Hebdige,D (1979) 'subculture: the meaning of style
Subcultures form when we feel the views of society don't fit us or reflect our views so we form a group of like minded people. It issues a symbolic challenge to society suggesting theres a better way of living. political? it attempts to say that what society is doing is wrong or not inclusive etc.
subcultures quickly turn conventional and become something that can be sold and bought and it turns into a brand and becomes mainstream. This neutralises the subculture and it gets sucked into the system that they were trying to change in the first place. The challenge is removed.
The punk style rewrote the rules of masculinity in how they dressed. They thought there were music skill to be learned. The newspapers were saying they're shocking diverts. Punk was a refusal to conform to mainstream society. being from London, working class, underprivileged kids they all came together and started listening to things like London calling.
incorporation-ideological form- society says its stupid, looney, ridiculous, irrelevant.
commodity form-process with which capitalism seises on youth subculture and makes a market out of it then they have to make new culture
people actually just buy into the idea of rebellion.
buying a punk rock album will not make you a punk rocker your just buying into the industry. trading off a youth subculture. making things look stupid and passing it off as fun which neutralises the original idea.
Fred perry presents 'subculture' 2012 Dir. Don Letts.
most common subculture atm is hipster. but its not a subculture. its not rebelling or anything its just a meaningless transparent subculture. they're not issuing symbolic challenges anymore.
We then watched a video about all these subcultures and here are my notes from it:
http://vimeo.com/52431977
rock and roll american culture coming in people watching it and then pop culture started.
the wild one- expresses the rebellion. although they're copying americans it looks brittish
teddy boys. wearing a uniform- making it okay for a man to care how they look and do up their hair. rejecting things around you. edwardian style idea which gets changed. adopts the upperclass uniform and subverts it. almost takes the mick out of it. middle class teenagers liked to dress casual annd working class teenagers wanted to dress smart in a uniform. teds racist?
mods n rockers. leather jackets, motorbikes. muscular american culture based on bikes and fighting. took on the american look and made it British with a British motorbike. generation gap- parents don't want their kids long like that. media spread the subculture people pick up and idea and a set of clothing from people they've never met.
started by a few kids who wanted to be different but then everyone copies so that defeats the object. they can't play music or may bot have a record player but they have trousers and thats how they make themselves different.
modernist- people start to look forward more than back. interested in modern jazz. vespa, jacket, ideda of cool. vespa means they don't have to rely on their parents for transport. being smart, short hair, started by guys,mods would have been called puffs.
drug culture, creating generation gaps. ready,steady,go the tv show people watched it and wanted to dress like they did. kids wtart running round smashing things up because thats what the mods were doing. the who, small face.
Drugs and stuff form hippies and some people go and form skin heads.
punk was anti style and anti fashion but ended up turning into a fashion.
mod style isn't extreme so more acceptable and more durable. mod living is clean living under difficult circumstances.
rudeboy-edgy dangerous, anti mainstream.narrow trousers with white socks. emphasis of masculinity. -less english version of skin heads.
skin heads weren't racist they were happy with there own cultue=re. american ivy league. astronauts had buzz cuts and they thought it was cool. no creases allowed you had to look immaculate. 'sea re proud to be working class' grow up in inner city areas shared with black and white. girls wore suits too. skin head girls would attack people.
when the media coverage started people stared growing their hair long and the look fazed out. then it revived in the 70's but became racist. they weren't cool anymore.
fred perry went through lots of fases.
soul boys- wiggan -black music enjoyed by white people. all about sharing records an having a record other people didn't have. working class work hard all week so they want to go out and dance. dress comfy. impressive dance moves.
northern sole and southern soul are different. black kids bought gabiccis white kids bought hawaain shirts and things they could dance in. black kids started to dress up too and join in.
jazz funk in the south. essex was the home of black music in the uk. chris hill and froggy. multi racial there to have fun. no political statements. making a statement about accepting people. didn't have figureheads and specific bands so it never really went anywhere. this keeps it as a subculture.
clubculture- dis move around and play recognisable music.
england was boring and duo and people wanted to create something to do.
punk- people start ripping clothes and wearing chains. usually people that had been to art schools. malcom mclaren. mix of different cultures dress. because it was so mixed noone looked the same. dIY ethos. women start playing guitars how they want to play it. hippy ideas got acted out in punk.
regge welcomed everyone. After a punk swore of tv it ended then extremist styles occurred. steve jones. two tones. punk regge dub scar, mashup of regge and punk. the specials.
margret thatcher, lots of change. politics. recism is bad, the specials wrote about things close to home.
working class people earning more money than they ever dreamed of. able to spend a lot more money. starts in liverpool. expensive designer stuff they see when playing in europe. thatcher didn't destroy football hooligan it was someone who bled some chemicals together (ecstasy)
ravers go dressed to dance and sweat. casual. when it gets into the media rave become national.
brit pop. was it a real culture? retro enthusiasm. mod, london, rock edge. back to bands. lost of things in common. and they knew how to sell it.
internet brings people together because you can find people like you.
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