Protest Through Appearances

The appearances of the Yes Men and the punk movement culture vary greatly. The Yes Men are in a sense “copying” societal norms while the punk movement is straying as far away from them as possible. The images of the two groups do benefit their protests by enhancing their message and making it more effective.

The Yes Men copy the image of corporate America. When in public doing their presentations they are clean cut, wear suits, and are well mannered (to some extent). Besides their phallic suit prank, they display the image that you would expect from a politician or businessman. This image is not only effective, but also necessary to pull of their pranks and protest against the WIO. If they went into meetings dressed any other way their intentions and fraud would immediately be exposed and they would not be able to “represent” the WIO because no one would listen to them. They rely on people believing they are the men whose identities they steal to get their message across.

The punk movement on the other hand uses their image to make a statement against societal norms. With brightly colored hair, torn shirts, metal hanging from head to toe, piercings, army boots and ripped jeans they stand out from your average American. This style, however, benefits their movement. Although each enclave or subculture of punks varies greatly in what they represent and believe, they all have their outlandish styles in common, along with an overall goal of standing out and going against society. It seems like the most widely held belief throughout the culture in the past decades is that being a punk means going against cultural norms. The biggest way punks seem to do that is by wearing outlandish out fits from sex gear and bondage in the 70s to metal, army boots, and ripped clothing today. We identify them often through their clothes, just as they identify with their subcultures and beliefs through what they wear.