As I first began to read about ICP, I was a little horrified of the way juggalos acted during their yearly “Gathering”. On the surface it appeared to me as a way for people to wander around to get tattoos, do drugs and have a lot of sex, without the type of judgment they would normally receive. The further I read into the article however, the more I came to realize that the festival was more about fitting in for many of the fans than anything else. With the two members of the band being self-proclaimed outcasts throughout school, it’s no wonder why many of their fans also had the same issues with fitting in. “Juggalos—we just found a way to be cool—and that's to be together.” The article mentions how a large part of being a juggalo is about family and supporting other juggalos. Just like being Goth can be about acceptance into a certain community, being a fan of ICP works exactly the same way (only possibly with less black clothing and more drug usage). I enjoyed how the article was written because it allowed the reader to see into the Juggalo community, but still acknowledged how strange and unusual it can be to those who are not a part of it.
The ICP is one of the strangest culture groups I have ever seen. They use crude language and vulgar themes in their culture, and it seems to offend a great deal of people. For example, they talked about stapling a dollar bill to a wrestler's testicle. Everyone not involved in the ICP seems to hate them, and yet they not only acknowledge this fact, they use it to their advantage, taking pride in it. But how does something like this begin? One of the members of the ICP, Bruce, states "In elementary school, you know there's always that one kid who's notoriously a scrub? That was me all day and then some.". Outcasts who were made fun of or ignored in high school look for a way to stand out, and for some of them the ICP is this way. They get together to be "insane" and celebrate their weirdness as a big group. The 4-day trip they take together is described as "a motherfuckin' Juggalo Woodstock, only better". They all look forward to their time together, taking a trip away from their regular lives to paint their faces and act insane. Its a way for them to escape the reality of human existence, and bond with other that have similar interests. It may seem extremely weird to people on the outside, but it seems to mean the world to those involved.
From Sarah:
ReplyDeleteAs I first began to read about ICP, I was a little horrified of the way juggalos acted during their yearly “Gathering”. On the surface it appeared to me as a way for people to wander around to get tattoos, do drugs and have a lot of sex, without the type of judgment they would normally receive. The further I read into the article however, the more I came to realize that the festival was more about fitting in for many of the fans than anything else. With the two members of the band being self-proclaimed outcasts throughout school, it’s no wonder why many of their fans also had the same issues with fitting in. “Juggalos—we just found a way to be cool—and that's to be together.” The article mentions how a large part of being a juggalo is about family and supporting other juggalos. Just like being Goth can be about acceptance into a certain community, being a fan of ICP works exactly the same way (only possibly with less black clothing and more drug usage). I enjoyed how the article was written because it allowed the reader to see into the Juggalo community, but still acknowledged how strange and unusual it can be to those who are not a part of it.
The ICP is one of the strangest culture groups I have ever seen. They use crude language and vulgar themes in their culture, and it seems to offend a great deal of people. For example, they talked about stapling a dollar bill to a wrestler's testicle. Everyone not involved in the ICP seems to hate them, and yet they not only acknowledge this fact, they use it to their advantage, taking pride in it. But how does something like this begin? One of the members of the ICP, Bruce, states "In elementary school, you know there's always that one kid who's notoriously a scrub? That was me all day and then some.". Outcasts who were made fun of or ignored in high school look for a way to stand out, and for some of them the ICP is this way. They get together to be "insane" and celebrate their weirdness as a big group. The 4-day trip they take together is described as "a motherfuckin' Juggalo Woodstock, only better". They all look forward to their time together, taking a trip away from their regular lives to paint their faces and act insane. Its a way for them to escape the reality of human existence, and bond with other that have similar interests. It may seem extremely weird to people on the outside, but it seems to mean the world to those involved.
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