Britain in 1960s and 1980s - Essay Example

?Britain in 1960s and 1980s The youth sub-culture is defined as a distinct minority that makes up a minority youth culture. The traits of such a culture are determined by the social strata and the ethnic background of the members. An important aspect of a particular subculture is the style that imbibes it. The style on the whole is indicative of the kind of values that exist in the subculture and the image that personifies it. (Brake M. , 1980) Mostly, it is explained via the adoption of a certain music genre. Sixties is regarded by many as the age of the youth. This was because the 70 million children from the post war baby boom had by then transformed into teenagers and young adults. This was a movement that weaned away from the conservative notions of the fifties and led to revolutionary thinking and change in the overall cultural life of British and Americans. This was a generation slightly ahead of the previous generation of its time. This youth strived for and demanded change. They were mostly rich from their ancestors and families and longed for changes that would impact educations, entertainment, laws, values and lifestyle. This generation has had immense impact and some of its revolutionary ways continue to trend in even today. (Hall, 1993) Towards the end of 1940s and the beginning of 1950s striking differences between the teens and parents began to crop up. The paradigms of the British dating system was completely transforming towards the end of 1950s. The “Make Love Not War” was trending towards a social subculture that was weaning away from the concept of “rating and dating” system and moving towards steady relationships and early marriages. Television had started gaining momentum and becoming increasingly popular amongst the teens. They were now portrayed as juvenile delinquents. The youth of this era was rich and preferred a lavish life style. Thus it does not come as a surprise that it was in the sixties only that the counter culture hippies emerged. (Cohen, 1964) There were varying opinions about draft and military involvement by them. Drug usage became significant for this generation and a major topic with the generation gap of this era. This is denoted by a depiction of Alfred E.Neuman on the cover of Mad Magazine, issue no 129, dated September 1969. In this cover, thy show the “old” Alfred on the left side and the “new” Alfred on the right side. The old one is wearing a “My Country: Right or Wrong” label button while the young one can be seen as long haired and on the right wearing a “Make Love Not War button”. The cover statement of the magazine read as “MAD Widens the Generation Gap”. Another famous TV series, All in the Family, depicts the nuances of the conservative of middle aged generation of the previous years and that of the then sixties and the issues arising due to these differences in notions amongst the generation. (Usual Gang of Idiots, 2000) As explained in the aforementioned paragraphs, the drug youth culture also gained momentum during the 1960s. Many people are of the view that an influx of thirty year youth consuming drugs and the inception of this was the 1960s. This trend affected many other western cultures with America and Britain being the primary targets. The western culture became severely damaged as a result of this. Many western movies depict this trend. For instance, Transpoitting and Basketball diaries demonstrate this youth subculture. The sub culture is infused with anti-social behavior signaling the negative impact of this sub culture on the youths. It highlites how the youth rejected their main stream society and identity in this era. The film also places emphasis on the role of media in its influence on this type of youth culture. Thus the youth of this era was more rebellious and provocative in their rejection of norms. The influx of drug culture in particular was a result of repeated references to drugs in popular culture. The youth started romanticizing the drug culture which led to its massive adoption all over. Most films of that era were keener on highlighting the euphoric effects of drugs while easily ignoring their cons and the kind of lifestyle they entail. It was further supported by many musical greats of that time and age all of whom were known for their drug addictions. (Drug Youth Culture in the UK and America, 2010) The society’s economic circumstances also have a significant impact on the youth subculture. Between the sixties and the eighties, the American economy underwent decreasing levels of unemployment and job unavailability. In this era there was a lot of social unrest and political turmoil too. The families could not give their children the kind of time they deserved and wanted. As a result the children got affected and this eventually impacted the kind of activities that they would be engaged in. Where fashion is concerned, as mentioned before, hippies fashion became very popular across Britain and other subcontinents during the sixties. Vibrant apparel and accessories emerged on the fore front. People were no longer worried about what others perceived of their appearance. They were mostly found sporting clothes that expressed themselves as individuals. The regular fashion trends were not followed. Rock music and worldwide protests against various social stigmas led to massive adoption of blue jeans and denim. This was the age when casual attire was the most “in” thing, an age when people felt it was alright to experiment with drugs. The hippies are commonly referred to as “the prim and proper” people. They were these new breed socially answerable citizens who designed a whole new lifestyle of their own. The 1980s Marxism influenced the British culture of the eighties. Marx was of the view that the culture emerges due to the social conditions that exist in a society. He believed that these social conditions primarily depend on the social class and the problems associated with these social classes. Thus going by Marx’s definition age should also be a major factor in influencing youth sub culture. Culture has evolved over the past few decades especially since the 1960s in Britain and world over. (Bennis, 2002) Thatcherism also dominated the British culture at this point. There was this growing greed amongst the youth when this age hit. (Eric J, 2004) The eighties youth culture was denoted by “ravers”. Towards the end of eighties young people would be found covered with accessories like bandannas, brightly colored clothes and a crazed look in their eyes. The ravers were also referred to as clubbers and the shared experience would be to attend a rave and taking the ecstasy which it had. In rave culture, people were generally synonymous with each other. This was the age when people felt that it was never enough. It was dominated by capitalism and the urge to get more and more continued. The dressing was stereotyped in this age as opposed to the sixties. Baggy over sized tee shirts, baggy jeans and track suits were widely seen in the start of the eighties. People would be mostly found adorning comfortable, bright colored and cheap attire. This era is also associated with dancing to fast beat music and the wide spread use of hypnotic drugs. Towards the end of the era, the style of clothing started changing slowly and gradually. The trend weaned away from baggy clothes for girls and moved towards body hugging outfits. Comfort and practicality were no longer of primary importance. The fashion that was prevalent in the 1980s was largely influenced by the economic boom of that time and age. Youth culture was no longer the most dominant market. The market was getting old and financially more secure. Demographics were also changing the face of the society and people had no aspirations of living longer and younger at the same time. Old industries were dying while new technologies were developing and booming. The world at large was changing. It was not just the British and Americans who were feeling the change. The trends were evolving world over. The USSR had by this time gone easy on their rules and had opened up to private enterprises. The Berlin wall had also been broken and the eastern bloc of the world was moving towards more westernization and liberation. In Britain, Thatcherism took over. It promoted privatization and the notion that greed was something was given credence. This led to the emergence of temples, shopping malls and other leisure grounds all over Britain. The people were consuming like never before. Margaret Thatcher, the then leader was known for her power suits. She and the Princess of Wales, Diana were considered as the biggest fashionistas of their time. It was in this era, that designer labels and branding gained momentum. They became the next big thing and brands turned into status symbols for sports gear, sportswear, perfumes, electric equipments, and various fashion designer goods. The presence of designer label goods in this era denotes the relatively affluent society. It woud be perpetually impossible to explain a certain common experience that compelled people to go towards the raves side. Many believe that the youth felt the need to run away from the norms of daily life and everyday problems. (Brake, 1985) (Wills, 1991) Ravers cannot be categorized as only the working class as opposed to the sixties; neither can they be the unemployed or male dominated. It will be perpetually impossible to draw analogies between the experiences of an 18 year old and a 30 year old attending clubs on a Saturday night. Towards the eighties, the concept of subcultures had almost gone for good. This was because there would be so many style and taste cultures and the youth would want to express their identity by themselves. Eighties also marked rapid growth in the capitalist culture leading to stark increase in leisure industries. Young people of this era were more accessible to cultural resources. They thus have more at their disposal to engage in symbolic cultural creativity. Sexual revolution had also taken over the society by this time. The pills were hip and happening. The days of feminism were long gone. (Allyn, 2001) Similarly common beliefs between the sixties and eighties also evolved and changed. Bikers were more inclined towards their subculture then the ravers of the eighties. The society of eighties was more complex. Individuals could no longer find themselves restricted to one particular subculture. They could move freely and easily between different subcultures. The trend was more towards mixing and matching the attires from different cultures and had clearly weaned away from the distinct category making of the 60s bikers. Style statements, fun, excitement and enjoyment started playing a bigger role than they ever did in the yester years. Where music is concerned, the last of Baby Boomers, the Blitz Kids were very popular. During eighties they presented teenage expression of leadership, of negotiation, focus and adaptability. the music of this era represented the notions of a self confident new class who would were prepared to have fun and enjoy the personal liberty and social mobility of the parents of the 60s. In Britain, in particular, on the musical front, the eighties has been described by many as a very tumultous period. this was the era of social change and the youth enjoyed more independence then ever before. London became known world wide as the creative powerhouse while its pop and street fashion became known world over. Conclusion: Media has a very important part to play in shaping the culture of an era. It played an essentially important part in both the sixties and the eighties. While the sixties marked an era in which social sub cultures existed, in eighties the youth could not be associated to any particular sub cultures. Today, sub-culture is a far off idea; this is because the youth of today has complete access to the fashion of yester years and the culture that existed back then. Thus, sub culture has become more of surface style. It was more predominant in the sixties. Bibliography Allyn, D. (2001). Make love, not war. Bennis, W. a. (2002). Geeks and Geezers: how era, values and defining moments shape leaders. Harvard Business School Publishing . Brake, M. (1985). Comparative Youth Culture: The sociology of youth culture and youth subcultures in America, Britain and Canada. Routledge: New York. Brake, M. (1980). The sociology of youth and youth subcultures. Routledge. Cohen, S. (1964). Folk Devils and Moral Panics,. London: Paladin. Drug Youth Culture in the UK and America. (2010, Aug 6). Retrieved Mar 3, 2011, from Cruel Crew: http://www.cruelcrew.net/ Eric J, E. (2004). Thatcher and Thatcherism. Routledge. Hall, S. &. (1993). Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-war Britain. London: Routledge. Single Youth Sub culture. (n.d.). Retrieved Mar 3, 2011, from Coursework Help: http://www.courseworkhelp.co.uk/A_Level/Politics/1.htm Usual Gang of Idiots, J. F. (2000). MAD Cover to Cover. NewYork: Harvard Business School Publishing. Wills, S. (1991). Systems of Articulation, Logics of Change: Communities and Scenes in Popular Musi. Cultural Studies , 368-88. Read More