The Teddy Boy Subculture - Essay Example

Teddy Boys A subculture, as the suggests, is a culture within a nation that stands out; it has its own identity, beliefs and behaviors. It always lives within a nation; people with new ideas (the youth) cannot copy everything exactly from their elders, they demand their own identity. This feeling comes out as expression in rituals of that subordinate group. The teddy boys, mods, the rockers, the skinheads and the punks, all have been dismissed, denounced and sanctified, and have been treated as a threat to public order (Hebdige, 1979). Most mundane objects like safety pins, a shoe style or a motorbike, become an identity for a subculture (Hebdige, 1979). They take symbolic meanings and become stigmata for those who hate it and a token of identification and acceptance into the brotherhood for those who are part of that group. The Teddy Boys subculture emerged in the 1950s in England (Hazlehurst & Hazlehurst, 1998). Primarily it was a reaction to the confining space and declining status that the middle class English people were given. Developing a subculture is inevitable, as Dick Hebdige writes in his book Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979), that “modes” and “categories” inherited from the old folks no longer serve the needs of a new generation. The Teddy Boy subculture gained roots during post-world war Britain (Hazlehurst & Hazlehurst, 1998), to raise a voice against the social injustice that was plaguing Britain. It rose from the working middle class and strived to get them better social status (Hazlehurst & Hazlehurst, 1998). The Teds were originally called the Cosh Boys later Daily Express termed the Edwardian looking teenagers as Teddy Boys (Robertson, 2007). The ‘Teddy Boys’ was the first one with identifiable gangs that wore similar clothing. The classic Teddy Boy look would be the drake jacket and ‘brothel creepers’ for footwear. In the beginning there were drapes and drainpipe trousers for the Teds (Marko, 2007). Later this look was upgraded to drapes with collar, cuff and pocket trimmings. The trousers got narrower with crepe soled shoes (also known as the beetle crushers). The hairstyle was heavily gelled (greased) with a quiff shaped into a DA, more popularly known as the ‘duck’s arse’ (Marko, 2007). The ‘Edwardian’ style adopted by the Teds was a ‘take’ on the kind of clothes worn by a certain section of the British army (the Guards) after WW2, with deliberate references back to a time when the upper class were ‘in charge’. Worn by the guards the style had strong conservative political connotations but worn by the Teds it had quite a different meaning; the Teddy Boys developed their own street aristocracy. The youth of England in the fifties had nothing much to show the world; they had their clothes, fashion, their music choices and their attitude and they made the most of these. With only these things they gave themselves an identity. Teddy Boys differed from other youth groups of their time. The inner motive for the movement was to rebel against the social injustice. They had three addictions; movies, music and fashion (Steinberg, Parmar & Richard, 2006), which later defined them. Just like any youth movement the sense of deprivation drove the youngsters out on the street and united them. The impact they had was not just on a particular section of the society, they engaged the masses. Youngsters from lower class got heavily involved in their street fights as that is what they were experiencing on daily basis. The American ‘Rock n’ Roll’ music served as the fuel for Ted subculture. The Teds were mostly from the working class – particularly in the 1950s (the mass consumers of the Rock n Roll music). The youth connected with this genre of the music despite having variations in the interpretation of the music and lyrics. And the common theme between the Teds and the Rock n Roll of rejecting the norms and snatching freedom resonated so well that it turned to one of the most coherent cultural blends. The Teds were considered a threat to the social fabric because of their bad attitudes and challenging the norms. They were sure of their motives and adorned jackets and hairstyles that identified them as a gang or more emphatically an army. Teds were the living embodiment of classlessness (Lowenstein, 2013). They were not the poor working class that could be easily crushed or bought; they were intelligent informed youth of Britain who had formed a socio-economic ‘empowered alter ego’ (Lowenstein, 2013). They had a motive and they knew what they were doing. Ted style was truly catchy and everyone could afford it. The hairdo, the jacket and the shoes were readily available for everyone and the majority could afford them. Moreover these items were somewhat new, a novelty in fashion that wasn’t branded by a company. It was raw fashion out of pure creativity that showed either an affiliation with the aristocratic Edwardian class or a desire to be associated with them. The Ted style became so popular in England as it was associated with the American Rock n Roll culture. The Ted culture was inspired by the American Rock musicians. However the British youth did not copy it straight away. They turned it into an English item; no one could blame them for copying an American style. There was a little bit of Edwardian style, a little bit Elvis Presley’s lyrics, Chuck Berry’s flaming guitar strumming and you have the perfect recipe of a Teddy Boys attitude and style. When the working class identified with the Teds, the subculture gained roots in the English society. This is one of the biggest reasons why it became so popular. This wasn’t fusion of the two cultures it was a brand new culture. The American Rock n Roll was just an inspiration, a spark that lit up the whole dynamite factory. The Ted look was not cheap. The Teddy Boys wore nice clean jackets and eye catching hairstyles. The jackets, the shoes and other accessories were not cut-rate but they were not out of range either. The clothes were readily available at almost every clothing store in England. An article in the Evening News of 1954 suggested that the Teddy Boys were all of insane mind and were going through some form of psychosis (Marsh, 2006). The rest of the society considered Teddy Boys as ‘folk devils’ (Marsh, 2006). Today when the Rock n Roll is studied as a part of history and how it inspired generations to come, it brings nostalgic reactions, contradicting to the actual reaction that Ted and the Rock n Roll movement had on the society in the 50s and 60s. Probably today the culture has gone more bizarre than even in the history. Punk rock was considered one of the most outrageous cultures but that has been replaced by Goth, a more popular and darker form of culture. The famous heavy metal rock artist Marilyn Manson is an icon of this culture. Punks and Teds were rivals and were often involved in violent acts against each other (Marko, 2007). Teds were probably the first real fashionable movement in history of Britain subcultures. They separated themselves from the thug looks and in fact looked sharp in their jackets. The factories and clothing companies saw an opportunity in the Ted movement. They saw teenagers hungry for distinct identity; to the marketing community it meant hungry consumers, the marketable juvenile section of the society. The industry never focused this much on teenagers before, the Teds opened the doors for them. Punk was different from Ted culture as it was originally only rebellious music against the mainstream music of the 50s and 60s (Guillain, 2010). Later it transformed into an attitude; challenging everything conservative and comfortable (Guillain, 2010). Punk started out as a music revolution and later converted into a subculture. Drug usage was a hallmark of the Punk culture. Many famous Punk musicians like Iggy Pop were drug addicts (Guillain, 2010). The Punk fashion was to wear what wasn’t normal and to act against the norm and to act like a rebel to the subservient attitude (Bradshaw, 2007). Followers of Punk culture would have the weirdest hair styles (at least of their time) and the most outrageous fashion. Teddy Boys took on the upper-class Edwardian style and loved loud rock n’ roll music (Arena & Arrigo, 2006). Due to their outspoken behaviour and aggressive attitude, they were considered a threat to traditional English norms. But as all movements and music bands, they were replaced. The Teds engendered a reaction of outrage and panic (Marsh, 2006). They sounded the alarm that the British society was ending. The press got a whole new storyline to sell to the hungry audience. They reported unusual incidences at cinemas and rock concerts. Daily Sketch reported a letter that suggested the rock n roll music was turning the teenagers into devil worshippers (Marsh, 2006). By the end of the 50s the true Ted culture started dying. It had seen its peak and now it was time to descend. Only a handful of Ted groups that attached themselves with some club kept the original Ted tradition alive and moved into the sixties (Steinberg, Parmar & Richard, 2006). The rest of the mainstream Ted culture transformed into more hardcore rock n roll sounds, leather jackets and Harley Davidson motorbikes (Steinberg, Parmar & Richard, 2006). The Ted movement was inevitable. The youth of England had nothing to do after the war. There was no emergency training or addiction to war news. The youth had nothing important to do but when they saw the class divide in the society, which the war had highlighted, the Teddy Boys didn’t like it at all. The rebellious souls of the youth found a cause. This youth wasn’t the illiterate ‘angry for no reason’, they were informed and knew well how to be organized. They were constantly getting fresh fuel from the American rock musicians. The movie Blackboard Jungle was released in 1955 and when it was aired in cinemas in England; Teddy Boys and Girls made the movie there own (Robertson, 2007). This incident made news headlines. When the whole Ted movement is analysed, there are both the pros and cons. The movement did bring fresh ideas and the teenagers found a voice. Fashion sense changed the way clothing industries had been focusing only on adults. Music got to a whole new level and inspired more open and bold lyrics and innovative music styles. On the other hand, too much freedom also saw an increase in youth crime, especially vandalism (Robertson, 2007). Dundee recorded one such incident where a bus conductress was assaulted by a group of youth; the People’s Journal published an article highlighting the incident (Robertson, 2007). It also had a caricature drawn where a Teddy Boy was shown smoking a cigarette and posing tough, the journal wrote; “It’s reached the stage where Teddy Boys are a menace in Dundee.” (Robertson, 2007) The Ted movement left a mark in the British history. Whenever people will talk of Britain during the 50s, for better or for worse, the Teds will always be discussed. References Arena, M. P. & Arrigo, B. A. (2006). The terrorist identity: Explaining the terrorist threat. New York: NYU Press. Bradshaw, J. (2007). Punk: A directory of modern subversive culture. USA: Hollow Contemporary Arts. Guillain, C. (2010). Punk: Music, fashion, attitude! London: Raintree. Hazlehurst, K. M. & Hazlehurst, C. (1998). Gangs and youth subcultures: International explorations. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture: The meaning of style. London: Routledge. Lowenstein, A. (2013). Shocking representation: Historical trauma, national cinema, and the modern horror film. New York: Columbia University Press. Robertson, G. (2007). Gangs of Dundee. Luath Press Ltd. Marsh, I. (2006). Theories of crime. London: Routledge. Marko, P. (2007) The Roxy London WC2: A punk history. London: The Roxy Club London: Punk. Steinberg, S. R. Parmar, P. & Richard, B. (2006). Contemporary youth culture: An international encyclopaedia, Volume 2. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More