My first exposure to the mosh pit was when my eldest son was nineteen. He and some friends were telling his father and I about going to a Static X show at the House of Blues in Orlando. I happened to also like Static X and asked him to get his dad and me tickets. His friends then asked, with big grins on their faces, if Joe, my husband, and I would be going into the Mosh Pit. I replied, "God no!" They asked, "Why not?" and I proceeded to share with them all my child development knowledge and insight into why Mosh Pits were harmful. Well needless to say, I was schooled. After my son and their friends spent the next three hours in a heated intellectual discussion of the pro's and con's of a Mosh Pit I decided to do some research on the subject. My conclusion was, Mosh Pits, when practiced in a structured environment are actually beneficial and serve a purpose.
One of the most obvious arguments for Moshing is dancing. Moshing is actually another form of Slam Dancing. Slam Dancing was another form of a perceived aggressive form of dancing that started in the 1980's. Slam Dancing began with the Punk Rock generation then progressed into another form of dancing called Pogo-ing. Where as slam dancers banged into each other on the dance floor while standing in one place, Pogo dancers jumped up and down on the dance floor all over the place. Mosher's do a bit of both. Another form of Moshing includes something called, Windmilling; where a person will spin his arms around wildly while sometimes adding spin kicks. Windmilling is not usually allowed in most pits because it does injure other Mosher's.
Each generation has expressed itself through one form of dance or another. Each and every generation also has its own form of rebellious dance form. From the Charleston, to the Twist, to the Watusi. Even the Waltz, which now is considered the most civilized form of dance, was in its time considered rebellious. Before the Walt people never danced so closely together. Dancing continues to be not only a creative and physical outlet for the youth of every generation, but a customary form of rebellion.
Which leads me to the next argument for Moshing, physical contact. I have been in child development working with all ages of youth, from infants up to early adults, for over twenty years. One thing that has always fascinated me was the ritual of physical contact between young males and females. Youth, of all ages, are not really encouraged to touch each other nicely. Adults, for whatever reasons, mostly perceive hand holding, hugging, and especially kissing, as precursors to sex.; even though children have no concept of what sex really is until around age nine. Children are left getting positive physical affection mostly at home. If a child comes from a dysfunctional home where there is no physical affection, or worse, only physical abuse, then the child could actually crave human contact. Many kids from the ages of three and up hit, push, shove and kick each other almost out of affection. Adults then step in and teach them how to appropriately touch others and use their words instead of their hands. How can this approach to appropriate touching be used when open shows of affection are not role modeled with tolerance? We are raising generations of physically frustrated and confused adolescent's.
In a Mosh pit adolescent's are allowed to not only touch each other but to do it in a form that releases the stresses of their lives. There is evidence that suggests that when a person gets impact to the joints and stress to the muscles that the happy hormones in the body are released. This leaves Mosher's feeling calm, sedated and satisfied. The same feelings that come from receiving appropriate physical contact. Does this mean that everyone who participates in a Mosh Pit has a penchant for violence and/or aggression? I think it is more likely that the youth of today have found a safe, creative outlet for their rebellious phase, and an acceptable phenomenon for the form of physical contact that they have been taught is more socially acceptable then public shows of affection. If we do not approve of this form of bonding then perhaps it is time to encourage positive forms of human contact without guilt and shame attached to them.
The bridge in pyschosocial,a song written by Slipknot reads,"And the rain will kill us all, If we throw ourselves against the wall, But no one else can see, The preservation of the martyr in me." The wall could symbolize the wall we all hit when we have no place else to go. Or it could be the wall that takes place during a Mosh Pit. The Mosh Pit wall is a line of people who set themselves up in a circle and then throw someone back into the pit or pick up someone up who has fallen. It symbolizes how our youth band together in surprising ways to help each other when we least expect it. It is another way to say, "get back in there and try again douche" or "dude, I got your back." The chorus from Psychosocial also screams of how our youth perceives their adult role models as hypocrites and the walking dead.
In a Mosh the adolescents of today have found another outlet. An outlet for their anger towards society and the adult role models in their lives. It is completely age appropriate for youth to find outlets that are completely out of the norm of society. In todays world where kids have to pay extra to participate in music and art programs; where they are told what to believe instead of given the tools to make their own choices and when they are faced with violence, not only on television, but in their homes and neighborhoods; why does the concept of a Mosh Pit come as such a surprise to people? My son's friends, some of whom come from less then satisfactory home environments, came straight out and said, "Which would you rather have me doing, participating in a Mosh Pit or fighting and possibly killing someone out on the street?" Quite a thought. Presented with that question I relented and decided that a Mosh Pit was definitely the lesser of the evils. Of course we would love to see all the young people we know, and care for, feeling happy, being successful and using, what society perceives as, acceptable behavior; but I believe that most people know what is right and wrong and want to find the best possible solutions for the challenges in their lives. For some the Mosh Pit is the place.
All this led me to ask my son why he wanted to go to a Mosh Pit? I did not think he came from a family that would make him feel so angry inside that he needed to dance around in a Mosh Pit banging wildly into strangers. He, and his friends then explained this to me. They perceived the world as a angry, hypocritical place; full of role models who say one thing but do another. The Mosh Pit is the definition of hypocrisy. I was genuinely surprised at the profound thinking associated with this statement coming from people so young. All these young adults are going to school for psychology, teaching, anthropology, social work and other people related fields. I, for one, am pleased with the idea that they will be the ones caring for me and the world I live in, in my old age.
I do not advocate the Mosh Pit for everyone, my youngest son has no interest in participating in one, his rebellions lie in other areas. I do believe that, as the role models for our youth, before we judge something, it is important that we learn as much about it as we can before we pass judgment and tell them it is wrong. There are a good many young people out there that know exactly what they are doing and want to be acknowledged for it. The final words in Pychosocial are, "The limits of the dead, the limits of the dead." I do not want to be one of the dead that puts down limits. I want to be one of the living role models that learn by listening, are tolerant, ask questions, and value experience.
My husband and I did go to that concert. My husband even joined in on the wall of the Mosh Pit and helped many young people back on their feet. That night we earned the respect of my son and his friends because we did not pass judgment on their choices. We stayed open minded and adventured out to a new experience. They asked how we liked it, my husband said he enjoyed the wall, but because of his age, wouldn't be making a habit of it. I said that Moshing was not for me, I don't inflict pain if I can help it. The looks on their faces were thoughtful. The experience, as a whole, ended up being one that I will always remember. Mosh Pits do serve a purpose, no one was hurt; anyone participating in hurtful behavior was ejected from the pit by security. Every single person leaving the House of Blues that night was smiling, calm and respectful. The purpose of the Mosh Pit was served.
