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)   

If you want the Brazilian Portuguese version go to :

http://www.ihu.unisinos.br/entrevistas/528670-o-mito-da-juventude-o-problema-de-envelhecer-e-dos-velhos-entrevista-especial-com-ted-polhemus

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.