Subcultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Subcultures - Essay Example Laughey (2006, pp.29 )has observed that "teenagers used (these) popular arts to search for styles that not only afforded surface but also substantial meaning for their subordinate lives." Here, the usage of the word, 'subordinate' amply represents the common psyche of the age group defined as youth. Laughey (2006, pp.1) poetically hs stated that " music is very often a product of its time -both a reflection of the 'here and now' and a 'recaller' of memories". He (2006, pp.1) also asserts that "music and youth have a special relationship". Laughey (2006, pp.5) has talked about two narrative contexts for music tastes; one is embedded in the family memories and the other in peer group contexts. The youth subculture associates itself with music basically through the here and now element. In a life which is ruled by the dictates of grown ups, thus the youth creates a feeling that they are ahead of all others at least in some aspects like, fashion, which includes popular music. Bennett (2006, pp.106) has said that "pluralistic and shifting sensibilities of style have increasingly characterized youth culture since the post-Second World War period' and theorised them as " temporal gatherings characterized by fluid boundaries and floating memberships". But this temporary nature itself has imparted the youth subculture its very dynamics. Gelder (2005, pp.433) wonders why music often forms the fabric of subcultures as " musica tastes are generally eclectic, more a question of multiple affiliations than any single kind of identification, subcultural or otherwise." But the history of youth subcultures show that musical tastes can be a sign of identification for youth subcultures. A subculture is often distinguished from the broad term, culture, significantly through a new fashion, association with specific musical forms and/or political standpoints. A subculture is also distinct with a strong bonding and tribal mentality among its members. Punks, Ravers, Metalheads, Goths, Gangstas, Emo and Indie are the major youth subcultures that have evolved along a common thread, namely, music. Similarly, Bennett has quoted Cohen (1972) arguing that youth subcultures attempted a 'magical recovery' of community following the breakup of traditional working class neighbourhoods during the 1950s and the relocation of families to 'new towns' and modern housing estates" (Bennett, 2006, pp.106). Youth subculture as a community builder needed an adhesive beyond class, race and other social factors. And this adhesive was, to be sure, music. The punk subculture, which appeared in 1970s, had its identity asserted through music, which included rock n roll and also some other music genres. Members of the punk subculture had a routine of listening to a thunderous and loud version of rock and roll called punk rock. Punk bands performed for the members while the audience also often participated in the music charecterised by shouting and screaming. Punks were thought to be basically having lineages to the left wing and progressive ideologies. The ideologies embedded in punk can rather be more correctly described as promoting individual freedom and propagating anti-establishment views. But the punk viewpoints also ranged from