5. Youth Cultures and Identities

Question 1

Define youth culture

Answer 1

Young people’s everyday or ‘mainstream’ leisure and consumption practices.

Question 2

What is Hegemony?

Answer 2

Refers to the ‘cultural, moral and ideological’ leadership of a dominant social group (a concept by Italian Marxist philosopher Anton Gramsci)

Question 3

What is “semiotics” the study of?

Answer 3

The study of how social meaning is created through use of symbols

Question 4

What is ‘teeny bopper culture’?

Answer 4

The cultural activities of young people in their early teens (10 to 13-year-olds), usually associated with mainstream pop music and fashion.

Was explained as being used by girls as a way to resist authority and indulge in low-grade deviance. Important in the formation of identity.

Question 5

What does CCCS stand for?

Answer 5

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies

Question 6

Explain the significance of club and rave culture.

Answer 6

Rave is a major cultural phenomena of leisure and dance that emerged in the 1980s. It used to be illegal so it developed as a sub/counterculture.

The fact that the youth began forming their own groups within it suggests that a new era of post-subculture theorizing was necessary.

Question 7

What is popular culture?

Answer 7

Usually, a term used to describe young people’s involvement in more mainstream cultural activities that tends to reach and impact the larger majority.

Has mass accessibility and appeal.