What Makes Subcultures Deviant Cultural Studies Essay

What Makes Subcultures Deviant Cultural Studies EssayThis paper go a way of sustenance look to root the question What atomic number 18 subcultures and what makes them unnatural? It will then go on to examine and explore how subcultures became apparent and give descriptions of two assorted subcultures inwardly inn (specific altogethery Punk and Rave). To conclude there will be a brief discussion regarding the specific subcultures, their members and the culture they belong to.In request to assess these subcultures it is first only right to define what a subculture is. The commentary given by Dictionary of Sociology, Abercrombie (et al) states a subculture is A system of determine, attitudes, modes of behaviour and careerstyles of a hearty group within a largersociety or organisation. Most ballparkly applied to deviant or younker cultures that develop a culture opposed to the dominant culture. manor h only et al (1976) started to examine why and how young members of soci ety felt the extremity to form groups. Youth is a relatively new term for Britain, as it only really came into existence after the Second world War. Children were no longer sent straight out to work and the emphasis t jabberl more from work to play and growing up with ease, Youth appeared as an emergent category in post-war Britain, one of the most striking and subgross manifestations of social change in the period (Hall et al 1976,). Prior to valet de chambre War 2 there was always a strong ideology, a way of life to which e veryone conformed. They held similar values and common closes. The emergence of subcultures challenged this.The absolute majority of subcultures contribute usually be defined by specific music, with the elision of few, such(prenominal) as football hooliganism. The subcultures explored below can predominantly be distinguished by their music. It would be fair to assume that both the subcultures explored will go had some impact on todays university stude nts. Either their own lives or the lives of their parents surely build been influenced by one of these subcultures.PunksIn order to poke what the rowdy subculture consists of it is despotic to understand where yobbo came from and the history surrounding it, as well as how its followers dressed, their ideals, music tastes and attitudes. There are different types of lubber examples being Anarocho punk and Oi Punk. The Punk philosophy addressed umpteen issues including individualism, anti-authoritarianism, political anarchism, and free concept amongst others. Punk was embraced by individuals usually ranging in age from the latterly teen years to mid or late twenties.Punks can be perceived as members of a deviant subculture collect to many another(prenominal) factors, for example their musical tastes, dress grit and political views to clear precisely a few. Each of these issues are to be raised in their own right, below.Within the United Kingdom (UK) the punk scene emerged in the late 1970s. As punk was somewhat of an underground movement it is inconceivable to state when it arrived in the UK. Cahill (1988) states that most would agree that it was some clip in 1975, Britain was damage from a recession at the time, and in times of extreme hardship, heap look for an outlet to their anger Punk gave way for young volume to make their frustrations k immediatelyn. TheyAngela-Marie Gibsonhad just gone through times of economic decline, so un-employment was rife add to this the normal feelings that population of this age experience, punk seemed the answer. marsh (1977) termed Punk dole queue rock.Punk saw bands such as the Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones emerging into British society. Music of this kind was often very anti or intolerant in its lyrics for example regarding parents or notions of love. because there are other types of music to consider such as the Jam and Sham 69. The Jam are not immediately thought of as an Oi band, but their ly rics contain political themes which is also applicable to many bands of the genre.The members of the typical punk subculture made their allegiance clear in the way the dressed. A typical punk could be seen sporting light jeans, strap jackets, Doc Martins, ripped t-shirts and, maybe, their dyed hair (some punks associated with Neo-Nazi movements had skin heads).It could be argued that the social break of the race who made up the punk subculture were generally working mannequin, but it has to be considered that punk also consisted of a minority of middle class students who simply enjoyed the punk look, but did not conform to all its trappings. The members of the punk sub culture in Britain are predominantly white.The word punk often goes hand in hand political views. Not all punks developed the comparable political standing but it should be mentioned that views such as anarchy and neo-Nazism are attached to the punk subculture. The National expect picked up such punk movements a s Oi and tried to use punk to their own advantage. One must mention musical influences such as Skrewdriver, whos overtake singer Ian Stewart Donaldson was instrumental in setting up caudex Honour the activist movement widely linked with the National Front.Punks could be seen as quite confused individuals as they wore article of clothing depicting the conjunction Jack, yet they sang along with The Sex Pistols and their lyrics of anarchy in the British society it was an alien essence, a fo persist body which implicitly be mainstream British culture from within and as such it resonated with punks adopted values anarchy, surrender and decline (Hebdige, 1979, p64)RaveThe mouth off subculture seems to be different to punk in the fact that its follows do not seem to be constrained by social class or political view points. Rave sprang to life and made its way from Ibiza to Britain in the late eighties and early 1990s.. It is termed by the Guardian newspaper as The fight for the rig ht to party. Initially no one from this subculture was against any figures of authority they basically wanted to experience a good time with their peers in an environment that had never been experienced before. This did and bring with it violence between the Police and the ravers Collin (1997) is quoted as saying rave is the most spectacular and enduring British youth movement of the ordinal century. The origins of rave can be traced back to the United States of America and the sprightly clubs in Chicago in the form of House music.Firstly it is imperative to ascertain what it is we are examining. Initially this paper will look at the clothes, attitudes and beliefs of the members of the rave subculture as well as the history that surrounds it.This specific subculture is virtually connected with illegal drug taking and (initially) illegal venues where young people could join together to dance, party and take drugs. The countries licensing laws at this time where such that traditi onal nightclubs closed at 1 or 2 am. The members of the rave community wanted to party on into the night, hence the venues that hosted these events being illegal.It could be argued that the term rave was first seen in Britain in the 1950s and was seen again briefly with the Mods. However, it was the illegal warehouse parties that gave rave the reputation it possessed in the early to mid 1990s.Rave appeared whilst Britain was approaching a state of corking consumer spending and the footling housing boom of the late 80s was underway. In political relation Margaret Thatcher wasstriving to ensure the British public got her strong messages regarding a capitalist society. She was attempting to portray her vision of every man being responsible for himself, On the 23rd September 1987 she was famously quoted as saying there is no such thing as society www.margaretthatcher.org.The followers of rave could be spotted in their unique clothing attire. This mainly consisted of layered clothing (which could easily be removed once they get hot), young childrens dummies, glo-sticks, whistles and smiley go about t-shirts. The males can be seen sporting tracksuits or baggy jeans whilst the females took to wearing bikinis and short neon coloured dresses. They often related everyday things to drug vilification and depicted this on their clothing. Slogans such as Can I have an E please Bob? were printed on t-shirts. They showed Bob Holness (famous for his long reign as host of blockbuster)holding an ecstasy tablet. It is argued that at most, if not all gatherings that this subculture attended illegal drugs would be rife predominantly ecstasy, amphetamine, cocaine or LSD.In 1994 the Criminal nicety and Public Order make out was passed. This Act was influenced directly by the events at Castlemorton, where an estimated 40,000 revellers spent a week partying at anevent held at the common. Castlemorton was the final nail in the coffin of the unaccredited event (South, 1999) The Act specifically defines music to include sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats. This gave great powers to the Police to act upon raves. The most publicised changes in the Act are Sections 34-39, 54-59 and 60. These changes gave the Police the power to stop an outsidegathering of more than c people. There was highly publicised conflict in the late 1980s between Police and members of the rave subculture. This, coupled with the knowledge that ravers embraced illegal substances would lead many to think that the followers of rave havelittle or no respect for the police or the law. Over 60,000 youths marched against the Criminal Justice Bill changes. They were all not from the rave subculture, but they all had the common belief that the changes were not just.The views of the rave sub culture may be seen as polar opposites to that of punk. Followers of rave put emphasis on peace, love, openess, unity and respect for each other. This is argued to be down to the effects of the drugs the ravers infix in.The rave subculture has moved on capaciously since the early 1990s. The rave subculture now takes place in most towns and cities every weekend in decriminalize venues that adhere to licencing laws. It is now called club culture and is part of everyday life for many. The members may have adapted their clothing to more mainstream atire. It could also be said that it is the rave subculture that has normalised drug use once again for the youth of Britian. It has certianly brought illegal drugs to the forefront. Faces such as that of Leah Betts will be engrained on the minds of many British citizens, predominantly those is their 30s.To quote Cohen (1972) deviance is created by society social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular persons and labelling them as outsiders. So, if a person does not share the same morals and belief sy stems as the majority that then makes them deviant, therefore they have no option but to seek solace in the ordnance of a subculture.Looking at these subcultures I conclude that it could be argued they were influenced by the rising number of family breakdowns. Could it be that the youth of these eras were looking for asense of belonging, and the rave and punk subculture gave them what they craved? The leader of the country at the time (Margaret Thatcher) was thought to be trying to in still into the Britishpeople that society was not important maybe subcultures fulfilled its followers with a sense ofbelonging and security? If the people were being lead to weigh that wider society was not as important as it had been then can a subculture really exist, as there is no common goal or majority rule.It also must be pointed out that with the vast amount of media coverage both of these subcultures received from the newspapers and television it could also be argued that they were the norm they had so much coverage that to attach a deviant label to them is wrong. Maybe due to the fact that we have only seen these deviations from the norm over a relatively short period of time (Post World War 2) it is still inconceivable to some members of society that freedom to chatter ourselves should be embraced, not shunned?