Steampunk, 2012

[House of Usher]

Arghhhhhhh. I've just done my nut in arguing with stupid steampunk enthusiasts on the internet.

It was over this article here, by some chap called Austin Sirkin:

http://austinsirkin.tumblr.com/post/20317870381/what-is-steampunk-its-come-to-my-attention

A lot of it is reasonable and well argued, but it makes a few claims I didn't recognize, including several aesthetic considerations which seem to me to be overstated in their conservatism. To wit:

People dislike the trend of casualness in all aspects of modern culture, and want more formal and rigid rules that dictate social interaction.

This worries me, and I don't know where it comes from. Certainly, late modernity has, according to postmodernists and many other observers, been characterized by de-diferrentiation of categories and a loss of social hierarchical deference. But why should anyone want to see that reversed? Are steampunkers feeling status frustration because they feel they are owed more respect for their station in life, or is it the reverse, and they long to be put in their place by figures of authority? Is it true what they say, that in times of economic uncertainty people long for the hand of firm leadership and maybe even the stamp of the jackbooted heel?

It's sad to see people walking around at the mall wearing practically their pajamas and looking like they just rolled out of bed, and people want other people to at least try to look nice.

Do people really dress up in imaginary Victorian costume because they feel superior to people who go shopping in their pyjamas or turn up as guests on the Jeremy Kyle Show? I really thought it had more to do with a collective feeling of disenchantment with how the future looks from the perspective of the times we live in, from which a fantasy version of the past looks much more appealing than either Mad Max II or Logan's Run.

Some people think it's inappropriate to wear so few clothes out in public, and think that people should wear more modest styles.

This explanation of steampunk seems to stand in isolation from any evidence whastsoever. The author appears not to have considered that the same woman who goes out to a club wearing a corset and a crinoline dress one weekend might go out in a bikini or hotpants at the same club the next weekend. I have never heard prudery offered as an explanation for period costume before. So, apparently, steampunk women cover up for the same reasons Saudi women don't go shopping in mini-skirts or hotpants. Who'd have thought it?

These three (out of eight) explanations for the popularity of steampunk seem to me inherently conservative: social deference, class-based social superiority, and obligatory modesty (note the moral imperative, 'should'). I wouldn't have paid any of this much mind if it was just the writing of one commentator, which could easily be dismissed; however, it was endorsed by numerous followers of the discussion and I got the distinct impression that discussion wasn't welcomed. Steampunk is just a bit of fun and thinking about it to any great extent is antisocial.

What this suggests to me is that if you find elements within steampunk to be conservative, socially divisive and not conducive to the common good then you should keep quiet about it. Enthusiasts seem to want to be told by knowledgeable insiders; they don't seem to want to acknowledge that two knowledgeable points of view can exist or that claims are contestable.

On the one hand there is a lot of talk about a steampunk 'community.' On the other hand there is a reluctance to talk about or examine that community's values.

Am I right? Do Mr Sirkin's explanations for the popularity of steampunk stand up to scrutiny? Do they seem conservative to anyone else but me? Does it and should it matter?

[Roger Godpleton]

It's dumb. And also stupid.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

I've been working with Professor Elemental and he said to me that before a gig he was due to play he overheard someone say "oh, that racist rapper is on tonight" - assuming that he, in his Victorian style, was ethically backwards. Since then he said he's always felt slightly on edge that people in the audience are receiving him that way.

He also said he feels very uncomfortable when people are po-faced about steampunk - viewing it himself as a bit of a lark. I would consider it highly disturbing if people were using the Victoriana thing as a political statement. It's why I've always been a little uncomfortable with it - I'd side with the professor on this one - if you're not doing it for fun... then like, take a long hard look at Victorian prejudices and politics and realise they weren't all chapping about with cogs.

[JOE SOAP]

Unless you can fly your contraption using cavorite and threaten the masses, you have no right to take Steampunk politically serious.

[Emperor]

The real problems with Steampunk were underlined when it became a lifestyle, as everyone seemed to set about deciding what Steampunk was and wasn't (which would tend to actually exclude a lot of the early Steampunk novels).

I also suspect it is poorly worded as this kind of thing sounds like they are trying to impose their views on others, which I'm sure a lot of people into Steampunk wouldn't be comfortable with (after years of people telling them how they should dress or behave):

People dislike the trend of casualness in all aspects of modern culture, and want more formal and rigid rules that dictate social interaction.

...

It's sad to see people walking around at the mall wearing practically their pajamas and looking like they just rolled out of bed, and people want other people to at least try to look nice.

...

Some people think it's inappropriate to wear so few clothes out in public, and think that people should wear more modest styles

I suppose that Steampunk would also appeal to more... reactionary types and, who knows, that might be the kind of thinking in their circles.


I was amused by this:

It's sad to see people walking around at the mall wearing practically their pajamas

He should come over here and I'll take to a Liverpool Aldi where they are actually wearing pajamas.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The author appears not to have considered that the same woman who goes out to a club wearing a corset and a crinoline dress one weekend might go out in a bikini or hotpants at the same club the next weekend.

I want to go to that club.

[Beeks]

If you start dressing like a bygone era of the British Empire, you start adopting its attitude

Nothing wrong with that..now where's my Pith..

[Noisybast]

.

[Noisybast]

Oops. Sorry - that'll teach me not to clean my screen with Tapatalk open...

[JOE SOAP]

.

Gets to the point.

[TordelBack]

If I began to list all the problems I have with that article I'd still be here tonight.  Steampunk is just an updated version of the  faux-medieval playtime represented by D&D, Skyrim, LotR etc.  That was about enjoying the look of impractical armour, ahistorical quests, crenellations and sanitised mythological beasties.  Steampunk is exactly the same thing but with valves and dials, hand-machining, corsets, class inequality and crinoline.  It has same indulgent anachronistic bricolage, and appeals at the same level.  The only unique thing about it is the wanking gauntlet.

And yet, that piece has nothing, absolutely nothing, on the appalling stupidity of Bruce Sterling's 'essay' on 'the New Aesthetic' (I just threw up a little) that I just wasted 10 minutes reading over on BoingBoing.  I used to write crap like that when I was 19, and even thinking about it makes me cringe - what's a bright eloquent bloke like Sterling doing vanishing up his own fundament with this nonsense?

[JOE SOAP]

The New Aesthetic is image-processing for British media designers.



I stopped right there.

[Judo]

I'm not a member of the steampunk society but I go along to some of the non-member showcases and balls. I have heard lots of different reasons why people enjoy it and most people have a combination of reasons.

An excuse to dress up and make stuff - all the 'arty' types love making glorious look-at-me type stuff and have people say how pretty and creative they are. In the 70s it was glam and punk, 80s cyberpunk and new romanticism, 90s rave and goth and new gen... Urm fuck knows, so many, but steampunk is one.

History-philes - a social club for people obsessed with jack the ripper, steam engine, class wars etc.

Dis-illusion with current club scene - if you want to dance with someone in a nightclub you have to I dunno like dance up to them and try and make eye contact, but at steampunk balls you politely ask and its bad manners to refuse. Also so much more drugs and fighting, music too loud to talk and different musical taste.

Being part of something - this happens in every hobby group or 'scene', some people just want friends and to be part of something. Being into steampunk is enough to earn social approval from most.

Obsession with steampunk fiction/literature - not a shock that steampunk became very popular after the sucess of series like full metal alchemist.

This is just a quick run through and I'm sure there are many many reasons as every individual has their own unique reasons. These are just some of the reasons from my encounters with the steampunk society. There is a blurred line between cyberpunk and steampunk and its perfectly acceptable to go to steampunk balls in cyber punk gear and they often team up with the great gatsby society. Most members are middle class and/or hold middle class values and enjoy being public spectacles. This is all just my experience so any objections, fair enough, its just my opinion x

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[JamesC]

People who use fancy dress to express themselves are socially inadequate.

If it's just for a laugh or a sex thing it's ok though.

[TordelBack]

People who use fancy dress to express themselves are socially inadequate.

Most people use dress and accessories to express themselves.  The fanciness of it is just a matter of degree.