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by Natalie Baird

Style Manuals versus Generational Consciousness 
Styling the Self versus Style as Discourse 
Media Persuasion versus Symbolic Resistance 
Conclusion

Response to fieldwork: B E C O M I N G   A L T E R N A T I V E
FIELD WORK - Observation of the Alternative music and youth culture in Brisbane
FIELD WORK – Analysis of written records or cultural artifacts (juice magazine)
Works cited
 

It is generally agreed that adolescence is a period of turmoil for youth, especially due to facing issues of identity. The beginning of the Twentieth Century brought about new studies in adolescence, springing from an apparent problem society faced in delinquency and youth gangs (Tait, 1999). Since then theories on youth have moved away from the so-called youth problem, basing studies on delinquency, towards distinguishing adolescence as a category in itself (Tait, 1999; Hebdige, 1979). After World War Two in Britain the concept of family, school, work and leisure shifted – polarising the working class community. It has been thought that youth developed “marginal discourses” in response to these changes in society, such as the advent of the mass media, socio-economics, and to communicate (Hebdige, 1979). In Subculture: the meaning of style Hebdige discusses youth and the reasons they form subcultures (1979). He lists generational consciousness, symbolic resistance and style as discourse as reasons for why youth culture diverged following the Second World War. However since then, there has been a change of thinking – linking youth and subculture to the development of identity through governmental agencies (Tait, 1999).

Style Manuals versus Generational Consciousness
Hebdige explains that after the war working class youth had increased spending power. This meant that advertisers had a separate demographic to cater for – thus creating youth as a new group of consumers alongside an older generation of consumers (1979). This theory is maintained in Borchard, who writes that American youth culture has become a commodity, with youth unable to see their own culture for the representations of their culture that the media perpetuates (1999). Further still he claims that the many diverse forms of American youth cultures are becoming lost in the media – that youth culture is one great big hybrid of subcultures.

In Tait’s governmental approach, the media is seen in a different light. Manuals such as magazines, books, television and radio provide youth with conventions within a subcultural discourse so he or she can formulate their identity. Within a particular subculture there are certain ways to dress, talk, think, and behave; “style manuals” provide the framework upon which youth can flesh out their identity. Tait also suggests that even youth not aligning with a particular subculture use manuals to construct their identity – the media as well as peer groups and family groups provide acceptable standards of forming an identity (1999).

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Styling the Self versus Style as Discourse
Tait’s alternative, “governmental” approach to youth implies that the adolescent is active in composing their identity through the modeling of behaviours (1999).  This is similar to Levi-Strauss’ concept of bricolage, in that the youth surrounded by stimulus borrows symbols from different areas and creates an identity (Hebdige, 1979). Hebdige and Tait refer to bricolage in different ways – Hebdige developing an idea of “style as discourse” (1979), and Tait using the term to describe the process of forming a “youthful identity”. A youthful identity is formulated by taking “practices, attitudes and forms of conduct” from society’s manuals – such as the media, family and peer groups (Tait, 1999). Georg argued that because youth had come to be seen as one large entity, subcultures were developed in order for groups of youth had a distinct profile in their society (1995).
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Media Persuasion versus Symbolic Resistance
Hebdige’s concept of symbolic resistance, or counter-hegemonic struggle, meant that each specific subculture was resisting the dominant or mainstream culture in some symbolic way (1979).  He claimed that youth avoided mimicking the parent culture and uses punk as an example because as a subculture punk’s actively sought to reconstruct “socially cohesive elements” that disintegrated through the parent culture (Cohen, 1972 in Hebdige, 1979). Georg claimed that the participants in his 1995 German and Dutch study strongly opposed those adults who were outside of their youth culture because they saw these adults as authority figures (p. 8). This is his idea of “youth centrism”, meaning that youth see themselves as being a totally separate and foreign group to adults (p. 5). Georg’s youth centrism is strikingly similar to Hebdige’s symbolic resistance in that in each case, youth are battling the older generations. van Wel describes a kind of parent–peer conflict, in which the individual orients themselves alongside their friends’ tastes in certain interest areas. However in his study conducted in the Netherlands, it is not mentioned whether or not youth align more readily with their friends because of a reaction towards their parent culture (1994).

Tait would argue that youth are more inclined to be drawn towards “youthful” tastes due to pressure in those “style manuals”. Magazines are renowned for using persuasion techniques – in his lecture Tait (1999) discusses the techniques used by women’s magazines to construct a sexually empowered, yet feminine ideal. These modes of persuasion could be psychological, medical or moral. For example, Tait claimed that magazines such as Cleo and Cosmopolitan persuade psychologically that the readers need a certain kind of make-up or hairstyle. According to Tait, symbolic resistance explained by Hebdige is not accurate because during adolescence individuals are in a phase of developing their identity, merely trying on hats and seeing if they look good (1999).

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Conclusion
Tait’s approach to youth studies seeks not to group youth into discernable subcultures, but to investigate how youth develop their identities and what the role of society plays in developing a youthful identity (1999).  Youths are involved in a process of styling the self, according to Tait, through style manuals such as magazines and television, choosing aspects they align with in order to formulate their identity. In this process Tait has suggested that the media exploits the adolescent need to find a youthful identity by persuading the reader through psychological, medical and moral avenues (lecture, 1999).  On the other hand, subculture theory works with theories as to why youths develop subcultures and who a youth is, in terms of the mass media (Hebdige, 1979). This is developed in the concepts of style as discourse, generational consciousness and symbolic resistance.
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Response to fieldwork:
B E C O M I N G   A L T E R N A T I V E

A youth can take his or her influence from many manuals to develop their identity, for example: the media (TV, print and electronic), peer groups and families. A huge market has been developed over the 1990s to fill the needs of those who wish to identify as alternate. However being alternative has become an accepted subculture within societies – one that many youths actively seek out in order to be a little bit different but not too different. Being an alternative youth in Brisbane is not a hard option to take. I have researched “alterna-manuals” for youth, and the avenues young people may travel down in order to think, breathe, talk, listen and behave alternatively. Field research techniques I chose to use were observation of alternative music and youth culture in Brisbane and analysis of written records – namely the Australian alternative music magazine, juice.

From the field research it is apparent that music is the key to forming an alternative identity. As the musicians, and mainly the lead musicians, are seen as the “face” of the genre, it is easy for youth to see them as a model for them to mold themselves to. One very famous example of musicians spawning a new model of behaviour is that of Nirvana and grunge. Juice magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums of the ‘90s” regarded Nirvana’s album “Nevermind” as the top album (No. 75, 1999). Nirvana’s ill-fated lead singer Kurt Cobain lived and breathed the alternative – grunge lifestyle, which was mimicked by teenagers worldwide. The top 100 consists of predominantly guitar based (and therefore “alternative”) music, so it is easy to see how youth can interpret this list to exemplify “ideal” music. Juice fosters the alternative ideal by giving rave reviews to acts such as Beck, Sonic Animation, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.

To behave alternatively is to practice rituals and recreations that are somewhat different to the mainstream population. It is clear when leafing through a youth magazine such as juice that these activities are often bordering on the extreme. Youth and musicians in this magazine (and outside in the alternative youth scene) can be seen with piercings and tattoos – practices not common in older generations. Other popular recreations amongst alternative youth are extreme sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding; each sport fostering such a huge following that merely participating is ensuring that you are not only alternative but in a sub group of alternative youths! Music festivals are hugely popular, such as the Big Day Out which tours around the country every year offering a showcase of local and international alternative acts. In keeping with the extreme theme, popular practices at such events are moshing and crowd surfing, which are officially not condoned by event organisers, however this is hard to police.

Through the field research conducted it is easy to have a mental picture of the typical alternative youth – what he or she looks like, how they behave and what part they play in the consumer culture. Youth form this “alternative” identity through manuals – especially effective venues of communicating alternative music and information are radio, magazines and television. In the field research there were plenty of sources for alternative lifestyle information, although however easy it is to access this information, the alternative lifestyle is still a minority group.

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FIELD WORK - Observation
What  - Alternative music and youth culture in Brisbane
Who – Youth in the alternative scene

When -
Band gigs are often advertised in publications such as Time Off (especially local acts) and more famous acts are more intensively marketed through national music magazines  (juice and Rolling Stone for example)
Popular nights for going to see a band are Thursday through ‘til Sunday, however many bands play gigs through the rest of the week as well.

Where  -
PLACES TO HEAR LIVE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
Fortitude Valley has a vibrant alternative music scene
- people wishing to enjoy live music can go to the many pubs and clubs where local bands play
- higher status acts perform at venues such as Arena and the Zoo

Music tours are also hugely popular amongst the alternative youth scene
- these are advertised mainly through youth music magazines and street publications (e.g. juice and Time Off)
- examples – Vibes On a Summer’s Day, Big Day Out, Livid, Glenworth Valley, Homebake.

PLACES TO BUY ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
- Skinny’s, Rocking Horse and other independent music stores have a large range of alternative music artists.
- Australia wide stores such as Sanity and HMV have an “alternative” section but cater mostly to the top 40 market, however the cd’s are cheaper due to parallel importing. Independent music stores do not support parallel importing because they tend to support local australian artists who do not benefit from this policy.
- Local unsigned bands often produce their own EP’s and sell them at their gigs.
 

READING ABOUT ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
- juice magazine
- Rolling Stone magazine
- street press distributed to places young people frequent such as independent music stores, cafes, bookstores ( eg. Time Off)
- international magazines such as The Face

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ON TELEVISION
FREE TO AIR?
- Briz31 often have late night music shows for local Brisbane artists to make themselves known.
- Channel 10’s “Video Hits” is top 40 – only alternative acts that have successfully crossed over have their videos played
- Rage – Saturday and Sunday shows are top 40, however late at night they will air many alternative artists both local and international.
PAY TV?
- Channel V on Foxtel and MTV on Optus Vision play video clips of top 40 songs during the day but have special timeslots for certain genres of music and also performances of local and international artists.

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ON THE RADIO
- Triple J is the national youth radio network playing a wide variety of current local and international alternative acts, however many Brisbane bands that have not been signed or released do not get an opportunity to air
- 4ZZZ is a Brisbane station playing local music – this station supports the local youth alternative culture

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ON THE NET
- Brisbane street publication “Time Off” has a website http://www.timeoff.com.au – through which readers can access gig guides and classifieds for the local scene.
- Triple J at http://www.triplej.abc.net.au has links to alternative artists, and information related to youth.
- juice magazine – http://www.juice.net – an online version of the magazine.

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FIELD WORK – Analysis of written records or cultural artifacts

The magazine analysed is juice: an Australian music magazine.

Constructing an alternative youth through -
MUSIC
FASHION
POLITICS/ BELIEFS/ IDEOLOGY
RECREATION
in MAGAZINES

On being a l t e r n a t i v e:
“It’s not like we set out to be different. From the very start we were always doing it our own way.” Adalita from Magic Dirt (in juice, No. 75, 1999, p. 53)

Music
- In juice’s “100 Greatest Albums of the ‘90s” (No.75, 1999) the predominant genre of music is alternative (guitar based acts). The number one album was considered to be Nirvana “Nevermind”, the band who were at the forefront of grunge in the early ‘90s. Their song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is also regarded to be an anthem for alternative youth.
- Popular alternative acts featured in juice in the same issue are Powderfinger, Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails and Tori Amos (No. 86, 2000).
- Artists receiving the best reviews in juice issue 84 were Beck, Sonic Animation, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, XTC, Michael Hutchence, Matthew Sweet and Professor Ratbaggy (p. 86, 1999).

Fashion
- Fashion labels advertised in juice are mostly active wear – NOT glamour, evening, or high fashion!
- examples – Airwalk, Sketchers, Levi, Diesel, Dr Martens, Converse, Mossimo (No. 84, 1999).
- A section on band t-shirts declares that wearing a Savage Garden shirt at an alternative concert is “not an ironic statement, it can only be wrong, wrong, wrong”. The ideal shirts were from bands like Blink 182, Magic Dirt, and any Australian punk band (No. 71, 1998, p. 58).

Politics, beliefs and ideology
- Leaning towards left wing – open minded about issues such as drugs and sex.
- examples – “Hit or Myth” (No. 84, 1999, pp. 74 – 78), “Happyland. A decade of ecstacy” (No. 69, 1998, pp. 88 – 89).
- Article on Kim Beazley (illustrated him as being very sympathetic to youth concerns) in the lead up to the 1998 federal election.
- Beazley is pictured playing the guitar with The Whitlams.
- A “hamburger and milkshake man”.
- “…in these days of economic rationalism he is unafraid of the tag ‘socialist’.”
(juice, No. 69, 1998, pp. 58 – 63)
- juice is obviously reflecting youth anti-censorship belief – the magazine does not censor swearing in articles or in letters to the editor.

Recreation
- juice has an article on sporting/ recreation in most issues. The sports are extreme – such as skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing.
- Issue 71 has an interview with Powderfinger while they are on a fishing trip (1998, pp. 64 – 69).
- The magazine features youth with piercings and tattoos – many of the musicians are pierced or tattooed – this is represented as a norm and not an extraordinary occurrence.
- juice has many articles about upcoming music tours such as the Big Day Out – reviewing the bands who are going to perform, survival tips and such.
- “Admit One: Summer” No. 71, 1998, pp. 51 – 63.
- there is a movie section and a computer games section where reviewers write up latest releases

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WORKS CITED

Borchard, K. (1999) “Lost in the Funhouse: U.S Youth Culture and its Commodification” Social Alternatives, Volume 18, number 2, April, University of Queensland Press, pp 8 – 10.

Creswell, T (ed.), (1998) juice magazine, Volumes 69 and 71, Terraplane Press: Australia.

Creswell, T (ed.), (1999) juice magazine, Volumes 75, 84 and Yearbook, Terraplane Press: Australia.

Creswell, T (ed.), (2000) juice magazine, Volume 86, Terraplane Press: Australia.

Georg, W. (1995) “Orientations on German and Dutch Youth Subculture: A Comparative Perspective” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, Volume 6, A.B Academic Publishers: Great Britain, pp. 1 – 20.

Hebdige, D. (1979) Subculture: The meaning of style. Methuen: London.

Tait, G (1999) “Youth cultures, style and education” Understanding Education: contexts and agendas for the new millennium. Prentice Hall: Australia, pp. 75 – 81.

Tait, G (1999) “Style and Youth”, lecture given at Queensland University of Technology, 16 March 1999.

van Wel, F (1994) “A Culture Gap Between the Generations? Social Influence on Youth Cultural Style” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, Volume 4, A.B Academic Publishers: Great Britain, pp. 211 – 228.

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