Youth subcultures are normally groups formed outside family, work, home and school. However they can in turn affect your life within these areas. Youth cultures usually are defined by aspects that don't follow the 'normal' presentation of certain people. For example they wear unusual clothes and listen to specific music. This is called symbolism. Some youth subcultures would be flappers, greasers, gangsta, rockers, geek chic, punks, emo, grunge, hippies and skinheads.
2. When and why do they appear?
As long as there are groups of people (cultures,) there will also be branches of the same group (subcultures.) They can form because a certain group of people, even though they might believe in certain values of a main culture, will change certain aspects of the beliefs and values, making a new individual group; a subculture.
3. What are the defining features of youth cultures?
The main features of a youth culture are visual features, mainly clothing, make-up or hairstyles. A certain look will be associated with a certain youth culture.
4. How are they perceived by society and the mass media?
As dramatic events make better articles, subcultures get bad media presentation. Subcultures may behave in a certain way, perhaps in a way that goes against the beliefs of the core culture. However this reflects badly on the whole culture. Also if one subculture behaves rebelliously it can affect the perception of all subcultures.
5. What impact might things like ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation have on the emergence of youth cultures?
Depending on the views of a certain culture, factors including ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation can have different impacts on different youth cultures.
Skinheads
1. When, where and in which social, political and economic contexts did it start?
The start of the Skinhead culture can be dated back to the 1960s in the UK. Skinheads were started from the bases of two other prominent groups at the time. They were Mods, short for modernists. They were a group of middle class youths formed in the late 1950s in England. The second group were a Jamaican subculture named Rude Boys. Mods were interested in fashion, motorcycles and ethnic music. They listened to British rock bands and African American and Jamaican music. Mods started to divide into two groups; hard Mods, working class young people, who couldn't afford an expensive lifestyle. They shaved their heads and dressed in jeans and work boots, mimicking working class men of the 1960s. This separated them from the traditional Mods and hippies.
2. Did they have a distinctive style?
Skinheads, as the name would suggest, have short/ closely shaved heads. They wear jeans with the bottoms rolled up to show of their Dr. Martens. They wear checked shirts sometimes accompanied by braces. Flight jackets in black or green finish off the look.
3. Why did young people associate themselves with this youth culture?
Many people join groups/ gangs because they feel alone and so they want a group of people to rely on. If people have a hard time at home, a gang is like a second family, a second home, a place where they feel safe and happy. They feel like they have a purpose in life when they are part of a gang because it makes them part of something. Even if what they do is wrong they feel included and not excluded and ignored. However, even though some Skinheads were violent many were friendly people.
4. How did they define themselves?
They defined themselves by the elements I have listed above; their clothing, their likes and dislikes (music,) and for some, by their behavior.
5. What was the role of young men and young women in the emergence of this subculture?
Men and women both played a role in the emergence of the subculture. This is because the first branch of Skinheads weren't particularly sexist. They both had similar haircuts; men had closely shaven hair cuts and women had feathercuts. They also wore very similar clothing, therefore they were defined as equals. However some Skinheads may have been sexist.
6. Did this youth culture change over the years?
The Skinhead culture has changed very little over the years. The haircut and style hasn't changed. The only change some people say have occurred is the change in racist views. However this isn't necessarily true. There has always been different branches of Skinheads, the main being racist and non- racist Skinheads. The views of the different groups haven't changed; the stereotype may have, but the individual groups haven't.
7. How were they perceived by society and by mass media?
They were generally viewed as a negative youth culture This was because the bad and racist behavior was aired on the news and therefore did not explain the bigger picture.
8. What images do you associate with the word Skinhead?
9. Does this subculture still exist?
The subculture still exists, but it isn't as prominent as it used to be. However people will always be affected by what happened then and people will find comfort from the identity being a Skinhead gives them.
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