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What's the name of my "Type"? (Pictured)

It seems like a subculture of sorts, likely a music based one, similar to how you have rockers, goths etc.

I asked elsewhere what my "Type" is, with a collage similar to this one, but I only got unhelpful/irrelevant answers. I had people bizarrely respond back with a slur that means "working class/poor person" (it begins with a C and ends with a V - there's a book by Owen Jones about the usage of this slur which was released in 2011). It didn't narrow anything down. What I've pictured above is not a class, much less over half the UK population, it is moreso a subculture, and likely a music based one as I've encountered groups of such people many times before and they all seem to love Drum and Bass or UK Garage music.

They tend to hang out in groups, have shared slang ("mush", "safe") and almost always have at least one item of gold flashy jewellery such as ear studs, earrings, a gold chain, chunky rings or bracelets. Where I live is practically swarming with them, but I've also been to other areas of the UK where there were none or essentially none, so perhaps this type/subculture tends to be localised to only some areas of the UK. I'm not going to say my exact location for privacy reasons, but I live in the Midlands.

Some of the sweetest most salt of the Earth guys that I've ever met have all looked like the people in the above image, this also includes encounters in some formative years of my life so that's why I have an attachment to them. I've had more experiences with this type/subculture in more recent years, including a time during COVID where I was feeling really depressed, and a couple of them randomly approached me and took half an hour out of their day to talk to me without judgement at a time where not even my own family were taking me seriously. I didn't even know them, but they helped me so much. All of my encounters with this type/subculture have involved them helping me in some way like someone would help a best friend, so I have a feeling that helping people in need out is part of this subculture.

They have a kind of rowdy, bad boy persona but from experience this is just a shell because they're genuinely some of the nicest people I've ever met and it'd help if I knew what this type/subculture is actually called so that people know what I'm looking for in both a man and friends. I also feel like whatever "type" or "subculture" this is, also applies to me because I dress in the same way and also listen to the same music, but I don't know what I'm "one" of. I'll also add I struggle with loneliness.

Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

sunflowers!

I think what you're describing/what I can see in the pictures is a 'roadman' - they're common in the UK, especially in the north. Alternatively it could be rapper/skaters, maybe some rap-based subculture of roadmen that I'm not certain about. Go get your roadman man :smile:

Reply 2

katiethebored

Update: just found out they are called Charvas! It is both what people call them and what they call themselves. Seems like the subculture's increased in popularity in recent years too (I was somewhat worried it was dying out)

https://theface.com/music/mc-meathead-freestyle-interview-yorkshire-bailey-holmes-charva

https://mixmag.net/feature/bad-boy-chiller-crew-bradford-bassline-rap-interview

Reply 3

sunflowers!

Original post

by katiethebored

https://theface.com/music/mc-meathead-freestyle-interview-yorkshire-bailey-holmes-charva
https://mixmag.net/feature/bad-boy-chiller-crew-bradford-bassline-rap-interview

Oh sick! Glad you found a precise name :smile:

Reply 4

StriderHort

(Wait so if they're called Chavs it's a bizarre class based slur, but if they're now called 'Charvas', basically the exact same thing, that's great? 😅 )

Reply 5

katiethebored

Original post

by StriderHort

(Wait so if they're called Chavs it's a bizarre class based slur, but if they're now called 'Charvas', basically the exact same thing, that's great? 😅 )

To my knowledge, the first one's a word that means "working class/poor person" and is considered a classist slur (Owen Jones wrote a whole book on this in 2011) and refers to 50%+ of people, while Charva refers to a subculture and is much more specific and also what they call themselves