I was just doing my weekly tutorial reading and this week's topic happened to be on youth culture and lifestyles. After giving it a thought, might as well go on with it, no? Anyway, this is what I'm talking about:
Yes,that's what I'm talking about. That is what's going on between us all. I mean, while you say that puberty is a development stage, youth will therefore be a socially and culturally constructed category of great interest. Now then, what exactly is youth culture?
It basically involves a number of practices: identity, socializing, creativity, resistance to dominant structures (how true is that?) and of course, hybridity. If you don't get what I'm trying to say here, think about skinheads, punks, goth or in Australia, the Lebanese youth gangs in Sydney or maybe the Vietnamese youths in Melbourne. Think about the movies WE watch, the music WE listen to, even the style we want to follow. But, it's always the same words that are heard, like, "Why did you get a tattoo?!" or maybe, "That's a really short skirt". You get my point.
So, what's the point in all of these exactly?
I'm saying that today's youth cultures are sometimes taken too seriously. Think about it, not many of us, in fact, I don't think ANY of us would want to follow the same boring traditional transition to adulthood; completing education, getting a job, leaving home, starting a family and become a parent. Hell, we all want something interesting in between the transitions now, don't we? Of course, some subcultures have less trouble getting accepted by families and societies. Piercings and tatts? Now, that might just be a problem. Being a skater boy? Not a problem. Get my point here? Imagine walking around with tattoos and piercings. LOL.
One can even classify their group by coming from different ethnic groups and cultural background. What may seem contradictory identity discourses to an older generations seem perfectly logical to youths (us), who pull upon a range of sources in their personal profile of preferences. OK, too much words. I know. In a nutshell: It is now acceptable to have a passion in politics but at the same time, having the same passion for Rock music.
Sometimes, you can't just choose being involve in one cultural group and then just have fun without conflict or opposition. Guys: Get involve in DOTA groups or foosball. Girls: Get involve in Zara or MNG shopping. You get the picture.
But all in all, we are just a bunch of youngsters. We love constantly exploring the likely possibilities for action according to the cultural norms. We are after all, exposed to various youth cultures and of popular culture. Mainstream music, box office movies, etc. My Chemical Romance, Justin Timberlake, Die Hard 4.0, and Transformers. Enough said.
There's nothing wrong if we don't like politics. Actually, we LOVE politics, don't we? And we do love our parents. Put it this way; It's just a way of expression and creativity. Better than walking around shooting people in the head. Wait, that's also one of the different subcultures that exist amongst us. Hmmm...
The next time your parents ask you something, show them this post! (I'm kidding.)
Currently plugged in to: Sing It Back - Moloko
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