WJEC/Eduqas Sociology for AS & Year 1: Student Bk

What Asian influences can you see in both male and female fashions currently? Remember that styles are usually adapted rather than copied directly! Tip Mairtin Mac an Ghaill’s name is often misspelled by candidates who often think he is two people. For politeness and to show evidence of reading, if you quote his work, spell his name correctly. Topic 10: Youth cultures and ethnicity Alternative suggestions regarding the development of Black youth cultures have come from sociologists working with young Black people in schools. Wright (1986) found that young Black people were often placed in lower sets in school where they became bored and disruptive. Gillborn (1990) found that Black children were treated differently and penalised more harshly by teachers where they retreated into youth cultures to avoid the racism of their education. The result of this was more conflict. Mac an Ghaill found Black and Asian students rejected school but not education but retreated into subcultures for safety. Sewell (1997) found that Black street style brought students into conflict with teachers who did not understand it. The influence of Black street style on white youths 1950s Jamaican music had a range of interesting rhythms and styles, for example ska. This was popular with the mods in the 1960s and later with skinheads. White bands incorporated these rhythms into punk, developing Two Tone. Bands such as UB40 and Madness were also influenced by reggae music, which musicians like Bob Marley brought from Jamaica to wider prominence. As Black music forms were adopted by the white dominated music business young Black people moved on to new youth styles. Then in the 1980s ragga emerged as a new musical genre for Black youth; a throbbing form of electronic music. The clubs became the basis of early drum and bass sounds, and the clubbing and DJ crazes of the 1990s were white adaptations of Jamaican and Black American hip hop styles made acceptable for white youth culture. Black street culture was again being repackaged, commercialised and sold to white youth as ‘cool’. Asian youth culture and Bhangra styles Hebdige points out that youth cultures only become seen and public when they are seen as breaking social rules. Asian youth cultures have been more discrete and less obvious, so they are less well studied. Nevertheless, Asian young people had to face their own issues of rejection, discrimination and racism. Alexander and Kim pointed out that many formed ‘hybrid’ cultures that fused elements of British youth cultures with traditional Asian patterns. Bhangra rhythms became popular in the 1980s and found their way into non-Asian popular music. A street style known as Brasian developed and has been adapted and commercialised for mainstream culture. For example, Asian women’s dress style has been adapted and popularised among white women in the form of a tunic or dress worn over trousers and leggings. The wearing of scarves and bright jewellery is also Asian influenced. How they brutalise the very souls. Today they say that we are free, only to be chained in poverty. Good God, I think it’s illiteracy… Bob Marley 167