Subcultures as related to gender

Question 1

What does Thornton say about youth sucbultures as related to gender?

Answer 1

• Girls have less disposable income, marry earlier, earn less than males so the ‘teenage market’ is dominated by boys
• Girls invest more time in school vs boys in music and going out, so there is a difference in sucbultural capital
• Girls accept lack of subcultural capital and defend their taste in music- ‘I know it’s crap but I like it’
• When a style moves from being ‘hip’ and underground to mainstream, it becomes ‘feminised’ (e.g: acid house/rave- characterised by Techno Traceys)

Question 2

What does McRobbie say about youth subcultures as related to gender?

Active girls

Answer 2

• Girls have become more active in relation to consumer culture (change in focus of magazines- from romance to a self-confident sexuality)

Question 3

What do McRobbie and Garber say about ‘girls and subcultures’?

Answer 3

• Criticised the CCCS for ignoring girls
• Looked at subcultures where girls were present (e.g: mod girls)
• 1950s- girls were restricted by expectations of early marriage, had less freedom than boys and experienced stricter social control
• ‘Teenybopper’ subculture centered aroudn the bedroom= ‘bedroom culture’- girls get together, experiment with make-up and gossip. Seen as a form of resistance

Question 4

What does Garber say about the intersection of gender with ethnicity?

Answer 4

• Black ‘ragga’ girls- use music to dance in sexauly explicit ways actually ridicule male sexism and open up their own cultural space
• Challenge the sexual message of the music, reclaiming their own sexuality and use it to assert their identities

Question 5

What does Reddington say about youth subcultures as related to gender?

Answer 5

• There have been some active female members of spectacular subcultures (Vivienne Westwood- punk). Punk offered an outlet, a form of resistance for many young girls who were appalled at the idea of marriage. However female punk performers were not always taken seriously

Question 6

What does research tell us about the changing roles for females in subcultures?

Answer 6

• New romantics, ravers, goths were more unisex subcultures, as are chavs and emos
• rot grrrls in US and sk8ter girls in Canada had very strong and powerful female identities - form of resistance against patriarchy and male exclusion
• Bennett- ‘neo-tribes’ are less gendered - loosening of boundaries has opened up space for girls to develop their own identities

Question 7

What does Holland say about changing roles for females in subcultures?

Answer 7

• Dramatic increase in numbers of women in Newcastle at nigh- women go out more often and would feel worse if restricted