The 1950’s Youth Culture
Baby Boom just after WWII bringing along strong
youth subcultures.
Increase in crime due to lack of family cohesion
(from the war), new subcultures seen it as acceptable for rowdy behaviour.
Families were better off therefore luxury items
became widely available for them to have.
1958 Notting Hill Race riots
Gang Rivalry
Youth attacked West Indies
Music
Elvis- King of Rock and Roll
Fashion
Teddy Boys, had their own dress code inspired by
the Edwardian times.
Greaser (American, may have influenced British
teens)
Women’s fashion influenced by rock n roll
(Brightly coloured full skirts)
Men’s fashion also influenced by rock n roll
(Unbuttoned shirts, bright colours)
The representation of youth in the 1950's was that they were rebelling against their families because they did not approve of a lot of the things that were happening at the time. This includes the genre of music, the introduction of rock and roll from Elvis Presley in the early 1950's brought along a lot of controversy due to nobody speaking out at the time and then this man comes along and turns that around. This introduced new fashions and music taste in to the youths at the time, a lot of the girls became besotted with him and this was not acceptable with their parents. Parents were then punishing them because of their new found obsession with this man and the children were rebelling against them. This would support the theory of Hall (1904) of 'sensation seeking' because they were purposely rebelling to get a reaction out of those around them.
There was also a new direction for fashion in the 50's with the introduction of the Teddy Boys this was the first subculture that had been recognised. The Teddy Boys wore the same clothes and were sought in violence. This would link to the theory of Hall (1904) 'Increase of criminal activity between 12 & 24) the Notting Hill Riots were an example of the Teddy Boys violent ways with one newspapers headline in 1958 being 'New Riot Terror' striking fear in to the audience of what these youths were capable of. The Teddy Boys brought along Teddy Girls who followed the fashion and the behaviour as it was seen as being acceptable in these subcultures to be violent this would link with the theory of Jordaan and Jordaan (1993) 'reasons for being in the group' they were all linked to being violent and it was fine for them to act in that manor.
There were major riots in 1958 and this would compare to those of 2011 where youth were seen to be being violent and acting in a completely outrageous way. This would support the theory of Osgerby 'Nothing has changed in 100 years'.
