Postmodern Youth Culture - 2480 Words

This essay I am going to discuss contemporary youth culture, and how fashion and appearance are being used to communicate a certain identity. My main focus will be on trying to explain how they are characteristic for the post modern are and how they are distinct from â€Å"authentic† subcultures. Furthermore I will look into the central role consumption have in post modern youth cultures. When discussing these different ideas, I have chose to look into two contemporary youth cultures; the hipster and the clubbers. Fashion and appearance are about showing who we are. Kratz and Reimer (1998) state how fashion is a cultural phenomen that we use to communicate to others our identity. This identity could be social and cultural, it can be showing†¦show more content†¦It is not be denied that fashion is the most visible act of consumption, therefore also the most visible way to communicate thru consumption (Miles, 1998). Hipsters communicate thru fashion by not following the catwalk trends, the main trend within this culture is wearing vintage and thriftshop inspired clothes, often in unexpected combinations. Referring back to the codes of fashion, and how subcultures broke these codes, Hipsters can be said to do the same (hebdiges, 1979). This culture are trying do differentiate themselves from everything that they see as mainstream. It is clear that this craving after differentiation are a well know aspect within postmodernity, which could be explained by the impossibility to do so becau se there are no longer any rules, everything has already been done (Appignanesi amp; Garrat, 2004; Muggleton, 2000) Drawing on this statement about postmodernity, It can be claimed how â€Å"indie† now have become mainstream, especially when it comes to fashion and style. Even though almost all subcultrual style did at some point become mainstream, the difference is that when that happened the innovators of the style, the subculture, turned away from that style. Today Kratx and Reimer(1998) argues how trends seem to last much longer, how â€Å"subcultures† stick to them, even after adopted by the mainstream.Show MoreRelatedBecoming Black : Rap And Hip Hop, Race, Gender, Identity, And Politics Of Esl Learning1632 Words   |  7 Pagespg. 349-350) â€Å"In the case of African youths, whose language and identity are we teaching/assuming in the classroom if we do not engage rap/hip hop?† (Ibrahim, pg. 366) â€Å"Whose knowledge is being valorized and legitimated and thus assumed to be worth of study and whose knowledge and identity are left in the corridors and the hall ways of our schools?† (Ibrahim, pg. 366) In what sense might hip-hop be described as revolutionary today? 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