Our All Buttoned Up community has grown rapidly during the last months and we are very thankful for that! In this new series ‘Rude Roots’ we are asking our own community about their lives, their passion and love for alternative culture, music, art, and other stories. Today we had a chat with Madlen about her journey into the alternative scene, her obsession with Amy Winehouse, and the challenges that women can experience.
Introduction
Hey Madlen. Nice to have you! So your profile says that you are located near Hamburg. You were raised there as well?
I was born in Berlin but raised in a small village near Hamburg.
Rough childhood
You had a happy childhood?
Oh! A hard question directly at the beginning! There was an issue of addiction in my family but mostly yes I would say.
Sorry to hear that…
It’s a very common problem I think which a lot of people need to deal with during their life.
What do you like to do? Any hobby’s?
There is nothing I would call a hobby… I have 5 dogs, I was leading a animal rescue organization for a few years that took all my free time. But meanwhile I’m mostly enjoying the time with my dogs, going out for something to eat, hanging in a bar and visiting concerts.
Sounds like great fun though! So what do you do for a living?
I’m actually a industrial painter but due to Covid and some reorganications in my company I needed to change departments recently and doing now some kind of industrial design/quality for interieur.
Alternative culture
Sounds nice! So you where always a bit of an alternative girl? Or how would you call it?
Oh yeah I started right trough… Boots, leo print leggins and first black and then colorful hair.
Cool. Around what age?
14.
That pretty early. Love it when people try to be different. So did you became part of a scene or something?
We had a pretty nice alternative scene here when I was around 14. A lot of classmates were playing in bands or guys that were only a little bit older then us. We had a youthcenter where were concerts frequently. And in general a lot of alternative teenagers and it was not important which kind of; we were Punks, Skins, Metalheads whatever..we had just fun together.
Love the fact that you’re so openminded. You’re just one of the kids that share their love for music and culture. So how did your style develop? You said you changed your hair color but is that the only thing?
I think it is like that when you grew up in a small village. You’re just happy to hang out with people that share the same values and you don’t really care about what scene exactly everyone belongs to because it simply doesn’t matter. And at the end I just kept this way of thinking till today.
Fred Perry
I see quite some Fred Perry on your profile. When did you decide that that brand represents you and why?
Ah yes the style question… I would say I always tried different things and combined different styles from different subcultures. At this age it was more goth/punk, later I liked a lot the rockabilly style and today its mostly casual and Fred Perry. I don’t remember why I came at some point to this brand. I think it had something to do with my Amy Winehouse obsession… Bought my first Fred Perry clothes more then 10 years ago. Nowadays I buy and wear it because i think it’s timeless and elegant.
They look very clean and stylish. Personally I like the fact that both men and women wear them like a uniform so it makes the gap between genders smaller. If that makes any sense?
Yes thats true. Even tough I like especially the dresses and everything that looks a little more feminin a lot.
True, but you can choose if you would like the more feminin look or the more equal look. I think that’s awesome.
Yes definitely. I also have a lot of men shirts that fits perfectly.
Music
What is your Top 5 songs or artists you like?
I checked my Spotify year review real quick: So for sure Amy Winehouse with the song ‘Greater Love‘, Bromure, Oxo86 ,Perkele and The Interrupters. I listened this pretty often last year!
Personal beliefs
On your Instagram-profile you make statements like: no facism, no racism, no homophobic behaviour, ableism, no room for sexists and no Alternative für Deutschland (German right-winged political party). Have you ever encountered some of those topics in a negative way?
As a woman in a male dominated job sexism was a topic sometimes, yes. Also racism and bullying are topics which I had some experiences with, especially during school. For me it was always pretty simple: I never understood how people can do something like this or having this kind of thinking. I was always pretty open and empathic even as a child .I came along with everyone pretty well and was not afraid to step up for treating each other with respect.
I totally agree. So do did (or do) you speak up in those situations?
When i’m confronted with something like that, sure. I mean i’m also not perfect and it feels nowadays sometimes a little bit difficult to find the right balance you know. I mean not if someone get obviously harrased or something like that. But for example this sexism thing. I worked with mostly men in my life and of course they were making jokes sometimes, but I know they respect me and we love eachother so they are getting a joke back and i’m totally fine with that. Other women would feel for sure offended.
It’s a really thin line.
As with many other topics we don’t really have a good discussion-culture. I think when we all would treat eachother with respect, we would be able to accept other opinions and say and accept a sorry if neseccery. That would make many things way easier.
Totally agree!
On the one side we have still guys that are coming to a bar and punch the small female bartender in the face a break her nose (recently happend in my favourite bar). On the other side we cancel people because they are using a wrong word or they played in 1996 with the wrong band on some random festival. Sometimes it feels like priorities are totally wrong or make no sense.
What? How aweful 😢
Yes it was really a shock for us all. Especially in this bar where you actually never needed to be worried as a woman, but it was empty, during the week and the guys were on drugs…
Still no reason to behave like that?
No of course not but sadly no one was really there to help her. I think that was the reason why he felt “brave” enough to do something like this.
This kind of behaviour is unacceptable. I hope that it will never happen again. Madlen, thank you for your take on Rude For Life! Wishing you all the best!
If you would like to support Madlen you can follow her on Instagram.
All content used in this article is shared with consent of the creator.
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