Youth Subcultures

Youth Subcultures

How are youth subcultures defined?

A youth subculture is a young group of people who differentiate themselves to a larger group of people were some people think they may ‘belong’, as the word culture suggests a separate group within a larger society. They usually have different styles, behaviour and interests than most people. And they believe that this is a way to express themselves and show how their individuality and how they really feel.

When And Why Do Youth Subcultures Emerge?

Youth subcultures usually emerge/start when the larger society fails to meet the needs of a group of people and fails to make them fee apart of something more. They create new styles of living however they still depend on the larger culture for general goals, help and direction. Another reason is due to labour (work) in the family the young people were separated and consequently turn to their inner-self and establish patterns of their own. However it has also been stated that youth subcultures are simply a temporary phase during young people’s social and physiological development.

What are the defining features of youth cultures?

The main features of a youth culture are the following, these are the things that they believe should either change or express themselves through: style, language, music, class, rebellion, gender, art, relationship to the popular/dominant culture. The most popular youth subcultures in society today are: Goth, Emo, Chav, Gangster there are also Skinheads, Punk etc.

How Are They perceived through society today and mass media?

I think that in today’s society emo’s and Goths and other subcultures are perceived as very different as to they were in the 1900’s. Flappers were not looked down upon however there was a lot of controversy about the old and young and how flappers were influencing the youth. In today’s society some people are able to accept youth subcultures and they strongly believe that it is a ‘stage’ and not a way of life. On the other hand some people are unable to accept youth subcultures and hurt people due to their subculture, however overall I believe that Goths, Emos, skinheads etc are seen as not normal and an anomaly in society.

What impact might things like ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation have on the emergence of youth cultures?

I think that ethnicity may have an impact on the emergence of youth subcultures as the non – original skinheads emerged due to the fact that they didn’t believe that people who weren’t of the white race and different ethnicity to full British should be able to live in the country England, this is therefore why the youth subculture emerged (to express and act on their opinions of what England should really be like). I also think that sexual orientation can have a an impact of the emergence of youth subcultures as when you are not ‘straight’ which is seen as the right sexual orientation you could maybe feel disconnected from society and make you feel as though you are not included. This is one of the main reason as to why people join or start a youth subculture and I believe that it would majorly impact on the emergence of youth subcultures.

Skinheads

When where and in which social, political and economic contexts did it start?

During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s money had become slightly more disposable in some families , these family’s spent money on new trendy cloths whereas the family’s that couldn’t afford them wore boots and jeans etc. .these groups became known as mods ; there were two groups of the mod subculture , those known as ‘ peacock mods ‘ who kept up with the fashions and were not violent and those known as ‘ hard mods’ who were working class and had a lot less money so couldn’t afford to waste it on clothes . When they did have money to spare they would spend it on things such as tonic suits and other things they could wear at nicer occasions. The hard mods often had closely shaven heads, mostly for work reasons and because they were easy to maintain which is where the phrase skinhead is thought to have originated from.

During the 1970s some of the skinheads began to associate themselves with very right wing British political parties who strongly believed that the economic issues Britain were facing were due to the non-white emigrants in the UK. The neo- Nazis also adopted some of the skinhead culture, wearing the skinny jeans and boots. It is because of these groups within the skinheads that people associate skinheads with white supremacy. There are large groups within the culture that were very racist and right wing, however the racism is not part of being a skinhead but rather an additional factor that evolved, there are also anti-racist skinheads so to define a skinhead as racist is not accurate.

Did they have a distinctive style?

Male skinheads had a grade two or three closely shaved head whilst women had a short feather cut. They wore skinny jeans and they tucked them into Dr Marten’s boots. They wore checked shirts and finished the look of with a pair of braces and a hat. (Source 5)

Why did young people associate themselves with this youth culture?

Many young people became skinheads because they came from dysfunctional homes or they thought being a skinhead was cool. Many came from lower class families and they joined because they felt alone and wanted to be part of a group. Skinheads originated from hard mods, originally skinheads were not racist they just hung around in groups and had fun but over the years some did turn to violence and racism. Also some of the youth didn't know many people with different coloured skin so they had racist views so being part of the skinheads meant you all believed in the same thing and would stick together.

How did they define themselves?

How skinheads defined themselves is a tricky question. There were so many different branches and versions of skinheads, like Trojan skinheads or gay skinheads. The main stereotype and view of skinheads (apparent in the play Blackout) is that they were racist and had similar beliefs of the  political party, the Nazis. The violent branch of Skinheads were known to be as different from the Hippies as possible, a revolutionary movement at the time.

In the late 60s skinheads in the United Kingdom, including black skinheads, took part in violently assaulting South Asian immigrants, Paki bashing in common slang. However despite the very strong racist stereotype surrounding skinheads, there were many anti racist skinheads, even since the beginning of the subculture.

There was even a skinhead movement in the Netherlands, adopted by the Hardcore Techno movement. It was heavily criticised by the Dutch media, labelling it to be racist and having Neo-Nazi beliefs. The early forms of skinheads were not necessarily part of a political movement, however come early 70s, skinheads were starting to join the national front, a racial nationalist, whites only political party. After an increase in racially motivated violence, the media and also the general public began generalising all skinheads to be Neo Nazis and racists.

There is an urban myth that the size of the checkers on you're

shirt would determine the authority that you had in you're crew. Half an inch and black and white shirt could classify you as the leader. An interview with Alan Mortlock suggests that skinheads really took pride in what they wore. "You felt a good buzz when you got dressed, ready to go out." Despite the shared identity and almost uniform of the skinheads (Doc Martins etc) Alan Mortlock suggests that there was a real urge to find clothes others didn't have, to be unique within your crew.

Did this youth culture change over the years?

Skinheads originated from Mods. Mods would were sharp suits after having more disposable income thanks to the econ boom after the wars. This lead to young people spending more money on more fashionable items of clothing. An interview provided by the BBC suggests that Mods evolved or developed into skinheads for functional reasons. In 1966, England had just won the world cup and football was at the peak of its popularity, thus violence towards other football fans emerged. To fight in an expensive suit that you have just bought would not be advised, this would most likely follow with your suit being damaged. Perhaps for this reason Mods developed the more casual and yet functional skinhead look. It goes without saying that a kick to the face with a pair of Doc Martins could do quite a bit of damage.

Alan Mortlock, talks about how in the late 70s, when the skinheads were effectively revived, upon commenting abou this he said "this aint how we were." Complaining that they looked "super aggressive" with their adaptation of the style, consisting of bigger more threatening boots.

How were they perceived by society and by mass media?

Skinheads were perceived as negative people to the public because of the way they behaved. The racist behaviour wasn’t acceptable to the public’s eye.

What was the role of young men and women in the emergence of this subculture?

The skinhead style seems to look quite masculine, even female skinheads would shave their hair short, a feather cut, leaving only a fringe and some hair at the back of the head. Female skinheads would also were similar clothes as men, with an addition of skirts, stockings or dress suits.

What images do you associate with the word "Skinhead"?

Now that we have learnt lots about skinheads I don't just think of someone with short hair as a skinhead. I also think of a crew, gang, friendship, fighting, racism, fun, comfort, family, riots, aggression, violence, confidence and also having an identity. Having learnt there are lots of different types of skinheads we know not all of them are racist so we can't really judge them unless we know exactly what they are like and what they believe in. However these are a few words that come to mind when thinking of skinheads.

Does this subculture still exist?

The subculture does still exist in small numbers; however it’s large for a small subculture. The numbers waned during the 1970 but then increased again slightly in the 1980s the group exists now with people dressing as skinheads and calling themselves skinheads however it is quite rare to hear about them as they are not as prominent.

This website has lots of interesting videos about what it was like to be a skinheads and how they came to be
(Source 5)

Shane Meadows

“Blackout” and “This is England” are described as “semi autobiographical”. Do some research to find out about the film director’s background and discuss how this information can be related to the film?

Semi autobiographical – A piece of work that falls between fiction and a biography.

First use of word – 1939

At its peak of use in books in the year 2000 (according to google books ngram viewer)

Meadows grew up within a working class family - his father was a long distance lorry driver, his mother worked in a fish and chip shop. His father discovered the body of a child murder victim, this then later lead to him being bullied and shunned by other children. He also said in a quote:

“if you were born with a dad who doesn't go down the pub with all the lads and doesn't drink and isn't a fighter, then you're going to get heaps of shit, my dad was a long-distance lorry driver who spent most of his time away from home – so although I had a dad, unlike in the film, he literally had to work away five or six days a week.” -Meadows Film4 Interview

Here he makes a direct link to the lead of This Is England, Shaun, having a similar upbringing to himself and that he mentions in another quote, "the first half of the film was completely and utterly as it was."

He also mentions, in a number of interviews, that many of the characters were based on skinheads he had met in his childhood. Woody for example, was based off his sisters girlfriend, who, in his words, "took me under his wing and taught me about the roots of the whole culture." This obviously links in with that Woody plays the fatherly figure in Shaun's life for the first half of the film. "He was a nice bloke who bore no relation to the stereotypical racist yob that people now associate with them." This perspective of skinheads is portrayed in the first half of the movie also, it shows them having confidence in each other, having a shared identity and being genuinely committed to being skinheads. Very different from the general skinhead stereotype, that did exist, but was only a branch of the actual movement.

Meadows and Shaun were lacking a father figure, though he has never stated it, it is entirely possible that Shaun is based upon himself at that age. The character Milky, quite an ironic name, serves the purpose of being a positive piece of iconography and symbolism displaying the passive skinheads, who had no racist beliefs. Similar to the the group of skinheads he was in when he was younger.

This is an article in the Guardian, that Shane Meadows wrote about This Is England:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/21/culture.features

All quotes from Film4 interview and guradian article.

By: Thaliqua , Clay, Holly, Jack, Kit

Source 1

Blog reference

Author

The Guardian

Title

Under my skin

Web Address

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/21/culture.features

Date Found

28/11/13