Subject: one percenter
Culture: outlaw biker gangs
Setting: North America
Event Photos
* Martin/Koda 1989 p69
"Such [motorcycle gang] bands were commonly found on California highways in the 1940s. In 1947, a wild, beer-drinking horde of motorcyclists on Harleys ... invaded the northern-California town of Hollister. From the devastation there developed a twentieth-century mythos regarding roving barbarians on wheels who travel in packs and imperil civilized values."
* Polhemus 1994 p27
"These were outlaws living beyond social convention. 'Born to Lose' desperadoes who scoffed at the very possibility of making it within society, the Bikers of the late 1940s and early 1950s represented a radical departure from previous motorcycling subcultures and, obviously, from mainstream society. Both stylistically and ideologically (the two, of course, always amounting to the same thing in the end) they were outsiders with no interest in becoming insiders."
* Kenney/Finckenauer 1995 p294-295
"Bikers originally strove to live lives totally unlike those of others in the community. They did not want to live as normal citizens. Therefore, they rejected generally accepted norms and instead adopted their own morals, ethics, and norms. The latter are reflected in their dress, mannerisms, and criminal lifestyle -- much of which is considered to be repulsive, offensive, shocking, and disgusting by the rest of society. The OMG philosophy has been summed up in this way. 'Fuck the World (FTW) is their motto and reflects the arrogant attitude adopted by this sub-culture in pursuit of its goals and objectives. The members have opted out of society; they do not wish to be like normal citizens or dress like them; that is why they are eager to perform shocking and disgusting acts. Their policy on retribution is 'an eye for an eye' and they enforce their distinctive code of honor strictly.... The second priority in the biker's life, after his club colors, is his motorcycle.... The biker's third priority is either his dog or his woman....
Another of the basic philosophies of motorcycle gangs reflects certain racist theories [many bikers are said to be white supremacists with beliefs paralleling those of the Ku Klux Klan].... Finally, loyalty -- not only to the club but to all its members -- is one of the rules that is strictly enforced."
Primary Sources
*
Secondary Sources
*
Field Notes
>
