Hot Topic Kids, posers, or actually hardxcore? Options

[D1SMANTLED]

I bet there's been 259208 topics about this already, but I'm too lazy to look through all billion and one threads.

Hot Topic customers - called posers, freaks, goths, punks, and Hot Topic Kids. So, what are they?

They're no different than the preps, emos, indies, gangsters, skaters, burnouts, brains, jocks, or anybody else. They shop at a store.

I absolutely hate how people call them posers. Posers are people who try to be something that they aren't. When the Hot Topic kids deem themselves goth without taking on the rituals, attitude, and style of gothic people, then they are posers.

In all reality, these 'posers' are a group of their own. Why don't they adopt a new name and drop the poser label? It would probably lessen all this controversy. It would also tell people more about their fashion sense, then saying 'poser.' Poser could be anything - you're trying to be a cowboy, trying to be an emo, trying to be a jock, trying to be a punk, trying to be a goth, trying to be Bob Saget (although, I don't know why anybody would try to be him). Poser is a very generalized and vague word. We need to tighten this up a bit.
I'm gonna tackle 2 more things in this post, actually. I'm on a roll.

1. Punk is not a fashion. Punk is a lifestyle (attitude, behavior, and way of thinking/belief system). To be a punk, you don't need to dress like one. To dress like one, you don't need to be one, but don't say you are one cos you've got plaid pants on. That does not work. That's when somebody is a poser.

2. Punk music. I bet there's countless threads about punk music, as well, but I don't really care. I want my views heard and I want them heard now, whether y'all like it or not.

Some say punk music isn't New Found Glory, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, and/or Green Day. Those people are wrong.

There's more than one part to the punk genre. There's pop/nu, hardcore, political, scream-o, street, thrash, and psychobilly and rockabilly can even be linked to punk.

Next time you bash on New Found Glory, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, and/or Green Day, make sure you do it well. Those bands are terrible...I mean...

Next time you bash on one of those pop punk bands and say that they're not punk, think twice. They are indeed punk. Also, if you're going to make fun of those bands and say they're not punk, you gotta back it up with some punk bands that you listen to, and Linkin Park does not count. Linkin Park isn't even remotely punk.

If you read this whole thing, thank you.

oh my effing god. you get a pat on the back and maybe a hug for having saying that so damn well!

i hate getting called a poser just cause i shop at hot topic. i dont care for labels though, if i like it, i wear it. so yeah. i shop at stores from hollister TO hot topic. so what?

[NativeTomahawk]

Alright all I have to say is that people who go and shop at Hot Topic are varied. They can be "posers" or "wannabe"'s but what really get's me going. It's these people who go
into Hot Topic and see the clothes, and think that dressing the part will make them "Punk" or "Goth" or "Different" but it doesnt. When everyone has that little piece of them to
be different. So let me give you an example. Say it's a rich neighborhood where the kids go with what people think is shocking, or will make the parents kinda upset. So some kids are strolling through the mall and a new store has opened. They decide to go into it, and they see these weird clothes, hearing some screaming on the speakers above them. They look at each other, all a little unsure, they look down at their current clothes, trying to be ghetto fasionable or whatever. They decide this would make their parents a little uneasy seeing them dress like this. They then buy alot of the clothing in the store. The next day when they are driving around in their hummer, or somthing they smile to themselves, thinking their going to make a big impression in the community. When they step out of the car and go into their school they see other kids wearing the exact same clothes. They are in shock. What a wonderous thing." I don't think that made much sense, but in my mind it did. But most people do this, thinking it will make them look extreme. When people like me, who wear generic/no name clothing because we can't afford it or have to spend our money on more important things, get called posers. It's like what the hell? Did that rich kid who changed his look in one day just call me a poser. I'm still a student and all the time I see kids who are prep one day, then over the weekend they are dressing from Hot Topic. They call me a poser because I dress mainly in black, but I spend my money I earn at work and whatnot when i'm with friends, and on my girlfriend. It's quite annoying when I've been listening to speed/thrash/hardcore metal and people are calling me a poser, when they listen to Good Charlotte, or other mainstream bands, not to badmouth slipknot, but I only wear those shirts on occasion when i'm having a bad day. And also, these quick transformers say Slipknot or MM is the most hardcore band and is needed to be listened to to be goth. I say what the hell? What happened to The Cure, The Bauhaus and other 80's bands that defined the Goth subculture. I'm not saying i'm a goth, because i'm not a fan of most of that type of music, but I do like to wear alot of black clothing, and I buy band shirts to support the artist.
I mean I have a few pairs of Tripp pants/shorts, and a pair of Kick ass boots, but I don't go out and spend every cent on them thinking i'll look hardcore. I wear what I want, and alot of the people known as "posers" say the same thing, but it's bullshit because they're wearing the same shit everyone else is wearing. Remember when you say you're part of a subculture, it's about the music/attitude/behavior of yourself to be part of that subculture, also if you say you're "Goth" or "Punk" then you aren't because if you truly are you will be recognized not have to tell people. Also, to the people who transform themselve in a weekend from 'Prep" to "Goth", Hot Topic is shocking as much anymore unless you live in a suburban community with no communication to the outside world, or hicksville. Also Hot Topic isn't underground it's quite mainstream, I say this, because if yuo didn't know, Hot Topic is a branch of The Gap. That's right The Gap owns and runs Hot Topic. Enjoy your Day/Night, and rememember, It's all about the music, not about the dress.

Sorry about the earlier signature.

[kyuubi319]

^You're sig is waaaaay too big.

and yes, it's just a store.

[Paradox of Life]

Thank you for making this topic! I read the whole post (I'm usually to lazy to read long posts even though I make long posts @_@). With all these new rules for stereotypes like goth and punk I don't know where I am. Can I be able to skateboard and be called goth? Can I shop at Hot Topic and be called punk? What the hell is going on!?
Hot Topic is a store for people who like that style. Wearing black can only make people assume your personality. If you're wearing clothes from Hot Topic, I think people can safely assume that you don't pass out flowers and Valentine's cards and lollipops while skipping down school hallways.
Now before I get off topic... Poser is such a complicated term. For someone to call someone else a poser, they have to know what the other person is trying to pose as. You can tell if someone is a poser if they are constantly yelling out their stereotype. It's really hard to justify that you aren't a poser.
Labeling is making everything a little bit harder because people are feeling obligated to be in a certain group and when you're in a certain group you feel obligated to do what everyone else does in your group. When you're doing something that doesn't feel right to you, but you're doing it just for the sake of the stereotype's demands, that's when you're being a poser.

[inthemudhole]

Nicely put.

Um. I shop at Hot Topic and I see a huge mixture of groups of people that come in there..

You see some "preps" and some "goths" and some "punks" and even some "emo kids" shopping in there.

I don't think Hot Topic rightfully "belongs" to any stereotype...

[shrugs]

[secretXoshadow]

^^ For some reason, that post made me want to believe people who shop there are posers.

But it's stupid, cause at my school, if you shop at hot topic, you're considered a GOTH.
So no one like, at our school shops there...

what's wrong with goth peOple ?

[becomingAWARE]

i like some of their stuff, but all the poseurs shop there. its ok for a few itmes, but head to toe screams,"OMG!!!!!! IM A WANNABE!" sorry. but its true all the followers of the supposed PUNK bands go there for their everyday needs. its fine for some shirts and patches, but the pnats bother me...eeh. the vibe i get....*shivers*.

[synthase]

depends i guess

[x1049]

everybody's a poser.

theres really no such thing as real unconformity.

i agree with that, but the ideals of "hot topic kids" are just the opposite. they value 'being different', and thats just precisley why they are so annoying.. They're not different, they're mass produced.

:D

[Anielka]

I shop at Hot Topic and Kohl's. I don't claim to be a goth. I'm not a goth. I'm just me. And I really like the color black.

I loved your post, by the way. Some people think that people who dress goth but aren't goth are posers. But really you can't pretend to be something you're not if you're, well, flat-out just not pretending.

[aznxdreamer]

you basically contradicted yourself. we dont need labels, period.

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

Hot Topic customers are people.

you can't really label them. i occasionally go there to buy CDs. sure, the store itself may seem goth punk, ect., but you can't label the people that shop there.

[*Statues/Shadows*]

This makes me laugh.

[EddieV]

Lol, I just go there to buy T-Shirts.

[sprezzatura]

I agree. It is like how people call those who shops in Hollister, A&F, etc. are preps.

[flc]

Next time you bash on one of those pop punk bands and say that they're not punk, think twice. They are indeed punk.

No, they are not. They are indeed pop punk, and that's all. An example of an actual punk band would be Dead Kennedys.

But I just don't really care anymore. I think labeling is pretty lame. It's something I did in middle school. But then again, a lot of you kids here are in middle school.

[makeshiftwings]

"hardxcore"?

lol.


why do these people need labels? i think that you should be able to buy clothes from whatever store you want. if the clothing interests you, then get it. you don't need to be categorized by what you wear. my style varies; i've bought from ht, aeropostale, ae, jc's, etc., and i don't see any reason why people who shop in a certain store are just "posing". some people are, maybe, but you have to realize there are people out there who just like the clothes and the style.

[Spykedjadedragon]

Sorry people. But Human Nature shall forever label people. We all do it subconsciously, whether we like it or not. Labels will never be gone. Of course, there are some people who adhere to labelling more than others...but we all label.

That said, I think the term "Poser" is silly and stupid. I agree with the person who said that there aren't any posers, just people who try too hard.

As for Hot Topic. Its a store. That's it. If you like their stuff, then shop there. If not, don't. I think its pretty stupid to see something you like from Hot Topic...and not buy it just because "Posers" go there. I've had people compliment something I'm wearing, and then recoil when they learn I bought it from Hot Topic. How ridiculous is that?!

I don't buy too many stuff from Hot Topic, but that's because I'm from NYC.

As for specific bands being..."punk". What is punk? And don't name me any bands...tell me what makes those bands punk to begin with. And isn't it possible that some of the newer stuff could be punk too? I hear a lot of nonsense about..."only the old stuff are good". That's stupid. If everyone thought like that, we wouldn't have any emergence of new music. Granted, there are some bands only in it for the money, and who are indeed produced specifically to target a certain demographic.....but some new bands just play what they enjoy and even though their sound is a little different, that doesn't make them any less worthy of the LABEL punk/goth/hardcore...whatever.

~Spyked~
ChiYokLown

[lumpy]

as the famous poet Bradley Hathaway once said "I'm Hardcore, Not Mallcore"

[*Kathleen*]

as the famous poet Bradley Hathaway once said "I'm Hardcore, Not Mallcore"

HAHA. And Nicki, again, I love you.

[lumpy]

yay i was quoted.lol. But honestly, dude who cares what you wear as long as your happy

[alysaphobia]

so if a poser is someone pretending to be something/somebody they're not, i'd think all of us are posers. including the "preps" with all their identical abercrombie outfits... they're equally "poserish", the only difference between them and kids who shop at hot topic are the stores they go to. it's not right to bash on hot topic kids then. it bugs me when people are all "i hate posers and fake people, i'm original." you are not original. nobody is original because there's at least a few handful of people in this world who dress/look like you.

just wear what you want and be happy. and stop labelling people/talking tough about originality just because it's the cool thing to do.

[lumpy]

I noticed that it says in the subtopic something about being "actually hardxcore"... i bet if you ask anybody who is labled as "hardcore" they would tell you thats its all about being comfortable and just being who you are, not trying to fit into some mold that is created by the media. SO if your really that worried about what others wear, then you need to get a life and grow up.

[helloxtine]

it really depends...

-i know this guy and everybody knows he's trying to hard... at times he's like a suck up to the teacher and trying to be all smart and then when he's not in that zone he tries to be the bad guy going i'm going to beat you up... and then if you threaten him he's like its a joke

-i know another girl and she use to be my friend until she backstabbed me and she copies one of my friends all the time. handwriting, clothing, etc. [she was mixed up with punkish styles] Well she couldn't get the clothing down so well cause she's fobish and nerdy, but she always brings a hot topic bag for her gym clothes and one day i called her gothic and yeah she's just trying to copy everyone.

-my friend from the story above is pretty hardcore though.. it really depends on her moods

but people are different but the nerdy ones or suck ups go in there to "fit in" it just really depends. but everyone is a poser b/c they wanna feel normal.

[lumpy]

why can't people just be themselves?