From: cwagner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Christian Wagner)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk
Subject: Re: Non-conformism
Date: 31 Jul 92 04:26:49 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <geRJlYW00VojI1HEs4@andrew.cmu.edu> cbee+@andrew.cmu.edu (Curtis A Beesun) writes:
>	But has it occured to anybody else here that this newsgroup seems to be
>turning into the 'ACME GUIDE TO NON-CONFORMISM.'
>It just seems that no matter where you go; there is somebody trying so
>DESPARATELY to be non-conformist that they look and act just like all of
>the others. . . Isn't that self-defeating?

Yep. Exactly like the hordes of teenage "new-wavers", who all have dyed black
hair, ripped jean shorts over black stockings, and t-shirts with either the
Cramps, Skinny Puppy, or Slayer on them. 
One of these days I'm going to ask one of them why they dress that way, and if
they say anything about "nonconforming" I'll just point to all their friends
dressed exactly the same way.......

>	Granted, I have a new-wave haircut and listen to Skinny Puppy, NIN, NE,
>and all of that stuff; but certainly not for the intrinsic value of
>REBELLION or anything of the sort.  
>	I suppose that this is all in response to an article I saw quite some
>time ago about 'exactly what a cyberpunk person is like.'  The 'fight
>the standard' attitude seems to be the primary trademark.  Therefore,
>isn't 'adhering to CP culture' an oxy-moron?

In a way, yes. But there is a -lot- of leeway in the "cyberpunk" movement.
Anyone who tells you there is a single "look" or "attitude" about CP is either
deluded or deliberatly bullshitting you. 
The "cyberpunk movement" covers a -lot- of territory. I have a lot of friends
and acquaintences who I would consider to be "cyberpunk", and they are all 
so different, in "look", attitude, and actions.
I know a guy who publishes a local E-zine. He's heavily into techno-things and
modern music, but he dresses like he just walked out of the MIT artificial 
intelligence lab (except for the combat boots) and has no "attitude" to speak 
of. He just -is-, and if you don't like it, he will simply ignore you.
I know a guy and his girlfriend who take "smart" drugs (as well as other 
stuff), who dress like they're going to a Sex Pistols concert, run a local
BBS, and get awesomely weird at times. But they're politically and socially
apathetic, and have little use for intellectual pursuits. 
-I- dress completely normal. Jeans, t-shirt, etc, with the occasional strange
thing like my "Campus Crusade for Cthulhu" button. I carry a briefcase with
my -stuff- in it. I listen to Jethro Tull as well as Ministry.I have a ponytail
down to the small of my back. I'm an active anarchist (pacifistic and polticial
- the little teenage "anarchist" is a pathetic joke to someone who supports
political anarachy), a member of the EFF, a writer, and a hacker (in the 
classic sense.)

We are all "cyberpunks"; we don't follow -anyone's- view of what we should look
like or act like.

We came across that "Real Cyberpunks" file (by the <snicker> Men from Mongo) a
while back, and I must say we laughed our respective asses off. 

"Cyberpunk" may be attitude, but it sure as hell isn't just -one- attitude.

-- 
It is better to be     |      Christian Wagner      | I may make you feel,    
quotable than honest.  | UT - Austin, CS Dept. (UG) | but I can't make you
  - Tom Stoppard       | cwagner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | think. - JT, "Taab"