Today I shall be discussing the topic of 'youth cultures/subcultures'. To discuss this topic, I shall be sharing with you the research I discovered from three different websites we were provided with in class this week.
The first article of which I read was taken from the newspaper 'The Guardian' which was titled "Youth Subcultures: What are they Now?"
- Opening paragraph of the article;
-1980's - clear what tribe a young person belonged to/what music they were into by the clothing that they wore, e.g; mods, punks, soulboys, metallers, goths etc.
-Today - the more typical and popular form of youth subculture is that of the 'haul' girl and YouTuber's;
- these are girls who buy a lot of clothes or beauty products amd film in a video - one by one - then post it on the internet for people to watch.
- By going through each clothing item or beauty product one by one, it allows an audience to understand that person's identity. - Only evident type of youth subculture today which is portrayed through dress-sense is that of goths and emos.
- Yet previously, this form of youth subculture appeared unpopular: with reports that such music tastes resulted in a higher rate of teenage suicide.
- Some theories state that teenagers are too worried about their financial futures to experiment in where their personality and identity lies.
- don't feel the need to rebel through their dress due to the entertainment which is on offer.
- Easier to hide online and represent yourself in a social media world, which is free. - Youth cultures today are ultimately - formed, grab people's attention for a while in mainstream pop, and then die away.
- The closest thing to youth culture from the 1980's we have today appears to be YouTuber's (ie; 'haul' girls) - who express identity through good taste and precise attention to detail.
The second article I observed came from the introductory chapter of David Fowler's book titled 'British Youth Culture'.
- 'Youth culture' was originally introduced in America during the year of 1942, and didn't formulate in Britain really until 20 years later.
- Sociologist Professor Richard Hoggart, and his young understudy Stuart Hall set up "The Centre for Contemporary 'Cultural Studies'" in 1962 at the University of Birmingham. - Sociologists pioneered the study of youth culture in Britain in the 1960's. - however, the research was highly influenced by media reports as well.
- Youth culture and subculture intrigued a range of sociologists and historians (e.g; J. H. Plumb, and Herbert Butterfield) through the 1960's and 70's
- everyone who could read or access a television was also subject to it e.; 'The Beatles' of whom arrived in 1963.
- The success of The Beatles formulated the term of 'fan worship' which had never been seen before in Britain (more common forms of fan worship were seen in America). - 1964, a new form of youth subculture appeared - 'mods'
- wore their hair long to distinguish themselves from others.
- By the late 1960's British youth culture had been consumed by drug use, promiscuity and student unrest. - 1967 saw the arrival of Mick Jagger who left the London School of Economics behind to become a rock star
- he ultimately became known as the leader of a 'new' youth culture. - Social and economic factors have influenced the change of youth culture movement
- e.g; the increase of 'white-collar jobs' between the two world wars - giving young girls jobs and also introducing the culture of "The Flapper".
- Hoggart defined youth culture as an alien presence in Britain; often criticising cultures such as "Teddy Boys", who contributed very little to society. - Between WW1/2, the most significant university in the study of youth culture and subculture was Cambridge
- home to middle-class sociologists and researchers i.e; Rolf Gardiner (who was middle class and went to Cambridge).
- Cambridge continued to influence youth culture after WW2: even producing the psychedelic pop group of 'Pink Floyd'.
Finally, the last article I looked at was titled "The Death of Music Press in the UK".
- Number of music press sales are decreasing - e.g; music magazine 'Q' has gone from selling 200'000 to 50'000 copies today.
- NME's sales have decreased to 20'000. - NME has produced tablet articles online following newspapers
- yet has only 1200 subscribers. - Often, teenagers see no point in spending money on a magazine which is solely politcial/highly intellectual, when they can download music-based media probes for free
- highlights the magazine's decrease in numbers. - Today it appears that these magazines target adults more than they do teenagers.
- Mid-90's - music weeklies sold over 1'000'000 copies to youngsters, and music magazines relied on budding musicians who desired a musical career to help them sell. Yet t
- Today, young people lack the drive and creative vision that was there before.
- people used to be unafraid to express opinion.
- the lack of this today prevents young people from prospering into adulthood - which highlights an evidence as to why the sale of music magazines such as NME have declined.
Good work. You need to respond in a shortened version. Some images of the subcultures referred to would improve this response. Consider how important music and the music press is to these sub cultures.
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