Youth Culture That Exists in the UK Today Focusing on Gothic Culture - Case Study Example

Youth culture Definition Culture is a way of doing things. It is a characteristic way of doing things by a certain people, which is maintained and transformed over time (Parsons1942). It is a dynamic and a historical process. Parsons described Youth Culture as the processes and symbolic mechanisms that are synonymous with a group of young people. A subculture is a distinctive group within the larger community with beliefs and interests that vary from the larger community. This group of youth share common features distinctive from those of adults such as their parents or other community members (Bennet 2014). Youth culture is simply the way young people conduct their lives. This culture pertains to certain behaviours, beliefs, specific music the group listens to, the language they use, their mode of dressing as well as sports and relationships. Youth sub-cultures offer a sense of belonging away from formal institutions such as school, work or family. Class, ethnic belonging and gender also play a part in youth culture. Many people have identified symbolic references related to clothing, music and other identifiable characteristics when defining youth culture and how these characteristics are interpreted by the larger community. Mode of transport also plays a role in the identification of these youth sub cultures. For example in the 1960s in the UK, mod’s who were a sub culture group were associated with scooters while the rockers, a different sub culture were associated with motorcycles (Brake 1985). Examples of youth sub-cultures Bikers: this subculture emerged in Britain in the 1960s. Members maintained greasily hair, wore black leather jackets and boots and listened to rock and roll music as they rode on their motorcycles. The Gangsta: They are easily identified with rap music, Baggy jeans, oversize t-shirts and jewellery commonly referred to as “bling”. They walk with a limp and mostly tie their jeans below their waist, a trend referred to as “sagging” which leaves their underwear exposed. The Punks: they combine mismatched prints with boots, torn jeans and colour their hair with bright colours and a mo-hawk. The Chavers: a group of young lower class British citizens who display loutish behaviour and wear designer clothes or imitated designs. This paper will focus on one youth sub-culture known as the Goths. Origin of the Goth sub-culture This contemporary sub-culture began in England in the early 1980s as a splinter group from the punk movement (Wolfram 1998). This sub-culture has identifiable tastes in music, aesthetics as well as the mode of dressing. The music comprises of different styles such as death rock, industrial music, dark wave, dark ambient and neo classical among others. Wolfram (1998) further says that the Gothic popularity continued to grow in the 1980s until it was accepted as a subculture due to the publicity it was given by bands such as “the sisters of mercy” whom described themselves as gothic rock bands. Their fashion was distinctive. They maintained long hair all dyed black, long black velvet dresses, tight black jeans and black leather jackets. It has since evolved to include literature; art and fashion with a preference for dark clothing. Goths have a tendency to wear a melancholy and mystical sound and outlook. Their mode of dress to ranges from death rock, punk, Victorian, medieval and renaissance which is always black in colour including the makeup and hair (Wilkins 2008). A gothic woman. Sources: https://www.google.com/search?q=goths&client=firefox-beta&hs=Cf1&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xdLaU7hTsMHsBvbHgLAJ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1525&bih=734&dpr=0.9 The gothic ideology and stereotypes There is an overwhelming essence of mood and aesthetic for those in this subculture. It is partly inspired by romanticism and neo romanticism (Matthew 1991). In the 18th and 19th century, horror and supernatural dread were popular motifs in literature. This continues to today’s horror film industry. Another significant feature of the Goths is the sense of camp theatricality and dramatization which is also present in associated literature (Wilkins 2008). According to Elkin and Westly (2000) Goths are in nature apolitical. This means that they are immune to political pressure unlike the punks and hippies movements which calls for social activism or cry for justice. This subculture emphasises on individualism, intellectualism, and tolerance for diversity, emphasis on creativity and social conservatism as well as tendency to be cynical. The gothic subculture puts more emphasis on aesthetics rather than politics or ethics. Goths are normally not violent, they also do not support violence but rather seen to tolerate it. The media has in the past associated Goths with violence, hatred for the minority, white supremacy and other forms of hate including Satanism. However, this is not true because violence, Satanism and hate are not part of the Goth subculture (Outwithe 2003). There are many stereotypes associated with the Goths. These are formed due to lack of understanding of this gothic culture. Many people in the UK today associate Goths with Satanism, drugs, suicidal, some going to an extent of associating Goths with vampires (Wilkins 2008). Goth is not a cult either; it is simply a way of life for those people who enjoy the dark aspects and undersides of life. No religion is specific with the gothic lifestyle. There are Christian Goths, Buddhist Goths and any other religion even the pagans. Goths do not support drug use or vandalism as this is a personal choice (Gorsuch 2000). Just because they wear dark clothes and prefer dark music does not make them evil. They are confident with themselves and love their kind of music they listen and their way of life which might be considered strange by the larger community. The media portrays Goths as less friendly, and dangerous. However, studies done show that Goths are just as normal and intelligent like other youths, even smarter than the average youth. They enjoy reading and learning some making it to jobs such as lawyers, doctors and directors (Inhelder and Piaget 1998). The gothic subculture does not encourage them to drop out of school or become violent. What distinguishes them from other members of the community is that the Goths prefer the dark, the morose and those sad depressing topics that other people find difficult to be open about. Goth is open to those within a religion or those without a religion. This subculture does not require for one to have specific religious beliefs hence its widespread culture and the presence of Goth like symbols such as the crosses and pentagrams. There is also no mood requirement; therefore, Goths can be as vibrant and happy just like anyone else despite the preference for horror and mythical creatures seen to be spooky in nature (Hodkinson and Deicke 2007). The intolerance toward the Goths by the members of the society continues to worsen every day. This was witnessed when a teenage girl, Sophie Lancaster, from Lancashire was murdered in 2007 due to the way she was dressed. According to BBC News in Manchester, April 13th, 2013, she was kicked and stamped by a group of teenagers due to her dreadlocks and piercings. Violence against such subcultures is now considered as hate crime by the British police force. This was received positively by human rights activists as it is one way of tackling such forms of prejudice that has caused misery to many people over the years. Another example of violence directed towards such sub-cultural groups is the case of Xander Dodd from Coventry who was attacked twice for having dyed his hair pink and having facial tattoos and piercings. He says that verbal abuse is a common thing among those who look and dress differently from the wider society. Emma a Goth and a retail manager from Camden says that those who refuse to hire people because of the way they dress further elevate the level of prejudice. She grew up in Liverpool where abuse was a common thing due to the way she dressed and her piercings. Sub-culture The idea of subculture was brought about by the centre for contemporary and cultural studies (CCCS) in Birmingham in the 1970s. It seeks to address the relationship between the youth and their way of life. Post sub-cultural study is the main approach to understanding young people and their culture (Williams 2011). In sociology and cultural studies, it is important to understand this concept of post subculture in order to understand young people. Post sub-cultural theory posits that the idea or concept of sub culture has become dormant in relation to today’s youth. The link between music taste, style and belonging has become weaker and the sub cultural divisions have shattered (Atkinson 2008). This shattering of subculture was first brought forward by redhead in his study of the “British rave scene” he identified the club scene as a way of mixing all kinds of music and styles on the dance floor and attracting all kinds of subcultures. Redhead articulated that the combination of post industrialisation effects and a lot of free time teens have at their disposal gradually eroded the sub cultural groupings since crowds are mixed in this respect. This post cultural approach shows young people as social agents with the freedom to engage in any practices (Korgen 2008) argued that subculture is no longer grounded on gender, race or ethnicity but on consumer choices. The post sub-cultural theory cites that social divisions are continuously being ignored as cultures are based on individual choices and ones consumption lifestyle. Miles (2000) says that Consumerism characterises youth culture as affluence without responsibility. The idea is that young people with spare money and fewer responsibilities use it to buy goods meant for their age. This could be items such as clothes and music. It simply means that young people with affluence acquire some of the characteristics of the middle class in terms of their consumer behaviour. This theory was criticised by Lockwood in 1969 arguing that affluence in Britain in the 1950s was a myth to all members of the society and it does not explain why some young people involve themselves in deviant subcultures (Kidd 1999). The mass media has also been identified as playing a role in the creation of subcultures. Audiences interpret the symbols and signs portrayed by the media by creating meaning out of them. These meanings are connected to the social setting of the audiences. The media sets agendas in many societies since it operates as a mode of passing information and representing cultural values (Nayar 2010). The media therefore creates a sub phenomenon that is impressionable and aimed at influencing the emotions of the young audience. Scholars argue that social structures such as the family and religion were the source of individual identity but the media has taken over to tell the youth whom they are. Despite the fact that the media played a significant role in the popularisation of the hippie culture in the 1960s, Modern sociologist argue that youth subcultures are just a creation of the media since the media is responsible for creating these kinds of subcultures (Milcah 2009). Age plays a significant role in determining ones identity. Subcultures mostly consist of teenagers who are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Their behaviour is characterised by loyalty to one’s peers and the disparity of their way of live to that of other adults such as the parents. The subcultures seem among teenage youth seem to die as one proceeds to the next stage of adulthood (Dimitriadis 2008).However, some people will remain in these subcultures even in their mid thirties. There is a fair share of Goths who are past their youth and still maintain the gothic culture. It later dies gradually as one makes a distinction between a subculture and the wider society (Shoemaker 2013). Conclusion Gothic culture is a good example of subcultures popular among the youth. People in this group identify with certain a certain mode of dressing, which is considered strange by the other members of the society and especially adults. They listen to a specific kind of music and enjoy horror movies and topics other people might consider too hard to express freely for example death (Kerr and Plastow).Subcultures are defined according to two extremes, young versus old, dominant versus the subordinate, resistance as contrasts with conformity and regulation versus expression. Youth subcultures in this day cannot be described using the same meanings they had in the past centuries. 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