Does Youth Culture exist in the 21st Century?
The following interview with me (Ted Polhemus) has just
appeared in Portuguese on the Brazilian IHU OnLine - Magazine - University Unisinos.
I'm posting it here in the original English. (My answers in caps.)
The question were put by Patricia Fachin
(Jornalista, Instituto Humanitas Unisinos - IHU www.ihu.unisinos.br)
(Jornalista, Instituto Humanitas Unisinos - IHU www.ihu.unisinos.br)
If you want the Brazilian Portuguese version go to :
Why is
there a myth about youth?
SINCE THE
50S AND 60S THE MYTH HAS GROWN THAT YOUTH IS WHERE IT IS AT – THAT ALL GREAT
CREATIVE ADVANCES COME FROM THE YOUNG. THIS OVERTURNED (THE ALSO ABSURD) MYTH
THAT YOUTH HAS NOTHING TO CONTRIBUTE. THE REAL MYTH (AND DANGER) IS THE
PRESUMPTION THAT CREATIVITY IS AGE DEFINED. AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ARE MORE
IMPORTANT THAN OUR AGE.
What
understanding had the boomers about youth? To what extent the cultural context
in which they were have contributed to their own understanding of youth?
BABY
BOOMERS LIKE MYSELF GREW UP IN A WORLD (JUST AFTER WWII) WHERE WE WERE
CONSTANTLY TOLD THAT WE WERE ‘YOUTH’ AND AS SUCH WERE SPECIAL. THE REALLY
INTERESTING THING IS THAT ALL THAT CREATIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH ROCK ‘N’ ROLL,
SWINGING LONDON FASHION, ETC. WAS ACTUALLY COMING FROM A SLIGHTLY OLDER
GENERATION WHICH HAD BEEN BORN DURING OR EVEN BEFORE WWII. THE VERY FIRST BABY
BOOMERS LIKE ME (BORN 1947) DID NOT BECOME TEENAGERS UNTIL 1960 WHEREAS ROCK
‘N’ ROLL, THE FIRST STREETSTYLES, MODERN JAZZ, BEAT POETS ETC. WAS ALL CREATED
BY YOUNG ADULTS WHO WERE THEMSELVES NO LONGER TEENAGERS. BUT SO ALL PERVASIVE
WAS THE IDEA THAT WE BOOMERS CREATED, INVENTED AND WERE DEFINED BY OUR ‘YOUTH’
THAT WE BECAME THE FIRST GENERATION WHICH NEVER MANAGED TO GROW UP.
You say
this generation affected other generations "like a tsunami",
"distorting and metamorphosing all Western culture." How and to what
extent did this happen? What are the consequences for future generations?
ONCE THE
IDEA TOOK HOLD THAT YOUTH AND ONLY YOUTH HAD THE MAGIC KEY TO WHERE IT IS AT
THEN ALL OLDER GENERATIONS WERE SEEN AS HOPELESS OLDY SQUARES WHO DIDN’T HAVE A
CLUE AND ALL SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS (OR MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE ADVERTISING MEN
AND WOMEN WHO SOUGHT TO TARGET THEM) ACCEPTED WITHOUT QUESTION THE PRESUMPTION
THAT LIFE ENDS WHEN YOUR YOUTH ENDS. TAKE FASHION FOR EXAMPLE: DESIGNERS LIKE
DIOR, WHOSE ‘NEW LOOK’ TOOK THE WORLD BY STORM IN 1947, DESIGNED FOR WOMEN NOT
GIRLS (WHO WOULD TRADITIONALLY FOLLOW THE TRENDS SET BY THEIR MOTHERS). INDEED,
FASHION HAD ALWAYS BEEN FOCUSED ON WOMEN NOT GIRLS, MEN NOT BOYS. BUT 60S
DESIGNERS LIKE MARY QUANT (WHILE IRONICALLY NOT THEMSELVES TEENS) CREATED
FASHIONS FOCUSED ON TEENAGE GIRLS. TODAY WE HAVE GREAT DEBATES ABOUT SIZE ZERO
MODELS AND SO FORTH BUT THE ESSENCE OF THIS PREOCCUPATION ISN’T BODY SIZE –
IT’S ABOUT AGE. SIZE ZERO DENOTES GIRLS NOT WOMEN. PERSONALLY I THINK IT’S TIME
TO DECOUPLE FASHION AND STYLE FROM THIS AGEIST RESTRICTION.
Is the
current generation of young people still suffering the effects of the boomer
generation? In what ways?
IN IT’S
INABILITY TO GROW UP, THE BOOMERS TRY TO ATTACH A ‘FOREVER YOUNG’ LABEL ON
THEMSELVES WHICH, IN A SENSE, DENIES YOUTH TO THOSE WHO ACTUALLY ARE YOUNG.
WHEN THIS HAPPENED IN THE 70S – ALL THOSE AGING HIPPIES CONTROLLING THE MUSIC
INDUSTRY AND SO FORTH – THE EVENTUAL TRIUMPH OF YOUTH AND A NEW GENERATION WHO
ACTUALLY WERE YOUNG WAS PUNK. BUT THE PROBLEM IS MORE INSIDUOUS TODAY IN THAT
THIS MODEL WHICH EQUATES ‘WHERE IT’S AT’ WITH ‘YOUTH’ SEEKS TO CORAL THOSE WHO
ARE YOUNG INTO A CATEGORY DOMINATED PURELY BY AGE. IN FACT, FROM WHAT I SEE,
TODAY’S YOUTH HAVE HAD THE SENSE TO MOVE ON FROM SUCH AN AGEIST MODEL – IN THE
PROCESS APPRECIATING THAT LIFESTYLE CHOICES OF STYLE, MUSIC, IDEOLOGY,
CONSUMPTION PATTERNS, ETC. ARE THE REALLY SIGNIFICANT INDICATOR OF IDENTITY AND
THAT THESE STRIDE ACROSS BOUNDARIES OF AGE.
Is
there a widespread process of generational conflict in Western society? If yes,
on what terms?THERE WAS
IN THE 70S WHEN THE YOUNG REBELS OF PUNK TOOK ON THE ‘BORING OLD FARTS’. WHAT
AMAZES ME IS HOW LITTLE GENERATION CONFLICT THERE SEEMS TO BE TODAY. AND THAT
HAS TO BE DOWN TO YOUTH FOR FORGING US OLDIES FOR SCREWING UP THE WORLD. IT HAS
BEEN POINTED OUT THAT, STATISTICALLY, THE BOOMER GENERATION HAD IT ALL THEIR
OWN WAY: LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK AND DESPROYING THE PLANET AS NONE HAD
DONE BEFORE. IN FACT, IF I MAY, I THINK THESE SORTS OF ARGUMENTS (AS MADE IN A
NUMBER OF BEST-SELLING BOOKS RECENTLY) FALL PRY TO THE SAME AGEIST ABSURDITY.
THERE WERE BOOMERS WHO DROVE BUSES AND GOT BY ON A VERY LIMITED INCOME WHILE
THERE ARE PLENTY OF THOSE LIKE, SAY, MARK WHATS HIS NAME WHO FOUNDED FACEBOOK
WHO ARE NOT BOOMERS BUT WHO HAVE MADE ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP A SMALL NATION GOING.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE THAT IT WAS DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE BOOMERS THAT THE
DESTRUCTION OF OUR PLANET WENT INTO OVERDRIVE. BUT, AGAIN, I DON’T THINK IT IS
FAIR TO PIN THIS ON EACH AND EVERY BABY BOOMER. BUT DESPITE THESE DISCLAIMERS I
COULD WELL UNDERSTAND THAT YOUNGER GENERATIONS RESENT THE FACT THAT SO MANY
BOOMERS ARE ON COMFORTABLE PENSIONS (NOT TO MENTION SOAKING UP ALL THE MEDICAL
FACILITIES) WHILE SO MANY OF THEIR GENERATION CAN’T EVEN GET JOBS.
What is
this process of "youthification" of which you speak?
BY
‘YOUTHIFICATION’ I MEAN THE TRANSFERING OF YOUTH CULTURE FROM THE STRICT DOMAIN
OF THE YOUNG TO PENETRATE INTO ALL AGE GROUPS AND THE CULTURE IN THE WIDEST
SENSE. FOR EXAMPLE, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, IT WASN’T SIMPLY THAT A NEW MARKET WAS
CREATED WITHIN FASTION TO CATER TO THOSE WHO WERE YOUNG BUT THAT YOUNG MODELS
AND YOUTHFUL DESIGNS APPROPRIATE ONLY TO A YOUTHFUL BODY PUSHED EVERYTHING ELSE
ASIDE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY. DITTO POP MUSIC. WE FORGET THAT THIS ISN’T A
NATURAL PHENOMENON: THOUGHOUT 99.9% OF ITS HISTORY OUR HUMAN ANCESTORS REVERED
THE OLD FOR THEIR WISDOM. THE END RESULT TODAY IS THE AGING ‘KIDULTS’ WHO TRY
SO DESPERATELY TO ‘GET DOWN WITH THE KIDS’. MY HOPE IS THAT AS MY GENERATION –
FINALLY – GOES OFF TO THAT GREAT ROCK FESTIVAL IN THE SKY THE WORLD CAN RETURN
TO A MORE NORMAL AND SENSIBLE PERCEPTION THAT CREATIVITY AND VALUE ARE NOT
LIMITED TO ANY AGE GROUP.
Is it
possible to break this youthification process started by the boomers?
What
would be the subsequent social myth? JUST, AS I SAY, TO STOP THINKING THAT WHO
WERE ARE IS DEFINED BY OUR AGE. THE CENTRAL CHARACTER AND NARRATOR OF THE LATE
50S BRITISH NOVEL ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS FEAR THAT IN TURNING 19 HE WILL BE
PAST HIS SELL-BY DATE. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP – NOT THE NOVEL WHICH IS GREAT BUT
THE NOTION THAT AT A CERTAIN AGE YOU ARE PAST IT.
How does
happen the identity processes of young people today?
How this process differs
from the concept of "youth" originated by the Boomers? THIS IS
EXACTLY WHAT SOMEONE HAS TO START TO ASK YOUNG PEOPLE. I’M 67 AND HAVEN’T A
CLUE ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY. THIS IS WHAT I WANT SOMEONE TO DO: SOME SORT OF
SURVEY WHICH ASKS YOUNG PEOPLE TO LIST THE SIGNIFANCE OF VARIOUS FACTORS (AGE,
NATIONALITY, CLASS, BRANDS, MUSIC, STYLE, RELIGION, RACE, VALUES, ETC.) FROM
MOST IMPORTANT TO LEAST IMPORTANT. HERE’S AN OBSERVATION I’VE MADE ALL BY
MYSELF: IN THE TOWN OF HASTINGS, UK WHERE I LIVE, WHEN THE WEATHER IMPROVES (IF
IT EVER DOES) THERE ARE A LOT OF MOSTLY YOUNG KIDS ROLLER BLADING AND SKATEBOARDING
ON THE PROMINADE BY THE SEA. I SAY MOSTLY YOUNG KIDS BUT – HERE’S MY POINT –
I’VE NOTICED THAT IF AN OLD PERSON COMES ALONG WHO IS GOOD AT ROLLER BLADING OR
SKATEBOARDING HE OR SHE IS WELCOMED AND RESPECTED. WHEREAS SOME KID WHO HAS NO
SKILL IS IGNORED. COMPARE TO MY GENERATION WHICH SAID ‘NEVER TRUST ANYONE OVER
35’.
This
self-understanding of "youthification" makes young people do not
develop characteristics of adulthood? Which one, for example?
How the
"youthification" affects adulthood? I THINK IT’S THE OTHER SIDE OF
THIS COIN WHICH IS THE MORE SIGNIFICANT: HOW THOSE WHO ARE NOT YOUNG STRIVE TO
RUN THEIR LIVES AS IF THEY WERE YOUNG WHEN THEY ARE NOT. MY GUESS WOULD BE THAT
TODAY – UNLIKE THE 50S AND 60S – ONLY THE OLDIES ARE STUCK IN YOUTHIFICATION
MODE.
Is there
a paradigm lacking regarding what is being grown for the youth of today?
AGAIN,
I THINK THE YOUTH OF TODAY ARE OK WHILE THE PROBLEM OF GROWING UP IS WITH
OLDIES. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WHICH WORRIES ME ABOUT TODAY’S YOUTH IT IS THAT
SO MANY OF THE YOUNG TODAY SEEM TO BE LIVING UNDER THE SHADOW OF MY GENERATION.
STUDENTS SAY TO ME ‘IT MUST HAVE BEEN SO COOL IN THE 60S’. WELL, YES AND NO.
HISTORY HAS A WAY OF IGNORING ALL THE BORING STUF AND JUST REPLAYING ON AN
ENDLESS LOOP THAT CLIP FROM WOODSTOCK WHERE MAGIC HAPPENED. IN THE 50S WHEN, IN
MY VIEW, THE REAL REVOLUTIONS WERE TAKING PLACE, IT WAS EVEN MORE A MATTER OF A
TINY MINORITY STATISTICALLY SWAMPED BY A HUGE, EXTREMELY BORING MAINSTREAM. AND
THEN LET’S NOT FORGET THAT THE JACK KEROUAC’S AND THE NEAL CASSIDY’S OF ON THE
ROAD WASTED MOST OF THEIR LIVES – AND SCREWED UP THE LIVES OF SO MANY OTHERS
AROUND THEM, ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN IN THEIR LIVES. WHAT IS SO SIGNIFICANT AND
EXCITING TODAY IS THAT WHAT WERE ONCE MINORITY PREOCCUPATIONS HAVE GONE
MAINSTREAM. MOST PEOPLE TODAY – OF ALL AGES – PUT EFFORT INTO CREATING A UNIQUE
IDENTITY FOR THEMSELVES AND EXPRESSING THIS IDENTITY IN STYLE OR WORDS, MUSIC
OR WHATEVER. AND THIS IS GLOBEL. REMEMBER THAT BACK IN THE 50S AND 60S THE
MAJORITY WERE CONFORMING RATHER THAN EXPRESSING THEMSELVES AND EVEN THE BEATS,
HIPPIES, BIKERS AND SO ON WERE CONFORMING TO THE DEMANDS OF THEIR SUBCULTURE.
OR FASHION TOLD PEOPLE WHAT WAS IN OR OUT. NEVER BEFORE IN HUMAN HISTORY HAVE
HOMO SAPIENS HAD SUCH POSSIBLITY IN INVENTING THEMSELVES.
.JPG)
