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YOUTH SUBCULTURES - SOCIOLOGY (EXPLANATIONS ( (Subcultures as a product of…
YOUTH SUBCULTURES - SOCIOLOGY
EXPLANATIONS
Subculture as a product of class:
the marxists first proposed the idea that youth subcultures are a product of social class
- CCCS.
They also argue that 'spectacular' youth subcultures *(e.g skinheads, punks ) were viewed as a form of 'magical resistance' to the social & economic problems faced by young working class people & linked to the decline of the working class' inner city communities
These cultures are seen as an attempt to symbolically recreate traditional notions of working class community through dress, style, and behaviour. - Styles allegedly represent a form of working class ideology or cultural resistance to ruling class hegemony *(i.e cultural dominance)
Feminism & Gender Related Issues - Patriarchy (70's-90's) :
Gender is one of the primary aspects of a person's individual identity
According to Feminist
gender behaviour is shaped and channelled through the socialisation process
- many believe that women are shaped into seeing themselves as second class citizens & despite recent changes this is still the case in many circumstances
Females definitely play a secondary role in defining youth culture - especially in the working class youth cultures which the Feminists say mirror the patriarchal society that still exists in Britain
Feminists say that we
live in a patriarchal society
- this is reflected by male sociologists conducting
little research into female youth culture
- Marxist feminists point out the effect of consumer society on women's self image
(e.g in the media women are depicted as sex objects or mothers)
Fashion & Diet:
industries advertise impossible images for women in which they strive to achieve which maintains profit -
damaging to women's health and sense of identity
MCROBBIE - BEDROOM CULTURE:
girls can't participate in wider youth culture as they're practically 'locked up' - raised to fear sexual abuse from strangers to the exclusion of everything else - gives them very little freedom - highly critical of the CCCS as they ignored female subcultures -
'Teeny Bopper' culture=
romance, fashion, music& private domestic space in the bedroom - includes experimenting with make-up/gossiping/reading magazines
TALCOTT PARSONS:
argued that youth culture provides a bridge between adulthood and childhood - this transitional stage enables youths to become more detached from their parents while achieving their own independence and status -
(e.g their own identities / taking on a part tie job)
Subcultures as a form of transition:
as a structural theory it suggests youth culture is functional & will be affected by the needs of the government. We internalise what society says is important and make it part of us, however society must be able to change - so in individualistic culture youths need a period of experimentation so that they know how to test boundaries.
Youth cultures help individuals to broaden their horizons - according to functionalists most youth cultures will still have the core values of the mainstream culture
Key Role:
youth culture is to promote social integration for young people - a transitory phase which differs from both childhood and adulthood
Youth culture becomes a 'rite of passage' role
EISENSTADT:
argued that the general function of youth culture is to smooth the transition between childhood and adulthood. - adolescents generally experience status contradictions and powerlessness in the family. Eisenstatdt argued that young people therefore lack a stable identity/status and as a result turn to their peers for support.
Subcultures as a product of individual choice:
youth style has become increasingly
fragmented & diverse
Postmodern views maintain that a shared attachment is not the norm in the contemporary UK - as most youth styles have become
fluid & changeable
Youth styles are viewed as increasingly diverse & no longer restricted to class, gender or ethnicity - the relationship between style, music and identity has reduced
REDHEAD - Club Culture:
the clubbing culture associated with the UK in the late 80's to 90's is one where youths shared in a collective dance - regardless of class, gender or ethnicity
(mostly investigated by the MIPC and provides a critique for the work by the CCCS)
- was generally associated with 'well off' youths who worked during the week and raved on the weekend -
student leisure based lifestyle for youth wage earners
- had a reputation for drug use, ecstasy in particular
BENNETT - Neo Tribes:
Bennett referred to the club culture as 'neo tribe' - argues that the concept of youth subcultures are no longer suited to the fluid & complex youth styles of the postmodern world. - A neo tribe was a more fluid relationship which people could move in & out of - reflecting the transitory & increasingly extended nature of youth culture
MAFFESOLI - Neo Tribes:
Neo tribes referred more to states of mind & lifestyles that were very flexible, open and changing - Deviant values are less important than a stress of consumption, suitably fashionable behaviour and individual identity that has the ability to change rapidly
Polhemus - Supermarket of Style:
develops the idea of fluidity of youth styles - suggesting that youths can choose from different fashions, music and identities and allows them to fuse different styles together
(e.g Britney Spears using Bhangra beats in some songs)
- some sociologists refer to this as hybridity - Polhemus also states that youths can wear whatever they choose to develop their own identity *(e.g Nike trainers styled with Prada sunglasses & handbag etc)
EVALUATION OF THEORIES
Subcultural styles persisted long after the economic & social changes described in the CCCS analysis
No evidence that youth interpret their styles in the way the CCCS do & there's a danger that sociologists read too much into youth styles and see what they want to see
Only a very small minority of youths have ever been involved in deviant subcultures because the majority of young people lead ordinary & conformist lives
Critical sociologists such as
Cote
&
Allahar
see youth subcultures as the products of manipulation by the media as a way of making profit - rather than some attempt to resist capitalism
Middle-class youths do participate in some of the spectacular youth subcultures & some of which are made up largely of middle class youths - tend to agree about the importance of self
(e.g Hippies)
Have discussed subcultures as being for males only with only brief mention of females as the girlfriends of males - boys provided style & image of subculture
Detailed studies of any of the subcultures from the 1950's-1980's would show girls visibly involved in music, fashion & other social behaviours (e.g female hippies/mods/teddy girls etc)
Many feminists approaches deal with only gender related issues - neglecting social class & ethnicity
Recent developments in youth subcultures suggest a more genderless development - making gender issues less relevant in subculture analysis
Bedroom culture studies assume that girls have their own bedroom as private space - may not be the case & raises issues of which girls these studies are representing
Functionalists generalised youth culture & did not account for subcultural differences between youths - other sociologists have found key distinctions between youth subcultures
(e.g class, race & gender)
Most evidence used by functionalists came from white, middle-class American males - analysis can be viewed as ethnocentric & may not be relative to the UK
Marshall
argues that they're highly selective in the arguments & evidence they use - tend to neglect evidence of economic class inequalities & it's influence on shaping people's lives
There are still examples of subcultural groups in society
(e.g Goths & Emos)
Harriet Bradley
argues that postmodernists have
no consistent definition of class
& ignores the extent to which economic class differences still affect what people can afford & therefore what lifestyle choice are available to them
The idea of
fluidity may be exaggerated
- most youths don't move in & out of neo tribes over a long period of time - however there is more choice in youth styles than before but still have dress rules to follow - could be argued that some youth styles are still associated with particular genders, classes and ethnicties
Functionalism
Marxist
Feminism
Postmodernism
Functionalism
Feminism
Marxism
Postmodernism