Bogan
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Template:Wiktionary Bogan is a derogatory Australian slang term for somebody who is perceived as being an unfashionable "lower-class" person, typically of British Isles ancestry and living in deprived urban areas. Equivalent terms are:
- Bevan in Brisbane.
- Chigger in Hobart.
- (sometimes interchangeable with) Booner in Canberra.
- Westy in Sydney, Australia and Waitakere (Auckland), New Zealand referring to Western Suburbs.
The word "bogan" first originated in Melbourne, to describe people of working class. Then the character Kylie Mole on famed Australian television program The Comedy Company popularised the term as an insult for any friend she didn't like, and by 1991, the word was in the national dictionary project.
The term itself has evolved further and no longer necessarily derogatory, and is considered a valid sub-culture of Australian life style.
Bogans are stereotypically considered to be young adults, older males who would otherwise be described as being "bogans" are sometimes known as yobbos.
Stereotypical "bogan style" involves wearing moccassins and ugg boots (especially outdoors) and flannelette shirts (or black jerseys and jeans in Waitakere) and prominent tattoos. The typical bogan hairstyle is the mullet.
Bogans are often stereotyped as driving loud, obnoxious cars of American or Australian manufacture such as older model modified Holden Commodores or Ford Falcons. Australians, when describing people who are associated with bad or fast driving cam be labeled "hoon", a variation of the Bogan. In fact, the term is so wide spread that the Western Australia state government has brought in what are known as 'Anti-Hoon' laws to cut down on young males causing auto accidents by excessive speed and street racing.
Liquor consumption features prominently in the bogan lifestyle, including rum, bourbon, beer (especially Victoria Bitter) or any other strong cheap liquor. Besides alcohol and tobacco, bogan culture is not associated with any particular drug, though marijuana use occasionally features in bogan popular culture such as the film Mallboy.
"Bogan rock" is an umbrella term for several artist and genres that commonly includes some elements of psychedelia, heavy metal, Big-Hair Rock, or nearly any Australian rock band from the 1970s and 1980s. In 2000 a Bogan Rock Festival was held in rural Victoria to some critical and financial success, suggesting that the term's derogatory power is becoming eroded.
The television series Kath and Kim is an affectionate look at bogans. Bogan culture has also been a common subject in Australian stand-up and sketch comedy, with comedian Chris Franklin releasing a #1 single, "Bloke", a bogan's response to "Bitch" by American musician Meredith Brooks, and sung to the same tune.
New Zealand comedy characters of "Lynn of Tawa", created by Ginette McDonald, and "Neville Purvis", created by Arthur Baysting are popular bogans while Ewen Gilmour's popularity as a stand-up comedian from West Auckland is known as Ewen "Westie" Gilmour.
See also
- chav (UK)
- classism
- westie (Australia & NZ)
- white trash (US)
External links
- Save the Bogan (http://www.effect.net.au/lukastan/humour/Aussie/Save-The-Bogan.htm)
- Triple J film reviews : Mallboy (http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/film/s253956.htm)