Do-rag vs. mohawk haircut - a comparison of punk and hip-hop culture

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,3, University of Bayreuth (Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften), course: 20th Century Britain, language: English, abstract: First of all, the terms Mohawk haircut and do-rag, according to the title, and their connections to the stated instances of youth cultures should be explained. A so called Mohawk haircut is a type of coiffure 'in which the head is shaved except for a band of hair down the middle of the scalp'1 (cf. picture 1) which is typically worn by members of the punk culture in different varieties. In contrast, the term do-rag belongs to a special kind of headdress, more precisely 'a scarf or kerchief worn as a head covering, often tied at the nape of the neck'2, commonly occurring in hip-hop culture (cf. picture 2). Incorrectly, people often expect do-rags to be worn only by African-Americans or hip-hoppers, but actually this headgear is usually used by other groups like motorcyclists, too. Nonetheless, do-rags developed gradually to a representative symbol of the hip-hop culture. Both words belong to youth cultures which are, for example, described by Gabriele Rohmann: 'Vorwiegend junge Leute sind Träger der jeweiligen Kultur. Den (...) Kern bilden die ca. 14 bis 24jährigen.'3 It is a compound word consisting of youth, i. e. 'the transition from childhood to adulthood and (...) a transition from a state of dependence to a state of independence and full maturity that enables people to fulfill the rights and obligations attached to adulthood status'4; and the second part culture which contains 'the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society.'5 Similarly, another term related to youth culture is subculture which 'was initially developed by the US 1950s Chicago school of urban gang sociology'6. At first view, these two youth cultures distinguish very much which is one of the reasons why they are confronted here with each other. Moreover, we will have a closer look at the cultures' origins and developments as well as some of their typical characteristics. Additionally, questions like How do punks/hip-hoppers stereotypical look like? or What is the attitude of hip-hop/punk culture? will be tried to be replied and consequently both cultures will be analyzed and compared. [...]