down with the establishment!

       Punk Rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified by The Damned, The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash. The term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-generation "punks". The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "DIY" ("do it yourself") attitude associated with this musical movement.

       In punk's original heydey, punks faced harassment and even violence from others, such as in Britain, where punks were infamously involved in brawls with teds, or fans of rockabilly. Nowadays, it is relatively socially acceptable to be punk and play punk rock music, and it is often merely a fashion statement for youth. Thus, some maintain that the punk scene has lost the very heart of its former nature as one of explosive creativity, rebellion, anger, and individualism, and that it has become a mere caricature of what once was.