor is organic food, or a Mac.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:24 (seventeen years ago)

if we go back really far:

71. t-shirts
70. baseball caps
69. jeans

max, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:25 (seventeen years ago)

i'm surprised you're not holding forth on boob jobs

that one confuses me. Boobs jobs were never a statement against The Man. Bralessness, maybe. Mayyyybe.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:27 (seventeen years ago)

They were once not as socially acceptable.

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:30 (seventeen years ago)

I see where you're coming from.

But I think Alex in his ire was trying to get at things that should go away because DUDE, that is not making you look cool.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:31 (seventeen years ago)

68-1. Every "counter-cultural signifier" either belongs on this list or will eventually.

Hurting 2, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:32 (seventeen years ago)

Boob jobs count there too, IMO!

xp

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:33 (seventeen years ago)

Right, but they were never counter-cultural. They were/are pandering to the patriarchy, if anything.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:34 (seventeen years ago)

Boobs.

Abbott, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:35 (seventeen years ago)

you said it, sister.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 00:36 (seventeen years ago)

67. williamsburg. shit, ANYWHERE in manhattan.

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:12 (seventeen years ago)

66. being into "edgy" socialites & their vanity projects.

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:14 (seventeen years ago)

65. Dads

Hurting 2, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:17 (seventeen years ago)

baseball caps on backwards
(my mom still thinks I'm trying to start something when I wear a cap backwards)

Maria :D, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:31 (seventeen years ago)

like a frat?

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:35 (seventeen years ago)

63. earrings on dudes

max, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:36 (seventeen years ago)

williamsburg is in manhattan now?

gabbneb, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:43 (seventeen years ago)

62. Cussing/cursing/using profanity

Andi Mags, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 01:44 (seventeen years ago)

54. Potato famine.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:14 (seventeen years ago)

53. Seeing how many college students you can fit into a telephone booth and then submerging it in Hormel Chili.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:15 (seventeen years ago)

52. Flaunting your heterosexuality.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:16 (seventeen years ago)

51. Dryhumping in protest.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago)

50. Machismo and true grit.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago)

slow day, nick? :)

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago)

49. Wondering how Ronald Reagan felt about Jelly Bellys.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:18 (seventeen years ago)

48. Exposing the canards of the Brazilian space system.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:18 (seventeen years ago)

47. Hiding your Easter eggs two months in advance.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:18 (seventeen years ago)

46. Frittering.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:19 (seventeen years ago)

45. Creating the perfect recipe for toad cracklings.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:19 (seventeen years ago)

thinly-veiled roman a clefs

is that redundant?

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:19 (seventeen years ago)

44. Living in a hut spun out of marzipan.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:20 (seventeen years ago)

43. Toadying up to your inferiors.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:20 (seventeen years ago)

42. Arranging your chess pieces by weight.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:21 (seventeen years ago)

41. Crossing the rhumba with a bossanova beat.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:21 (seventeen years ago)

40. Teaching your aunt how to wakeboard.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:22 (seventeen years ago)

39. Using nonsequiters as a substitute for actual humor.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:23 (seventeen years ago)

38. Publicly self-deprecating while privately knowing you are awesome.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:24 (seventeen years ago)

37. - 2. Cheating to get ahead.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:25 (seventeen years ago)

1. Starting threads about how great you are because you are so over "played-out" countercultural signifiers.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:26 (seventeen years ago)

36. black leather jacket

ian, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:27 (seventeen years ago)

Oh son, you are a bad-ass. (xpost)

kingkongvsgodzilla, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:27 (seventeen years ago)

lock thread, plz

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:40 (seventeen years ago)

97. Ramones/Motorhead/CBGB t-shirts (rock t-shirts in general?)

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:50 (seventeen years ago)

It'll be fun the day Alex's kid comes home with blue hair and throws him into a rage. "Played out cultural signifiers? Not under my roof, young lady!" "Fuck you, dad!"

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:53 (seventeen years ago)

lols

Hurting 2, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:56 (seventeen years ago)

35. Burning Man

fritz, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:00 (seventeen years ago)

# 100 Counter-Cultural Signifiers That Are So Ubiquotous/Played-Out/Subsumed By The Mainstream That They've Lost Their Resonance [Started by Alex in NYC, last updated 35 seconds ago] 130 new answers
# New Apple Lust Objects [Started by Ed (dali), last updated 41 seconds ago] 48 new answers

get bent, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:02 (seventeen years ago)

apple hasn't been counter culture in, like, a decade or something.

ian, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:11 (seventeen years ago)

This one is serious:

34. Joking about how Alex in NYC is going to react to his children's whims as they enter the rebellious teenage years.

n/a, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:21 (seventeen years ago)

Jot that one down somewhere. It's SERIOUS.

kenan, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:22 (seventeen years ago)

Nine times out of ten, sported by someone who couldn't hum a few bars of "We Are the Road Crew" if you put a loaded .44 in their mouth.

-- Alex in NYC, Tuesday, September 4, 2007 8:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

Please post .wav of Charlotte humming Motorhead, plz.

jaymc, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:37 (seventeen years ago)

jaymc.xls gettin' jiggy with the OLE imbeds!

HI DERE, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 18:38 (seventeen years ago)

not 33 at all. shade tippin'

tremendoid, Thursday, 6 September 2007 00:58 (seventeen years ago)

hahaha did jaymc just recommend that alex put a gun in his daughter's mouth?

max, Thursday, 6 September 2007 02:38 (seventeen years ago)

32. Ice Cube

rogermexico., Thursday, 6 September 2007 04:57 (seventeen years ago)

TRIBAL ARM BAND TATTOOS

Jordan Sargent, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:00 (seventeen years ago)

Definitely not Confederate flags!

Rock Hardy, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:01 (seventeen years ago)

except yes actually

Jordan Sargent, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:08 (seventeen years ago)

:/

W4LTER, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:09 (seventeen years ago)

let's name one that hasn't lost its resonance, eh? assless chaps?

Granny Dainger, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:12 (seventeen years ago)

Has anyone EVER seen chaps that HAVE an ass? I'd wager not.

Jesse, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:16 (seventeen years ago)

you, my friend, have not lived.

Granny Dainger, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:17 (seventeen years ago)

31. Buggery

Eazy, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:19 (seventeen years ago)

where's the part where alex says how great he is? I mean I see the part where n/a is a buttmunch, but i missed that part.

Granny Dainger, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:29 (seventeen years ago)

perhaps he should've instead started a thread about how he's so great because he doesn't want to move to NYC like everyone else.

Granny Dainger, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:33 (seventeen years ago)

This is a fun thread, but some of these posts just sound like people starting to get old:

62. Cussing/cursing/using profanity

I wish having your boxer-clad butt hanging out of the top of your saggy pants would lose its resonance. I've stopped saying anything about it to my older son, because each protest from me will only prolong the butt-display phase another YEAR. Christ, is it stoooopid lookin'. <-- sounds JUST like something my dad would say.

Not that there's anything wrong with it! It's just different from the mainstream/counter-culture topic.

rockapads, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:46 (seventeen years ago)

30. UFOPORNOO!

Eisbaer, Thursday, 6 September 2007 05:49 (seventeen years ago)

1990 / Time For The Souffle

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 6 September 2007 09:38 (seventeen years ago)


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