Steampunk Theory and Culture Change

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Anthropologically I find Steampunk fascinating stuff. Technology and Culture change are constant forces in our lives, sometimes radically changing us. Technology tends to match culture change and only advance when the culture has a need for the new technology. Flying machines had existed, at least as toys, since the 4th century.  They did not take off and become reality until there was a cultural use for them.  Once the pace of life had sped up enough to really need to be someplace faster then air, train and other forms of travel were adapted and used.  






With Steampunk Technology, like flying machines, there was no cultural need for the technology that people were introducing.  There were technological advances like the difference engine (1833) introduced. There was just no cultural footing for it to take hold. The whole premise of Steampunk is for this kind of technology to take off and cause a technological revolution that did not otherwise occur.  Radical and sudden culture change tends to cause chaos. The 60s is a good example. There was a break in culture, new radical ideas were introduced and the underlying culture was changed. During the transition many people played with the fringe elements of society in drugs, fashion, technology etc and many new ideas were introduced to the culture.  

Image by Catherinette Rings Steampunk via Flickr

I picture the same thing happening with Steampunk. There would be some who would take to technology and push it to the edge and beyond. They would integrate it into every aspect of their lives. Fashion would radically alter.  There would be camps of people expounding on different ideals. Some would maintain "tradition" as they saw it. others would do traditional fashion out of the radically new materials that would be produced by the new technologies. There would be radical fashion that would be the equivalent of the Victorian Free Love Movement. I tend toward this latter idea. What would happen if women were less fettered and fashion were less binding. It was an Age of Adventure and Exploration, what if all aspects of culture were open to that ideal.  I envision radical and almost post apocalyptic fashions. That is where my interests and imagination take me. Kind of a Suffragette meets Road Warrior,  Victorian taste with a dash of apocalypse.