The term tribes can be defined as a
specific group of people who share the same norms and values as each other, subcultures can be seen as a group of people in one culture
for example, Goths, who have created a different style of fashion or taste in
music or behaviour that can be still drawn back to the Goth style, an example
of a subculture could be emos, who have originated from Goths and have grown
out to form their own norms and values.
Youth identity is when young people,
from young teenagers to 25, identify themselves with a certain tribe or
subculture, they do this to make themselves safe and secure as they can relate
to people who are like themselves, once this is group has been formed, it grows
into a subculture, and is seen as part of the youth identity, tribes which
attract the youth identity can be emos, Goths, hipsters, mods, teddy boys, etc.
Cultures used to be very homogenous
and there used to be one significant culture, like in the19th century, the
style was very much large dresses, three piece suits, tweed and the like. Music
would be classical and dancing would be in partners etc, so overall then, the
culture was very enclosed and private.
Now due to the rise in globalisation
and the proliferation of music genres, there has been a significant rise in
cultures and tribes, and from these cultures there has been a rise in
subcultures, like from Goths there has the rise in emos. Evidence that the pick
‘n’ mix approach can be seen in what cultures wear, for example, the big boots
that emos wear can be seen in the punk fashion. Maffasoli believes in this and
suggests that there has been a proliferation of subcultures, which there has,
and this can be supported with the idea that mainstream cultures has
bricolaged, mainstream culture has broken off into different cultures, which it
has.
There are many cultures and
subcultures which the youth identify with, Goths for example, wear black, have
piercings, large boots, wear black makeup, have unique hair styles and act
differently to the rest of society, also Chavs, which are a unique subculture
to Britain, often wear sports clothing, act in an anti-social behaviour, smoke
and drink.
Before the large rise in subcultures,
there were defined cultures, like the Teddy Boys, or the Mods, or the Punks,
which wore clothing that associated them to that particular group, also they
had meanings behind what they wore or how they behaved, for example, Punks
would be very aggressive often and this would be reflected in what they wore,
as they would wear very apparent clothing that looked aggressive, like metal
studs, or metal spiked bracelets.
Now though, the well defined cultures
have proliferated into many smaller, niche cultures, like Goths and emos, and
the meanings behind them have been lost, leading to an easy and quick rise in
subcultures.
Hebdige argues that the youths can be
“read” from what they wear, and to some extent this is true, from what Punks
wear, for example, you can see they are aggressive and want to stand out in
society. But this also can be untrue, for example, due to the pick ‘n’ mix
approach to tribes, meanings behind these tribes have been lost and the only
reason the tribe wears what it wears is because it’s had that style of clothing
since it started, it’s become a norm for the people within the tribe to wear
what signifies their culture. This overall suggests a loss of meaning to the
cultures.
Belonging to a tribe reinforces many
youths norms and values, giving members a sense of security, as the members are
surrounded by other people like themselves, this also shows collective
identity. Many people express themselves through what tribe they join, as the
individuals have norms and values similar to the tribes, but they’ve yet to
discover this tribe, once they’ve discovered it, they join and feel a sense of
belonging and identity, they are then shaped into what the tribe sees as the
correct norms and values for the tribe.
In conclusion, subcultures and tribes
play a massive role in youth identity, its forms the basis of how we interact
when we’re in that tribe and also how we act to a member of that tribe. It
defines who are , what we believe in, how we act, and most of all our life
choices. Subcultures continue to proliferate and grow in size, despite the
meanings behind the cultures being lost, it doesn’t deter the increase in
subcultures and tribes giving young people an identity, sense of belonging and
collective identity.
