Since we were born, we were, in some way, taught to stereotype other people. The media show to us who is ‘good and bad’ by the way they act and dress, and this is really noticeable especially within the music industry. For example, metal music is stereotyped as being in that ‘bad’ category, and all who enjoy it are miserable people who do drugs and worship Satan. I’ll save how wrong that statement is for another day, but in a simpler way – this isn’t right. Yes, these stereotypes may been seen in very few bands, but it doesn’t relate to all musicians and fans of that genre when it comes to fashion.
So what are the stereotypes within fashion and music? Here are some that I thought about:
Rock/Metal: leather trousers, Creepers and Goth boots, piercings, drugs, tattoos, dark eyeliner and eyeshadow, wearing only black and stereotypes as being quite depressed and miserable people.
Pop: girly outfits, skirts, light pastel colours, lots of makeup and are typically bubbly and happy people.
R&B/Rap/Hip Hop: tracksuits, snapback, gold chains, people who use slang words and are quite forward people.
Classical: old fashioned clothing, posh speaking and typically seen as the older generation.
Indie: hipster, hippies, festival goers, shorts, extravagant headbands with flowers and feathers, light/ neutral colours, vintage, free and ‘off with the fairies’ personality.
But are these stereotypes really true and honest to those who like a specific kind of music? There is no need to stereotype people though the way they dress. In my personal experience, for a person who describes her fashion as being a Taylor Swift-esque style consisting of a quite sophisticated and girly look; when I told someone that I was a fan of metal music I watched them look up and down at my clothing in disbelief. Straight away they didn’t know what to say because I wasn’t following the stereotype they had been given. They expected me to shadow the media’s negative connotations about metal music and how I should be depressed or angry and dress to fit that image.
Are we expected to show off all of our likes and interests though our fashion? It isn’t fair that we have these stereotypes looming over us just because of what we wear or what we listen to. The media is trying to make us all into walking billboards, making us judge each other even when we don’t know them.
We all have a choice in how we represent ourselves, whether this is stereotypical or not.
