User:ChloeXX/rwrs/Essay Subculture Impact

Subculture Impact

• 1. Introduction
  

According to Dick Hebdige, the concept of culture refers both to a process and a product. The dream of integrated meaningful organic society was kept alive through the tradition of dissent and criticism. [cite and unpack] There are two trajectories of this dream, one led back to past, culture assumed a sacred function, another led towards the future, to a socialist Utopia where the distinction between labour and leisure was to annulled. Hegemony is not universal, society forms cannot be permanently normalized. Subculture as a concept compared to culture, has signaled the breakdown of consensus in the post-war period in a spectacular style.
The struggle between different discourses, definitions and meanings of ideology in a mean time is a struggle for possession of the sign which extends to daily life. The commodities are open to a double inflection: illegitimate and legitimate uses. Illegitimate functions can be made to carry secret meanings which continued a subordination order. It is the alienation from the deceptive of representation which gives a subterranean meaning.
Dick Hebdige also defined subculture as a subversion to normalcy, which is predictive after 30 years past by. For now there are less subculture exist due to most of subculture such as punk, hiphop, hippies were incorporated by commercial system. Industry of fashion and music pick up elements on youth subculture and sell them back to people and widely accepted by mainstream. Internet also played an important role on providing unduly information of subgenre which are replaced rapidly. Subculture is no longer a label of underground within the platform of internet, young people has a variety of ways to show their uniqueness and creativity, all the confusions can be checked on google and discussed with certain group of people. Then what are the connections between subculture and creativity? Weird behaviors, haircut or costumes are no longer a frightening social topic anymore. Also, it was survival pressure gives youth more space on producing the power of resistance, nowadays under western social welfare system do young people still have motivation on sebversion? If subculture represents minority compared to majority, [2] what are they doing now?

• 2. Documentation

Subversion exist in between the gap of rules and reality. I would like to cite an example based on my own experience.
^{2005, At the age of 13, it was my first time seen that skate boy skateboarding in front of the school gate. He has eye-catching dyed red hair, medium figure, wearing blue uniform shirt and earphones. That afternoon was in between of spring and summer, everything was like in an over-exposed filter. Mottled shadows of the trees illuminated on the crowd, I could not see anyone’s face clearly. I was eating an ice cream, leafed though the magazine in my hand. After a peaceful while few senior students stopped, they suddenly punched him and started fighting, the skater boy revolted viciously. The chaos ended in he fell to the ground, lying next to a pool of blood.
Before long I heard the legend about him. He was the first person played skateboard in the school，2 grades older than me, well-known for his tough identity. He teased the teacher when they tried to kick him out, defeat hooligans from outside school. During the time Hong Kong movie “Young and Dangerous” still influence youth’s view of value. He and his mates believe brotherhood is greater than anything else. Under the action of hormones, every little thing can lead to a battle. As long as the provocation happens, everyone will witness how do it go.
That summer the skater boy chased the prettiest girl in my grade who I know since I was 7. She looked like a cartoon girl with incredible large eyes and small plain face. My first reaction when I found they were being together was a kind of hostility or even jealousy. In a meanwhile, my crazy adolescence started. I pierced my ear hole, bought adult clothes, hang out with “bad girls” and we even formed a group called S.H.E. In the summer camp we eating, sleeping, playing together, talk about others’ gossip and socialize with bad kids in other class.
Some of my classmates started estranging me, even my best friend before. I was high sensitive and had nothing to do with being misunderstood, I cried so many times and doubted whether I was a true bad kid. Those feelings made me closer with my bad girl team S.H.E, but how bad we actually were? We dressed heavily like punk style which made us felt unique and mature. Some boys passed us their love letters. During that time I had my first time approaching real world, we went to karaoke, got drunk, and eat outside of a fancy meal treated by boys.
Once there were two high school girls went to my class tried to find me, I was not there, they asked my classmate to pass on the message: “Come to the laboratory building after school, if you don’t appear, you will face your music.” I was extreme afraid, usually students don’t go to that building, which was said there are bodies soaking in the biological laboratory.
When I arrived the 2 girls and 4 boys was already there, my teeth began to chatter, I felt freeze cold. The tall girl asked me: “Do you know why we call you here?” I said no. She said: “Why you wear skirt in winter, bitch?” I didn’t reply. She continue scolding at me, I didn’t say anything. The boys standing behind them asked: “Fight or not?” The two girls started slapping me, pushed me to the floor. At the end, they threated me: “If you dare to wear skirt again, I’ll let them fuck you together.”
The memory of that day, still, makes me chatter from deep inside. Later on the rumors of that day was exaggerated and I have got a bad reputation.
My teacher, a mid-age stubborn woman hates me, once as I sitting on the bench reading a fiction, she came to me and pulled my hair tight, ordered me to cut off my bangs and tie the hair up, otherwise don’t come ever anymore. Incidentally she took away my book, “Crimson Romance”, she read the title, “look at your slut face”, she said to me. I did not listen to her, the other day when I show up with my loosed hair, she called my parents, tell them my stories at school. My parents are the type of traditional Chinese parents, since I was the only daughter, they used to look after me quite strict. They were shocked by my teacher’s description and became mad at me. They searched my room and took all my extracurricular books, confiscated all my dairy and love letters then burned up in front of me. My mom took the scissors chasing me to cut off my long hair, pushed me to the window and began beating me frantically. Since then I was not allowed to close the door of my room, my parents took turns staring at me all the time. They checked my bag and homework everyday, when they found out I only got 30 scores on physics, my mom hit me with her slippers and doubt if I had intellectual disability. During the time she lost her job, she unleashed her anger on me and cried in the night.
The friendship of me and the other girls in S.H.E was end up with one of them ran away from home. She stole few hundreds from her parents and eloped with her boyfriend. Her parents came to school forced us tell them where is her. But we don’t know really, I even don’t know the name of that guy. The teacher pushed the blame on us, “they teaches her to learn the bad habits”, she told her mother. When me and the other girl came out of the office, I said: “Run away is her own choice, none of our business.” The other girl replied: ”Aren’t we are the best friend? I will take care of it, I will go to find her!” She never talked to me anymore. Few days later the runaway girl spent the money up and came back. Also, S.H.E dissolved.
The summer of my 16, I graduated from junior school, started hanging out in the Game Hall. I liked to play Dance Revolution and finally became proficient, the guys working there sometimes gave me the game coins to let me play for free. I have got plenty of coins to play fight 97 and slot machine.
The skate boy finally knows me by watching me dance. Their skater team was growing, more and more people played skateboard in that area. At that time they were too cool in my eyes, I started listening rock’n’roll and behaved strong. Not only shared me the songs, the skaters also told me a value of “adult sucks, others sucks, their goal is to die young at 21.” I felt stronger than anytime, I was proud being the underground kid, we were so special.
One day the skate boy asked me to come with him to buy a motorbike. When I came to his home with him, the house was already been rummaged, I saw his father's hands were tied behind the chair, skate boy asked him: “where is the bank passbook?” His father keep shouting and insulting at him. Then he continued searching for money in the house. At the moment I left his home, I was completely lost my mind. That scene, totally beyond my comprehension, I did not know what my tomorrow will be, but I know I will not be him.
I went to high school in the end.
Last night I found the skate boy’s social network, he kept posting his skating video on it. Nobody died at 21.}

2.2 Chinese Subculture Background
Subculture developed in China since 1980s, after the reform and opening-up policy, people started doubting propaganda and their view of value. At the time young people listened western rock’n’roll and influenced by the style. The first flourish happened in the mid of 90s, leaded by rock star Cui Jian, Zhang Chu, Dou Wei. The second flourish was in between 1995-2005, the generation born in 80s tried to give their voices of unsatisfied with government and social system. During the time, the reforming of state-owned enterprise caused many employees laid off. Some families lost their financial support, jobless mid-agers could not afford their children’s education tuitions. Some of the youths dropped school swapped cut-out CDs, they hang out with young western students and form bands, clubbing as a new entertainment gradually became popular.

• 3. Conclusion

After decades since 1970s, subculture as a subversion style has influenced not only one generation of westerners, it still exist somewhere else. Internet communication given a growth space of varies styles of culture, subversion and destruction is no longer a way out of rebel youth. Commercial pop culture can be replicated, but relatively, minority culture has more independence. So for the new era I would relate subculture with individual creativity. At present, China is still strict with network monitoring, some sites and topics will be closed if it has contrary ideology of propaganda. Youth subcultures exist among in oppression and never disappeared.

• 4. References

[1] Dick Hebdige :Subculture: a meaning of style
[2] David Riesman ”subculture which actively sought a minority style”