A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian (specifically Jamaican) rude boys and British mods, in terms of fashion, music and lifestyle.[1][2] Originally, the skinhead subculture was primarily based on those elements, not politics or race.[2] Since then, however, attitudes toward race and politics have become factors in which some skinheads align themselves. The political spectrum within the skinhead scene ranges from the far right to the far left, although many skinheads are apolitical. Fashion-wise, skinheads range from a clean-cut 1960s mod-influenced style to less-strict punk- and hardcore-influenced styles...
...In the late 1960s, some skinheads (including black skinheads) had engaged in violence against random Pakistanis and other South Asian immigrants (an act known as Paki bashing in common slang).[44][45][9] Although these early skinheads were not part of an organized racist movement, by the early 1970s there were skinheads who aligned themselves with the white nationalist National Front.[citation needed] However, there had also been anti-racist and leftist skinheads from the beginning, especially in areas such as Scotland and northern England...
...Other skinheads countered the neo-Nazi stereotype by forming anti-racist organizations, such as The Minneapolis Baldies, who started in 1986; Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP), which was founded in New York City in 1987 and spread to several other countries; and Anti-Racist Action (ARA), which was founded in the late 1980s by members of the Minneapolis Baldies and other activists.[50][51][52] SHARPS are aggressively opposed to neo-Nazism and racism, although they are not always political in terms of other issues.[50] The label SHARP is sometimes used to describe all anti-racist skinheads, even if they aren't members of a SHARP organization.
Redskins and anarchist skinheads are left wing skinheads who take a militant anti-fascist and pro-working class stance. [53] The most well-known skinhead organization in this category is Red and Anarchist Skinheads.[54] In the UK, some anti-fascist skinheads have been involved with Anti-Fascist Action or Red Action.
Right wing skinheads who are conservative and patriotic, but not necessarily extreme or fascist seem to be common in the United States[46][47]...
...A gay skinhead, also known as a gayskin or queerskin, is a gay person who identifies with the skinhead subculture, often (though not necessarily) out of sexual interest. Some gay skinheads have a sexual fetish for skinhead clothing styles, and some have a fetish for violence. Some are attracted to skinheads' outward displays of masculinity. Gay skinheads figure in the work of gay artists such as Canadian painter Attila Richard Lukacs and filmmaker Bruce LaBruce. Gay skinheads have been featured on the catwalks of fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Jean-Paul Gaultier since the early 1990s.
Some skinheads who are gay do not fetishize the skinhead image. These individuals may prefer not to be referred to as gayskins because of the sexual connotations — and they may not associate with self-identified gayskins for the same reason.
