| You get me?
By Georgina Roberts
You’ve seen them around Hackney, chatting with their
mates, dropping chicken boxes and playing tinny-sounding Grime through
their mobile phones on the bus. This dominant multicultural group
has its own language, dress and behaviour, yet society seems unwilling
to dignify them with the title of a sub-culture, preferring to opt
for the easy associations with the so-called underclass.
Contemporary youth do not all fit into the old-school pigeonholes
of known subcultures. There is a variety and sophisticated subtlety
in dress today; their styles are distinguishable to each other –
but not necessarily to adult society. This look is about uncompromising
leisure; the tracksuit replaces the suit as an urban uniform, which
is quickly interpreted as scruffy kids.
Active pioneers of new urban sounds, such as Grime and Dubstep,
are part of a generation that is growing up creative and ambitious.
These kids are motivated, animated and sociable. The majority has
more enjoyable things to do, contrary to popular belief, than intimidating
old ladies. So why does the presence of this group seem to provoke
fear rather than the intrigue usually expressed at Britain’s
rich youth culture?
Perhaps this is born of the stigma attached to street wear and
the notorious hoodie, which if the scaremongers had their way would
have folk running for their gated communities on sight. Instigators
of the hoodie/ baseball cap ban have managed to stereotype wearers,
creating suspicion in shop staff who according to Neil, 19, from
Clapton, treat young hoody wearers ‘like you’re criminals
when they have no evidence to support that’. In turn, this
has created the kind of controversy that had teens hooded up quicker
than you could say Anti-Social Behaviour Order. I’m not suggesting
they’re all angels in tracksuits, queuing up to help you off
the bus with your shopping, but as usual it is the minority who
is actually out on our streets committing crimes. Unfortunately,
it is those headlines that are quickly attached to this culture.
As with the Teds, Mods and Punks before them, an allegiance to the
style and attitude of a movement does not have to endorse the criminal
behaviour of the minority.
The popularised hoodie is now seen on everyone from joggers to
trendy dads. ‘I have seen many older people wearing hoodies,
however I never see anyone look twice at them’ says Paul,
18, from King’s Cross. There is something great about being
able to put your hood up and shut the world out, an attribute that
holds resonance with teenagers perhaps the most. Clothes can act
as our emotional armour, so what seems confrontational to someone
else is probably more about conforming, belonging and participating.
Granted, aside from the more commendable hobbies, a cross-section
of this sub-culture can also be found swearing, writing on bus windows
with marker pens and singing along loudly to their ipods, but surely
if they didn’t cause some level of moral outrage, they wouldn’t
qualify for the title.
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