YOUTH CULTURE & GENDER

The term youth culture directs one to the cultural aspects of youth. The word culture can be understood to refer to that level at which social groups develop distinct patterns of life, and give expressive form to their social and material life experience (see Hall). Youth cultures that developed in post war Britain have been well documented and studied because they represent more than adolescents indulging in popular music. Youth have through their culture have expressed their reactions to the environment in which they live in. Youth culture in relation to gender holds different concepts for male and females. For example, boy sub cultures have always been linked with gangs and delinquency where as when girls are usually portrayed with the stereotypical image as the sex objects or the possession of their boyfriends. A common reason given for this is the male bias of the investigator who overlooked the girl whilst being engrossed with the male gang of boys. Youth culture in general is said to be concerned with the problems of masculinity, hence youth sub cultures are given a patriarchal nature. McRobbie and Garber (2) argue that girls are not marginal but structurally different and they are pushed by male dominance to the periphery of social activity. Girls basically had to structure their social lives around the moral framework and double standards that they were faced. McRobbie further articulates that girl sub cultures where defined within the bedroom and a perfect example of this is the 'teenybopper' listening to her records with a friend and indulge in pop stars as a fan.