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Youth Culture has been a central site for the development of consumer culture
(Discuss this statement with reference to fashion)
Youth Culture has shown to be a key factor for the development of the booming consumer culture that obliviously surrounds us within today’s’ society. However, what do we really mean by the loose term of ‘Youth Culture’ ? In fact maybe the term could be open to criticism as cultural studies show perhaps it may be appropriate to discuss how ‘Youth Cultures’ or even ‘Youth Subcultures’ We live in a culture where diversity is the norm for young people for example it is to be considered that there is diversity of life experience, family background, education, fashion, musical taste, religion etc.
Is there such thing as a single Youth Culture?
Youth culture and subcultures have been the subject of research since the early 1930’s. It is certainly true today that there is not one singular Youth Culture but a variety of different Youth Subcultures, however the year 2000 definitely does not follow the same pattern of say the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, it can be suggested that the reason for this is due to the change in Consumer Culture throughout the last fifty years. Many Sociologists have put forward suggestions to why there is a changing pattern in both type, number and size for example of youth subcultures, one such is that within this day and age; that there are greater media influence over consumers today than in the past, there are many more style types for example influenced by fashion trends as well as taste in music and leisure activities, there is also evidence to suggest that the differential gap within the class separation that exists defies how it could be seen that those with greater affluence are continuing to move further away from those who are more unfortunate and are less affluent. ... Meaning more available money to spend on things such as fashions, music, hobbies and interests etc that may or may not differentiate one such individual into one such subculture and one into another, for example within today’s fashion trends it is noticeable that the gothic influence has reached the catwalk and is available in many high street stores together with the trend in make up such as thick black eye liner and pale cheeks, appealing to the youth of today to keep up with peer pressure and so creating a subculture of ‘Goths’ for example.
There is also an increase in things such as pocket money, as records show from the CBBC television show Exchange (Youth Consumer Watchdog) that in 2002 the average teenager received £7. ...
But who are the youth?
The Concise Oxford dictionary 1991 defines the word Youth as:
‘The State of being young, specifically the period between childhood and adult age’
This definition would indicate that youth is described as an age category simply when you are no longer a child but not yet an adult! Conversely, it should be recognised that not all children for example stop being a child at the same age due to puberty and therefore the same goes that not all adolescents become adults and lose their youth status at the same time. Frith has looked into youth subculture and disagrees with this definition, he states
‘Youth cannot be simply described as an age group, but the social organisation of an age group’
Again according to Frith, sociologists of youth describe youth as just a way of life shared by young people.
Approximate Word count = 2725
Approximate Pages = 10.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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