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Nov 20, 2020
Mexican American Family subculture Juggalos
Subcultures are groups that co-exist harmoniously with and within the main culture and are accepted by more than half of the main culture. Juggalos is one of the most common sub-cultures in the US, which originated from the insane clown posse music group when one of the group artists called his fans Juggalos from their song juggla. Thereafter, two of their artist Shaggy 2 Dope and J Violent, would go on referring their fans, family, friends, and themselves as Juggalos, and the name grew, becoming a family and accepting anyone regardless of their family background, social class, or gender. The group, insane clown posse, wrote their songs basing on social problems like poverty and abuse. This research work seeks to answer several questions about Juggalos; their history, gender identity and roles, language styles, stereotypes, their unique customs, human nature, and Conflict styles.
In 1994, the insane clown posse was performing at a concert, and during one of their songs, juggla, two of their artists shaggy and violent, called their fans Juggalos, for the first time. The connections among fans grew, and the group’s popularity as well. This led to people around the world identifying themselves with the group and finally became a family connected by the name Juggalos (“Who Are The Juggalos And Why Are They Marching In Washington, D.C.?”). their fan base grew as by the name and spread especially to people who lived in poverty and suffering from hardships. According to (Echlin, NP), most Juggalos are associated with poverty and lack of enough money to buy basic needs like clothing or food. They decide on embracing it instead of being discouraged by the poverty they live in. Juggalos are very welcoming to everyone and accept each other’s status socially and economically. Juggalettes is a name for female Juggalos. According to (Halnon, NP), their main objective is to have a home for everyone by not judging people, loving what they do, and being themselves.
(Halnon, NP) states that every year, the Juggalos meet for a week, an event they call the dark carnival, to spend time together as a family where they smoke, drink, go for carnival rides and listen to music. According to (Greener, NP), some Juggalos bring their families to the festivities. At the festival, it’s not about their skin color as such, but the family (Watson, NP). Fygo soda is a material that is used by Juggalos to symbolize poverty baptization. It is sprayed and dumped on them as an affirmation as humans, regardless of the poverty they live in around the world (Halnon, NP). While it may sound a derogatory term, “whoop whoop” in Juggalos language symbolizes acceptance and friendship. In the dark festival, you’d hear many people shout “whoop whoop” at you as an acceptance of one family. In their day-to-day activities, it’s hard to point out a Juggalo, but they have a “hatchet man” as their unifying symbol. Normally one would think the hatchet man signifies violence, but it means more for the Juggalo culture. It originated from Psychopathic records as a marketing tool, but after being absorbed by the insane clown posse, it looked like a binding symbol. The hatchet and the running position symbolizes how they take stances through life, cutting down challenges that come across and facing their futures.
This article is suitable for my research as it reports a detailed explanation of the history of Juggalos, their unique customs, and symbols of togetherness, which forms my research. The source also helps to answer some of my research questions.
In 2011, the FBI labeled them as a gang officially as they were stereotyped as youth committing crime, undereducated, violent, racist, and poor. Many homeless youths, popularly known as HY, call themselves Juggalos as well. According to (“Violence, Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among Homeless Youth Juggalos”), this youth was likely to have been through child trauma in witnessing violence in the community, abused sexually and physically. Several models revealed an association of marijuana use and drug misuse among the HY identifying as Juggalos. They also like to be experiencing violence, engaging in unprotected sex, injured while fighting, and having suicidal fantasies. Most Juggalos evince gang-like manners, violence, and activities associated with criminals. At times it’s viewed as an abnormal life since most of these youths escape from homes where they are being abused and go through hard times to survive on the streets. According to (“They Call Themselves ‘Juggalos’: They Are Faces of America’s Homeless Youth”), mostly they battle with addiction to drugs, no job, little education, no home, and the hopes of coming out of those streets are very minimal.
This study shows the experience of homeless youth associated with Juggalos, though it’s only a subgroup of the Juggalos. This research also recommends the specific services that may benefit HY, knowing they are risky high of their rights being violated and also falling into substance and drug abuse as well as experiencing violence.
“I shall not judge, I shall love my family, I am a ninja” are fragments of Juggalo’s motto, that Juggalo members pledge allegiance to the community and themselves. It unites them, strengthens them, shows honor, and gospelizes familial values among them. However, Juggalos are not anti-society. They have a carefree spirit that they embrace whole-heartedly. They come from different walks of life. They are good-hearted and nice people according to (“Jugga-What?”). (“Jugga-What?”) also describes them as people who have a passion for family, music, and love. The culture is unique in its own way as it is inclusive of other cultures as well. As mentioned earlier, they are mostly portrayed as violent, but they preach and promote family values like tightness. Another noticeable unique custom is their hatchet, which represents violence and aggression, and the clown depicting the rejection from the main culture.
According to (“Juggalos in the Wild: New Film Examines Insane Clown Progeny”), Juggalos are desperate from human beings, have multiple partners, are open-minded, and accept being with complicated people. To some point, their human nature is highly aggressive but peaceful surprisingly and doesn’t exhibit jealousy or greedy characteristics.
Since being labeled as a hybrid gang that is loosely organized by the FBI in 2011, they have been perceived to pose threats to the community due to their violent nature, use, and sale of drugs and generally being perceived as destructive. Some of them have lost custody of their children. However, they use violence to poke fun at the rest of society. Some have also lost jobs. But mostly, this comes from the fact that they are associated with poverty and poor life (“Mocked and Targeted, Local Juggalos Say Weekend March on D.C. is a Defense of Civil Liberties for All”). According to (Washington Post), every year at their annual party, they engage in throwing garbage cans in the air to piss each other off and soaking people in the fygo soda. However, there is no formal way of their power factors other than the annual event organized by the ICP for them to gather and enjoy together.
According to a national gang intelligence center report, Juggalos are split into 2, the violent and the nonviolent. The nonviolent ones are perceived to be weak by the violent ones. They also believe that they should not be associated with any gang-related activities.
Unlike other subcultures, Juggalos have received attention from the mainstream of storytelling and romanticism for films. They describe their culture as a family and of freedom. They are known for tattoos, wearing merchandise from ICP, amongst other things, although it is not required for one to be a Juggalo. White men who live in low socioeconomic classes and poverty are the majority of the Juggalos. This group is associated with stigma, but Juggalos have negative thinking about stigma relating to their low life. They show the world how carefree they are about how they are thought of. This is because they take the positive aspect of easy living. They are bonded by individualism and music mostly.
Works Cited
“Juggalos in the Wild: New Film Examines Insane Clown Progeny.” Observer, 27 May 14, observer.com/2014/05/juggalos-in-the-wild-new-film-examines-insane-clown-progeny/.
“Jugga-What?” Representing Subcultures & Social Movements, 11 Dec. 2013, repsub13.wordpress.com/projects/juggalo/.
“Mocked and Targeted, Local Juggalos Say Weekend March on D.C. is a Defense of Civil Liberties for All.” PhillyVoice, 14 Sept. 2017, www.phillyvoice.com/mocked-and-targeted-local-juggalos-say-weekend-march-on-dc-is-a-defense-of-civil-liberties-for-all/.
“They Call Themselves ‘Juggalos’: They Are The Faces of America’s Homeless Youth.” HuffPost, 6 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/they-call-themselves-jugg_n_639499.
“Violence, Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among Homeless Youth Juggalos.” PubMed Central (PMC), www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409874/#:~:text=Juggalos%20are%20stereotyped%20as%20being,intersection%20of%20HY%20and%20Juggalos.
The Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2017, washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2017/08/31/the-fbi-labeled-insane-clown-posse-fans-a-gang-now-theyre-marching-on-washington/.
The Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2017/08/31/the-fbi-labeled-insane-clown-posse-fans-a-gang-now-theyre-marching-on-washington/.
“Who Are The Juggalos And Why Are They Marching In Washington, D.C.?” NPR.org, 15 Sept. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/09/15/550724673/who-are-the-juggalos-and-why-are-they-marching-in-washington-d-c.