My compare and contrast essay

Steampunk vs. Cyberpunk

Block arrangement (four paragraphs)
I. Introduction
II. Steampunk
a)Fashion style
b)Origin
c)Music influences
III. Cyberpunk
a)Fashion style
b)Origin
c)Music influences
IV. Conclusion

New social cultures appear as humans expand their way of thinking towards the world´s future. There are too numerous cultural groups of people where to choose. I believe that some relevant movements which stand out the most in the society are Steampunk and cyberpunk. Both cultures have a wide mixture of aspects and a very interesting background to discuss. Although Steampunk and cyberpunk might give the impression of being similar as a first look, they diverge in a big sense regarding aspects such as fashion style, origin and music genres related to these socio-cultural groups. The point of this essay is to contrast these aspects in order to create a clearer vision of what these two cultures are.

The first social culture is Steampunk. It differs to other groups mainly because of its bold and old-fashioned style; it goes to the purely Victorian to the raggedy post-apocalyptic way of dressing. Steampunk was originated in the late 1980´s and it was influenced by the 19th century scientific romances of Jules Verne, to mention one example. Moreover, Steampunk includes fiction that takes place in the Industrial revolution in which electricity was not yet widespread, so it emphasizes on steam-or-propelled gadgets. The Steampunk music has two pervasive eras of influence; the gypsy jazz and darker folk music of the 20´s. Musical instruments such as violins, accordions, tubas, banjos, and a bunch of other instruments define the mysterious and vibe attitude of this group.

The second social culture is Cyberpunk. It is famous because of its radioactive-futuristic style. It is defined as fashion scene that represents a combination of industrial, rave, punk and gothic fashion. Themes in Cyberpunk include contrast of black with luminous neon or UV-reactive colors and materials, brightly colored and often stylized hair with extensions or braids using artificial materials. The whole thing of cyberpunks started as a term coined by Bruce Bethke in 1983, it is derived from the terms cybernetics and punk, and it is also recognized because of its ideas of dystopia, government, initiative technology. Regarding the aspect and the esthetic style, musical genres of cyberpunk deal with the vision of the future towards biomedical themes.

Sometimes people tend to classify these two cultures as one. However, they are very different looking upon at more than three or four characteristics. Both cultures Steampunk and Cyberpunk have their own features which stand out in the society. Depending on what the person likes is what he or she will choose. But now and then, none of the groups might be attractive to the public since these groups are not as ordinary as many people are used to see on a daily walking by the street.