Girl subcultures / feminism Flashcards
Blackman (Example)
Highlights a subculture of girls called ‘New Wave Girls’ who are pro education but anti school. They use their sexuality to question school values and internalized misogyny of the patriarchy.
Denscombe and Jackson (Example)
They saw a new culture of women who took part in man-like behaviors such as drinking, smoking, and swearing. They identified this new culture as the ‘ladettes’.
McRobbie and Garber (Sociologist and example)
They argue that girls do have their own female subcultures of their own, but it’s less obviously rebellious then males. They describe this as ‘bedroom culture’ since it revolves around women in their bedroom rather then on the streets. Bedroom culture was seen as a place where girls could express themselves without the oppression of males outside of their room - often also linking to the teeny-booper culture.
What was one of the subcultures that links to McRobbie’s ‘bedroom culture’? (Example)
Black ‘ragga girls’ used sexual dances in a way that ridicules male sexuality and reasserts female control. According to McRobbie, despite the sexism of the lyrics in some raga music, it is now possible for young black women to open up cultural spaces for themsleves.
What girl subculture is a reflection of postmodern times according to Kearney (example/sociologist).
Kearney looks into the rise of girl gangs and found that the ‘riot grrrl’ subculture were a reflection of postmodern times. Girl gangs are symbolic cultural resistance and political movements which are a product of the decline of class-based politics and rise of ‘lifestyle politics’. (This argue is reflected in Hebidge’s argument with the CCCS)
Reddington (Sociologist + exmaple)
Argues that there have been very active female members of some of the spectacular subcultures, such as Vivienne Westwood who was very influential in the punk subculture. She argues that the punks have included girls from the start on the ethos that anyone could do it. However, it does seem that they weren’t taken as seriously and referred to as ‘punkettes’ and judged on their physical appearance more.
Bennett (Sociologist) - Postmodernism AO3
Girl subcultures are less influential because postmodern ‘neo tribes’ are less gendered, and the loosening of boundaries within and between contemporary youth subcultures have opened up more spaces for girls to explore their own identity.
Hollands study of nightlife in Newcastle (Study) - Postmodernist AO3
Argues that Bedroom Culture is a thing of the past, though the young women studied by Hollands were older than the young teenagers associated with Bedroom Culture in McRobbie and Garbers study.
Robert Holland ‘Friday night, Saturday night’ study (sociologist study)
Argues that there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of women that go out at night. For example, ‘quite suicidal’ was the response he got when he asked how a girl would feel if she was restricted from going out for three months. The boys he interviewed felt that the lads had personified the amount that they went out and did ‘ladish behavior’, however the girls admitted how much they went out in groups and adopted ladish behavior.
Thornton (Sociologist)
Girls aren’t included in subcultures because they marry earlier and earn less then their male counterparts. Girls invest more time into school whereas were investing time going out meaning they had less ‘sub cultural capital’.
Thornton (example)
Thornton gives an example of an acid house culture in the 90’s. It had an underground status however became mainstream when women called ‘techno traceys’ would dance with their handbags making it mainstream. This links to the feminist argument that things associated with females are often characterized as less important then things associated with males.
Mod girl subculture (that McRobbie and Garber looked into) (Example) - AO3
The mod subcultures were androgynous which meant that females were just as visible in the subculture as males. However, they were still restricted by expectations of early marriage.
