Under any regime, young people strive for self-expression, and therefore various trends periodically arise that differ in appearance and worldview from all other social groups. These were dudes. The years of the Stalin era caused the emergence of a youth movement that defended its right to freedom with the help of clothes, words and music. They did not call for a change of regime, they only wanted to have the right to their individuality in a world of dullness and impersonality. We will talk about what kind of subculture it is and how the image of dudes differs.
The origin of the subculture
Such a thing as a dude is the result of a number of factors. After the October Revolution of 1917, the USSR was in international isolation, and only after World War II did contacts with foreign countries resume. This leads to the fact that a layer of people who regularly visit abroad and their children appears in the country. It was the children of diplomats and trade workers who became the basis of the emerging social group of golden youth. They wanted to emphasize their peculiarity, and for this they choose a special Western appearance, music, etc.
Also, the growing inner protest of young people against the dullness of life and poverty affects the formation of a stilig culture. This feeling was whipped up by trophy things, films, musical works. After many years of deprivation of the holiday, young people wanted to be bright and unusual. The clothing style of the dudes, their musical tastes, and dances became a challenge to regulate the sphere of private life.
Etymology of the name
Initially, representatives of this subculture called themselves state employees, since they took an example in everything from the United States of America. But in 1949, in the popular humorous magazine "Crocodile" appeared feuilleton "Types of the past." It described a new social phenomenon - fans of Western culture - as completely alien and harmful to Soviet society, the word "dudes" appeared for the first time there. The subculture was described as a kind of perverted behavior, unworthy of a Soviet person. The vivid imagery and causticity of the text attracted the attention of the general public, and the word went to the people.
Gradually, the original name "staffers" disappeared from the vocabulary of newspapers, people and the representatives of the movement themselves. There is a version that the word "dudes" came from the word "style" as the most important thing, which distinguished the young people of this movement from all others. And there is even an assumption that such a name came from jazz slang. One way or another, in the early 1950s a new term was firmly entrenched in this social movement.
Ideology of movement
A dude is a person who professes Western principles of freedom of expression. However, attributing rebellious ideology to this subculture is erroneous. Young people wanted to be allowed to listen to the music they like and dance as they please. This subculture did not have any pro-Western ideology, which they tried to ascribe to them. But since the United States was officially considered a hostile state, the exaltation of American culture was perceived as treason. In fact, the image of dudes was only a form of upholding freedom for one’s opinion and taste, and nothing more. The main pastime of the dudes was walks and parties. In Moscow, the main venue for their promenade was Tverskaya Street - Broadway.
Fashion and costume dudes
The main sign of dudes is their appearance. A typical image of representatives of this community evolved and changed until a “classic” version was formed. The suit of a dude-man consisted of narrow trousers-pipes, a fitted jacket with wide false shoulders, a bright tie and pointed shoes. In this case, preference was given to bright colors as a way of contrasting the gray routine around.
A special item of concern for each dude is a hairstyle. A high pile on the head, kok, was an indispensable element of the image. Also, the costume was often supplemented with sunglasses that were completely foreign to Soviet people.
The girls-dudes had more options for a suit. Usually it was a dress in the style of a new bow with a narrow waist, a fluffy skirt and a neckline. Later, tight-fitting dresses and skirts appeared, emphasizing the figure. A mandatory element of the image were shoes with a small curved heel and a small handbag.
The colors were also welcomed predominantly bright. The girl had to wear stockings - an object of unprecedented luxury. Therefore, those who could not buy them for themselves were content to draw a seam directly over their bare legs with a chemical pencil. Girls practiced rich makeup with arrows on their eyes and bright lipstick. On their heads they erected a hairstyle in the form of a crown or decorated their hair with a ribbon, a bright scarf or a rim. Also, the girls always wore rather large jewelry: beads, earrings, clips, bracelets.
Such bright young people, of course, stood out strongly against the general background of dullness and poverty and therefore attracted a lot of attention. Fashionable clothes could be brought from abroad, which was available only to units, bought from farmers or sewn by ourselves. In this environment, a whole circle of tailors is formed that sheathe the dude.
Music dude
This subculture considered American jazz to be the main source of inspiration. Songs from the film “Serenade of the Sun Valley” performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, compositions by Duke Ellington, Eddie Rosner, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman were considered cult works. In the USSR, diplomats and business travelers brought recordings of trendy American music, so Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and other rock and roll musicians appeared in the country.
In those days, the dude - he was a man well versed in Western art, especially American. It was possible to listen to such music only in apartments or in institutions working for foreign citizens (for example, Cocktail Hall in Moscow). The imported recordings were replicated at clandestine studios, the phonogram was applied to X-ray photographs, therefore it received the nickname “music on bones”.
Gradually, in this environment, a circle of their own musicians is formed, playing jazz and rock and roll. For example, the famous jazzman and saxophonist Alexei Kozlov grew out of this particular culture.
Dancing dude
This culture was also expressed in their own dances, which were contrary to generally accepted styles, rock and roll, foxtrot, charleston, boogie-woogie were fashionable. The dudes in their ability to dance expressed their own attitude to existing regulations and restrictions. It was possible to show their skills on dance floors, in cafes and even just on the street, where dudes often arranged "demonstrations". The dance showed that social challenge that dudes sent to the Soviet egalitarianism.
Lexicon
To indicate their particularities, dudes developed their own language, which is based on the adaptation of English tokens and jazz slang. It was a jargon that performed the function of dividing people into friends and foes. In different cities in the speech, the dude had their own words, most often toponyms, but there was a lexical array characteristic of the entire subculture. So, there were words to indicate different places: "Broadway" - he was in each city, "Kok" ("Cocktail Hall"). A lot of tokens denoted people of different sorts: dude, dude, loaves, redneck, phaser . The usual terms were used to name dances and musical styles: rock and roll, jazz, foxtrot, boogie-woogie . The dudes adapted a lot of words from the English language for naming wardrobe items: socks, tayok, hatok, shoes, jackets .
Public censure
In the USSR, a dude is an asocial element, his otherness was seen as a threat to the social system and morality of Soviet man. At the end of the 40s, the country began to struggle with cosmopolitanism, and this subculture became an excellent target for speeches by Komsomol-party activists. There were squads who caught the dude, cut off coca, and tore clothes.
In the press dudes of the 50s became a favorite object for ridicule and censure. There were many cartoons and feuilleton ridicule this movement. For the masses, these young people presented themselves as empty copies of Western models; they were denied patriotism, taste, and morality. A huge number of dudes throughout the country were excluded from public organizations, fired from work. All this led to the fact that initially apolitical dudes began to hate the Soviet regime and their protest began to acquire political overtones.
Dudes of different years
Within this subculture, one can see formal ideological evolution. The dudes, whose subculture arose in the late 40s in the USSR, were at first a group of people who were fond of cinema and music of the USA. But in the 50s, the style crystallized and the initial protest movement took shape. By the end of the 50s, many representatives of this subculture were already negative about the Soviet regime and secretly dreamed of leaving the USSR.
Later dudes of the 60s lose their sharp opposition to public sentiment. The thaw that had begun led to widespread criticism of the Soviet system of the Stalin period, and therefore the self-expression of dudes was no longer so vivid. The persecution of young people ceases, and gradually the direction fades, it is replaced by new youth subcultures.
The meaning of the stilag subculture
This social movement left a big mark in Soviet society. Many dudes who spent years studying American art, costume, language, in the following years became part of the country's creative intelligentsia. Sociologists note that this subculture was the first significant social movement, which was the beginning of the formation of numerous youth informal associations: hippies, punks, rockers - all of them one way or another grew out of the traditions of dudes. In addition, this movement prompted Russian fashion designers to think about creating a youth style, about finding new forms that would help overcome the same grayness of Soviet people.