lres and ons and .

These I meane range I condiI action in each hrough nd lifeLisethe llective lividual of the rt been riograich the

Chapter 9

Garber andJennY McRobbie Angela

GIRLS AND SUBCULTURESII977]

in I f E R y L l r t L h s L L M S t o h a v c[ c c n w r i t t c n a b . u t t h c ; o l c o f g i r l s y t - ' u t h cthnographic subcultural classic the I'rom abscnt arc Thcy Y .olt,r.ul groupings. thc p"ophirtori"r, thc pcrsonal accountsand thc journalistic survcysof thc studies, thc fleld.Whcn'girls <1oappcar, it is cither in ways which uncritically rcinfbrce cxamplc, fbr . . . lamiliar i^ug" of womcn with which wc arc now so $ereotypical tecnagc ,"f"rc.,.", in hit study of tcddy boys [Fyvcl 1961], to'clumb, passivc Fyuel', cru,lcly paintecl' . . . or clsc thcy arc flcctingly and marginally prcientcd: girls, It is as if evcrything that rclatcs only to us comcs out in fbotnotcs to thc main tcxt, u, *o.thy of thc odd rcfercncc' Wc come on the agcnda 'Youth' and 'Any Other Business'.We cncountcr somcwhcrcbetwcen 'by thc way' and pcr\lhcral. According ourselvesin men's culturcs as to all the reflcctions we are not rcally therc' 1 9 7 3 :3 5 ] [Rowbotham in How do wc make senscof.this invisibility? Arc girls rcally not PresL-nt youth out that is carried rescarch kind of this way in thc Or is it somcthing subculturcs? to it tencls litcrature, in thc acknowledgcd are them invilible? Whcn girls renders For intcrprct. to difficult is too, this, But bein terms of their sexualattractivcness. Paul Willis comments on the unattachedgirls who hung around with the example. 'What seemedto unite them was a motor-bikcboys he was studying, as follows: a commondcsire for an attachment to a male and a common inability to attlact than manto a long-term relationship.Thcy tcnded to be scruffier and lessattractive girls' [Willis 1978]. theattachcd treatment of girls rcflecting thc natural Is this simply a typically clismissive Or is it that the between a masculineresearcherand his male respontlents? raDDort

106

A N G E L A M C R O B B I EA N D J E N N Y G A R B E R

researcherwho is, after all, stuclyingthe motor-bikc boys, finds it difficult not to take the boys' attitudesto and cvaluationofthc girls, seriously? He therelbre reflects this in his descriptivelanguageand he unconsci,ously adoptsit in th" context ol the researchsituation. willis later comments on the gi.lr' ,"rporses to his questions. They are unforthcoming, unwilling to talk ancltheyletreat, in into the backgiggres, ground . . . Are these rcsponsesto the man as a rcsearchcro. ur" th"y the result of the girls' recognition that 'he' identifics primarily with ,them'? Is this charac_ teristic of the way in which girls customarilynegotiatcthc spaces provided for them in a male-dominated and male-dcfincd culturei And does ihis pre,lispose them to especiallywhen it is also a situation in which thcy are bcing asscssecl and I:tt:_utr labclled accordingto their sexual attributcs? It is certainly thc case that girls clo not bchavc in this way in all mixecl-sex situations. In thc classrooln,for example, girls wilr often display a great show of strcngth f'rom which men ancl brys wirr retreat. It may wcll bc that in i:m]nine willis's case the girls simply felt awkward and self--conscious aLout bcing askcd qucstionsin a situation whcre thcy did not fcel particularly powcrful or impiortant, especiallyif they wcrc not thc stcacly girrfricnds of thc boys in question. what follows is a- tcntativc attcmpt to skctch somc of the ways wc might think about ancircscarchthcrclationship bctwccn girls anclsubculturcs.Many of ihe conccPtsutiliscd in thc study of malc subculturcsarc rctainc{: for cxample. the ccntrality of class, thc importanccof school,work, lcisurc anrl thc fanrily: thc'gcncral socialcontcxt within which thc subculturcs havc cmcrgcd, anclthc structuralJhorlg", in post-war British socicty which partially dcfinc thc cliff'crent subculturcs.Added to thcsc issuesarc the important questionsof scx and gcnder. Thc crucial qucstionis: How docs this dimcnsion rcshapcthc ficld of youth cultural studics as it has comc to bc rlcfincd? bccn argucd rccently fbr cxamplc that classis a critical variablcin defining . 1'lut thc diff'crcnt subcultural options availablcto micldlc-class antl worki,-,g-closs boyJ Middle-class subculturcs offer more fuil-timc crarccrs, whcrcas *rorkir-,g-.lass subculturestcncl to br: restricted to the leisure sphere. This structuring of-necds and options must also work at somc levcl fbr giris. It might bc easierfor micldle_ classhippic girls, for cxamplc, to 1indan 'altcrnativ"'"urJ". in the counter-culture than it would bc lbr working-classskinheadgirls to find a job in that culture. Some subcultural patterns are thcrcforc true lirr both boys ur-r.l girlr, whilc othcrs are much more gcnder-divergent. It might even bc thc cascthat girls are not just marginal to the post-war youth cultures but located structurally.in an altogether djflerent position. If women arc marginal to the male cultures of work, it is bccausethey are central and pivotal to a-subordinatespherc, They are marginal to work becuusethey are ccntral to thc family. Thc marginality of girls in thesc 'spectacular'malc-focusedsubcultures might redirect our attention away from this arcna towards more immediatelv recognisabletecnagc and pre-tcenage female spheres like those forming u.o.r.rd teenybop starsand the pop-musigindustry. . . . Girls' subculturcsmay have become invisible becausethe very term 'subculture' has acquircd such strong masculine overtones.

The most obvious factor w$] nation of sociological wor| Paradoxically, the exclusion ries of devianceand delin{ editors of Critical Ctininolo 'celebration rather tha{ to a i{ theorist could vicariouslY moi deviants who aPPeared With the Po{ Young 19751. an un-celebratedsocialcate$ ibility was of course cerd manifestations of Youth sul on the sensational inciderl tedcly-boy killings, the Md of the facttha consequence is fl quatify as newsworthY ti have from which women

Are girlsi i

Aret

suq Texts and images . rr the of as themsclves Part te{ with dancing the 1950s in the background in the {] 1958. Thcrc are, howcv{ 1950s,this was not a Pa Though girls Parti g to youth in the 1950s, spendingwere alsostru a particularlY feminine actively ParticiPatingin
marriage than her male

of the fan claustrophobia waYof d an appropriate the lessiikely to sPend had to be carefulnot to might be taken as a se ably more rigidlY main difiiculty in obtaining unsupervisedwith mem working-classwomanon everything else.As
ished on rumours and

assumedto be Prom

GIRLS AND SUBCULTURES 107 not to eflects of the ;tions. backresult laracthem )m to d and d-sex rw of tat in rsked 'tant, night ,f the , the reral nges :d to n is: ome ning oys. :lass :eds dle;ure )me are uth
len ttal to res

Are girls really

absent from

subcultures?

to answer is t]le domimost obvious factor which makes this question difficult The areas of scholarship) by men' ortion of sociological work (as is true oi most of the new radical theocharacteristic as lur.do*i"utty, theixclusion of *o*".t was criminology' The traditional of riesof deviance and delinquency as it had been often amounted theory of Critical Cri^ir;i;;/ argue that the new deviancy editors the deviant which with ,celebration rather thul un inalysis of the deviant form to a with intellectuals could vicariously identify an identification by powerless theo.ist and walton who appeared *o." ,.rc"errfr.rl in controllingevents' [Taylor, J.urun,, constituted women io""g f fZS1. Wi n ,fr" fo,sibl" exception of ,sexuaideuiance' This generalinvistheorists' critical and for.adical social anuncelebrated "u'a"go.y, reaction to the more extreme ibilitv was of course ceriented by the social s,rb"ultures. The popular press and media concentrated .iy.",r, ;;;i.#";; subculture (for example' the on the sensational incidents associated *ith^ "u"h and rockers)' One direct mods irddtn"t killings, the Margate clashes-betwln which a of ihe fact that?t is always the violent aspectsof phenomenon *'.qu*"" activity subcultural of areas as newsworthy is that these are precisely the oualifv ' ' ' excluded' be to tended fio*'*ti"t women have

Are girls Present but invisible?

were involved with and considered , , . Texts and images suggest ' ' ' that girls Girls can be seen in footage from tlr.*r.iu", as part Jf ,f',. ?laay-boy subciltur'e' and Castle; they can also be seen the1950sd..,"i.,g with teddy.boy, ut th" Elephant the Notting Hill race riots of in *. U""f.g.",rrr-din th" ,r"i"' pict"r"' taken,during reasonswhy, to-working-class girls in the late There are, however, **y 1958. this was not a particularly attractive-option' 1950s, disposable-incomeavailable Though girls particifated in'the general rire i.r the tf:t" of boys' Patterns of high toyouth in the 1950s, girlr' *"g"' *"'" not as T m'u diff"."nt directiJn. Girls' magazinesemphasised were also *r"ii"."a spending and the working-class girl' though a particularly'feminine mode of consumption more focused on home and participating in the world of *oik, remained actively an ':.::"Pt from the Teddy-?:y thrrr i"o itule ;;.i&.' ,:lt11:,t..was "ottttt"tpart' street and 'caff'. many girls might adopt While .tuurrrlpfr"Ut" of the family, into'the be much to the t"d:i * ,ppripra,e'way of a.Jrring; complementary l-"y.rlould Girls streets. about on the f.rr'iif."fy to spenh.the ru-""u-orr.ri of ti*" iranging 'get into trouble' and excessiveloitering on-street corners not to hadto b" "u."ful The double.standardwas probmightbe taken as u r"*tiiinvitation to the boys' in any other time since then' The ,Ufi *or" rigidly maintained in the 1950s than few opportunities to spend time diffrcultyin obtaining effective contraception, the the financial dependency of the sex, with members of the opposite unsupervised mattered above woman on her husband, meant that a good reluta:i:? working-class flourneighbourhoods everythingelse. As countless novels of the momenir"cord, ishedonrumoursandgossipandgirlswhospenttoomuchtimeonthestreetwere to be Promiscuous' assumed

.ly
nd ne ne

108

ANGELA MCROBBIE AND JENNY GARBER

At the same time the expanding leisure industries wcrc directing thcir attention to bothboys and girls. Girls wcre as much thc subject of attention as their male peers whcn it came to pin-up pictures, records and magazines. Girls could usc thcse items and activities in a di{fercnt context from those in which bovs uscd them. Cosmetics ol course were to bc worn outside the homc, at work and on the street, as well as in the dancc-hall. But thc rituals of trying on clothcs, and experimcnting with hair-stylcs and make-up were homc-basecl activitics. It might bc suggested that girls' culturc of the timc operated within the vicinity of the homc, or the fricnds' home. Therc was room for a great clcal of the ncw teenagc consumer culturc within thc conlines of thc girls'bcdrooms. Tccnage girls did participatc in thc ncw public sphere affbrdcdby thc growth of thc leisurc industrics, but thcy coulcl also consume at homc, upstairs in thcir bcdrooms. Thc involvcmcnt of girls in thc tcdcly-boy subculturc was sustained thcrcfore by a complcmcntary but diff'crcnt pattcrn. What girls who consiclcrccl thcmsclves 'teddy-girls', did, and how thcy actccl, was possibly cxactly thc samc as thcir morc convcntional ncin-subcultural f'ricnds. It is gcnclcr thcrcfbrc which structurcs {iffcrcnccs rathcr than subcultural attachmcnt. ihc samc proccss can bc thc cmcrgcncc of r'ck and pop music. Girls ancl lruys, in or out rcspondccl diffcrcntly to this phenomcnon. Boys tcndcrl to havc a tivc anrl a morc tcchnically-informccl rclationship with pop, whcrc bccamc thns an<l rca<lcrsof pop-influcncc<l lovc comics. sccn at work in of subculturcs, morc participagirls in contrast

was often used as a symbol encapsulated in the {igure hair flying behind her. Mo modern, bold and abrastve in her eyelined eyesand an unfeeling, almostexPression tional femininityandsugge
was utilised in advertising repertoire of subcultural Iocated nearcr to the Point

In rocker or motor-b
remained a fantasY rather

and insteadwere ritualistica girls ever penetratcdto the ledge of the machine,to the A girl's membershiP 19781. In the Hell's AngelsSrouPs' strenuously masculine,gir that the Thompson suggests of not objects If they wcrc
that of a 'Mama'

What broad factors might havc crcatcd a situation whcrc girls could llnd subcultural involvcmcnt an attractivc possibility?Thc cmcrgcncc of a softcr morc f'cminiscd subculturc in thc 1960s, might wcll havc opcncd thc rloors to f'cmale participation. Thcrc rvcrc ccrtainly thousanrls of 'mixl'girls who madc thcir appcarancc in thc nightclubs, on the strects, at work and e vcn on thc fringcs of thc clashes bctween thc mods and rockcrs during thc various Bank-holiclay *cckcnrls throughout thc micl- 1960s (and rcmembcrccl in thc film , Q3taclrophenia). It may wcll bc that the mod prcoccr.rpation with style and the cmcrgencc of thc uniscx look and the 'effcminate' mocl man, gavc girls a morc legitimatc placc in thc subculturc than had prcviously bccn thc casc. This trcnd was confirmcd anrl cxtcnded as moil move<l towarcls the consumenst mainstreain, and as it began to givc way simultancously to the hippy undcrground and psychedelia. In this spacc, inhabitcd largcly though not cxclusivcly by middleclass youth, we also find #omen taking on a.much higher pro{ile. . . .

Mod culture offcrsa more

reason than that it was I teenage c<lnsumerism. In work and therc were new

ularly in the urban centres in clothing aswell asin the up. It was from thc mid-1 boutiques were exPected for of model or prototyPe for oftcn compensated 'look the part' at w to
Wolfe's accurate and vivid

Where

girls are visible, what are their roles and do these reflect the general subordination of women in culture?

Three selectedimages- the motor-bike girl, the 'mod' girl, and the hippy will havc to do hcre: where girls are present, but where thc way they are presenrsuggests that their cultural subordinationis retained and reproduccd. Motor-bike girl Thc motor-bike girl leather-clad, [became]a sort of subcultural pin-up heralding as it appearedin thc press a new and threatening sort of sexuality. This image

these girls were living in fl class girls lWolle 19681. in mod culture than might mod stylewas Becausc
{ine nuances, involvement of home, school and work. reaction since the Parents and teachers knew drawn faces and cropped the way they moved which

GIRLS AND SUBCULTURES 109 ' attenir male e these them. street, enting :d that iends' vithin rublic
iSUme efore elves nore iffer-

rk in
lres, :ipatrast culised ion. the een the rod te' tly ist nd e-

was often used as a symbol of the new permissivesexuality of the 1960s and was in the figure of Brigitte Bardot astride a motor-bike with her tousled encapsulated hairflying behind her. More mundanely this image encoded female sexuality in a bold and abrasiveway. With matte Pan-sticklips, an insolent expression modern, inher eyelinedeyesand an unzippedjacket, the model looked sexual,numbed and This was an image therefore at odds with convenunfeeling, almost expressionless. femininity and suggestiveof sexual deviance. At the sametime this very image tional was utilised in advertising and in soft pornography, an example of how - within the repertoire of subcultural representations - girls and women have always been 'ritual of resistance'' Iocated nearer to the point of consumerismthan to the image of a girl riding a bike In rocker or motor-bike culture this sexualised remained a fantasyrather than a reality. Girls were rarely if ever seenat the handles insteadwere ritualistically installed on the back seat.If Paul Willis is right, few and girlsever penetrated to the symbolic heart of the culture - to the detailed knowledge of the machine, to the camaraderieand competition between the riders [Willis A girl's membershipseemedto dependentirely on whose girlfriend shewas. 1978]. Inthe Hell's Angels groups, where the dynamicsof the subculturewere even more masculine, girls occupied particular institutionalised roles. Hunter strenuously Thompsonsuggests that the Angels treated their women primarily as sexual objects. 'gang-bang' the only other role open to them was If they were not objects of the 'Mama' thatof a [Thompson1966].

The mod giil Mod culture offers a more complex subcultural opportunity for girls, if for no other reason than that it was located in and sprang from the mainstream of working-class consumerism.In the mid- to late 1960sthere were more teenagegirls at teenage work and there were new occupationsin the distribution and servicesector, particand ularly in the urban centres. Jobs in the new boutiques, in the beauty business in clothing as well as in the white-collar sector all involved some degreeof dressing up, It was from the mid-1950s onwards that the girls behind the counter in the new boutiqueswere. expected to reflect the image of the shop and thus provide a kind of model or prototype for the young consurner. Glamour and status in these fields often compensatedfor long hours and low wages. Full employment.and freedom 'look to the part' at work, encouragedgreater freedom in dome'sticlife. Tom how many of vivid accou4t of mod girls in London describes Wolfe's accurate-and thesegirls were living in flats and bedsits, a pattern hitherto unknown for workingclass girls [Wolfe 1968]. These factors made it more likely that girls got involved in mod culture than might otherwise have been the case. Because mod style was in a sensequietly imperceptible to those unaware of its into the normal routines finenuances,involvement was more easilyaccommodated of home, school and work. There was less likelihood of provoking an angry parental reaction since the dominant look was neat, tidy and apparently unthreatening. 'rather odd these days, witll their white Parentsand teachersknew that girls looked 'there was something in drawn faces and cropped hair', but as Dave Laing noted, the way they moved which adults couldn't make out' fLaing 1969]. The fluidity and

110

A N G E L A M C R O B B I EA N D J E N N Y GARBER uniquely personal stYle' The m having to take into accountthe lione the less, traditional numerous feminist authors 'earth-mother', the betweenthe naded by Bob DYlan, and the representations and espcciallyvis
pr.t"d with care' Moral Panics ,h" pr"r"n." of girls and to the

ambiguity of the subculture meant that a girl could be arouncl, could be a ,face, without necessarily being attachedto a boyiParticipation was almost wholly reliant on wearing the right having the .ight hui._rtyl. the right clubs "l"t:r: ;;;;;. with this combination,right, the !i.l *ur-a mod. Lrk"""d h".-..ri" counterpart,the mod girl demonstrated th" ru-.-frssiness for detair ir, the sameover"loth"r, Facialstylesemphasised huge, clarken"d and body_style :::*::,i.;ppearance. "y", It may be that mod girls came to the attention of the commentatorsandjournalists becauseof the genera|unisex' connotations of the subculture. The much mcntioned effeminacy of the boys clrew attention to thc boyish femininity of the girls, bcst exemplified in the carly fashion shots of.r*tggy.'a" ubr".r"" of exag_ gerated.mas.culinity like airptayea in the rocker ,.r"b"rrlt.rr" or by wilis,s -r.rb"rrlt.,." ,that motor-bike boys, madc the mod both exciting u.,d u"""rribre to girls. Likc their female counterparts, thesc boys were more likely to be employedin white -collar office work than in unskilled -u.ruol jobs. This gr'"ut",.visibility of girls jn the subculture single or attached,hasalsogot to be s""r-,i,r-t"r-, , olthe increasing visibility and confidenlc te.enagc girls inih" 1950r, *ort ing-i1*s and middle,of casilv iritoYswinging Loncton' *hor" Fuuo,.ite image was fl:':;,[:L::lt:l:,tilt* thc 'ribcratcd'dolly-bird. The Brook clinics opencdin 1964making the pill avail_ singlc girls ancl.this racirity arsoaffectecr the scxuarconfi4encenot just of.the "b]::"

which linger tcnd alsoto suggest strated in the {igure of Joni Mitch image in the eirlY tf7Os c-ani;d and eventual death ofJanisJoPlin able images of femininitY tended less the hiPPY u.tdetground,set and youthful revolt, also
confines and even on the Pages feminism wcrc hearcl'

il#::tT:.:l*ff::

universities butalso or theworki"s-;;;,girlsliving in

Do girls have alternati

Thc imPortant qucstion maY

Howcvcr, this new promincncc and conficrcnce should not bc interprctccrtoo looscly. The presenc" of 'girrr' in the urban panoramasof trendy thshionphotog_ raphy, thc new-foun<rautonomy and scxual f]"",Io-, ;;; be spt arongsicle ;;;; thc other material factors which still shaped ancldeterminecLtheirlives. This independence reflected short-term rather than long-term affluencc. The Jobs *hich provided thc cxtra cash aflbrcled immcdiatc accessto consumer goocls, but few opportunities for promotion or further training. Therc is rrothingtto suggestthat participation in thc mod subculturc the"social expectations of girls, or loos:h,u"g:d cncd the bondsbctwecn mothcrs and daL[htcrr,."u"1 if they were temporarily living in flats. These girls had been cclucatedrinder the shado# of the Ncwsom Report and had thcrcfore been encouragedto consider marriage their real careers.

h subculturcs ,u t t h c t o m P l c m selvcsand with cachother to f to in recogniscdbY and catcred 'teciyboppcr' ..,ltut", based rc of post-w f'eature long-stancling is Jarkcdly iliff"t"ttt from the cul an alrtost totallY Packaged
of the pop-music businessand

to appeal. As a rcsult it seems subcr th" *otkittg-class Youth

mentioned above. Howcvcr,

The hippy

and opportunitics lbr their lans' we can locatc a varietYof nego

l.

r"b:"I,::" through the social life afforclcd by the universities in the late r 960s and early 1970s. Accessto prolonged higher education gives the middle-classgirl the space' by right, which her,woiking-llass counte.purt i, cleniedor ersegains only through following u:or: illegitimaie route. The flat or the room in the hall of resi_ oence provides the femalestudent_withspace to cxperiment, time of her own, and relatively unsupervised leisure. She also has three or four ylu., a,rrirrg *hi"h marriage is pushed into the background. The lack of strict dJmarcation between work and leisure also allows for --indeed encourages -- the developmentof a more

ings and t".rd"n"r".. However, it is most tt*J;",ttt"",t*ftlH":?;l::"#;:#;

Thc tcrm 'hippy' is of coursean umbrella tern

Young Prc-teengirls have

they are deemed to be n abduction, Parents tend arc ol lht'ir sons(who a

point, as men). T
Participation is not re

teenY lnstead the streets.

school-time or leisure-ti

2.

There are few restri subculture cially-basecl

GIRLS AND SUBCULTURES 111 rld be a 'face' wholly reliant heright clubs. rnterpart, the e same over_ nd body-style ors and joure. The much ininity of the nce of exag' by Willis's ible to girls. employed in bility of girls re increasing and middlee image was te pill availrtjust of the ds living in rpreted too on photog:t alongside This indejobs which s, but few rggest tlat ls, or loosarily living rm Report
rfs.

can exPressherself in dresswithout uniquelypersonal style. The middle-classgirl work' io'tuk" into account the restrictions of hrui'.tg in the hippy subculture as prevailed roles sex None the less, traditional Femininity moye{.imperceptibly numerous f'eminist u.rato,, have described' 'goddess'sereof 'earth-m";;;', -"^i the pre-Raphaelitemystic' the kind the between Media ar","'d."ur.ry fragrlity of Marianne Faithful. naded by Bob Dylan, have to be read and interand especiallyvisual images' oi "o"""' representations attention to frequently,drew with care. Moral pu"i"' u'ott'd.'Jirty hippier preted th;;;r.;"" The images commune-living' of of girls u"d'to the sexual i--o'ality asdemonand.'quiet linger tend alsoto ,,rgg"" excessive-femininity which 1::"1tlt' feminine the of rejection dramatic in the figure oriori"fiircnell. A still more strated i m a g e i n t h e e a r l y l g T 0 s c a r r i e d a s e l f - c l e s t r u c t i v e e l e m e n t i n i t , and asth eaddiction acceptshows'Although ihe rlnqe of available death of JJsltpf* and-eventual none the stereotypes' of femininity tend"d to confirm a,lr-eady-cxisting images able

underg';J:-;;Ainst less .u]j thehippy

its utt empoi'ering spacefor women' within Tl'o t"p'"'"#"d ;;;ii'revolt, of the undergroo.,d"pr.$, the first murmurings and even confines "";-;;;;;of feminismwere heard. their cultural life?

protest a backgr"'i"a "111'1^":T."^1.'""tt

Do girls have alternative

ways of organising

male the absenceor Presence'of girls in The important question may not be themamong interact but the complementary ways in which younggirls subcultures, own' one which is their distinctive and with each other to form a selves ",,lttt'Jo] For example g'a'' we.eklycomicsand magazines' by and recognised stars' is a ma'"toP "",";;J;l;itt" of flow 'teenybopper' l?unq culture, bus"d ,ou""d utt e"dle" cultural form tlt:-i:i-:l feature of fo't-*ut girls' culture Wl*: Iong-standing origins. It is commercial its Inul'e,.rb"ultures, is in is markedlydiff'erentr-l-irr" the heart wjthin comrnodity' It emerges.from an almost totally P""k;;; for its wide ""ft"t"f on the rnugu'it"" TV a1d and relies of the pop-music busine'-ss .oriradio with carry less of.tf;e creative elements associated As a result r, r""-r," appeal. those like considered by male sociolo.gists the working-clurr yo,,th "tb"ult"'"' sociallyexclusiveconnotations above.However, teenybopperstarscarry mentioned a form of pop culture lbr their fans. .'. . iu"r't in so manufactured opportunities and at work: we canlocate a variety of negotiativeProcesses 1. freedom than their brothers' Because to less, YoungPre-teengirls have acccss or even the streetsfrom attack, assault, they are d""_"d? b" -or" at risk on a b d u c t i o n , p a r e n t s t e n d t o b e m o r e p r o t e c t i v e o f t h e i r d a u g h t e r s tat hanthey io learn to defend themselves some are of their ,o,', 1*ho after all huu" these restrictions into account' point, as men)' Teenybopper,"+t"t:,takes to spend time outside the home on Participation l' t'ot teiia"i on being able quite easily be accommodated into the streets. f"'tt"it"-tyboppe*ty"l"' "u" home' ' ' ' school-timeor leisure-time sPentin the this mainstreamand commerjoining to 2. Thereare lew restrictionsin relation cially-basedsubculture.Itcarriesnostrict"rulesandrequiresnospecial

'segrouPtered this 950s and s girl the ains only ll ofresilwn, and g which between f a more

II2

ANGELA MCROBBIE AND JENNY GARBER to internally gcneratcd ideas of 'cool'. Nor does it rely on a lot of money. Its uniforms arc cheap, its magazincs ar,: well within thc pocketmoney weekly budget, its recorcls are af.fbrdable and its concerts are commitment

Chapter

10

3.

sulficicntly rare to bc regardecl as treats. Membership carries rclativcly lew personal risks. For girls of this agc real boys remain a thrcatening and unknown quantity. Scxual cxpericnce is something most girls ,f all social classes want to hold off lbr some time in the future. Thcy know, howcver, that going out with boys invariably carries thc possibility of bcing expcctcd to ltiss, or 'pct'. Thc {rantasyboys of pop makc no such demands.Thcy'lovc'thcir f.ans w i t h c l u t a s k i n ga n y t h i n g i n r e t u r n . . . . The kind o1'fantasics which girls c'nstruct around thcsc figurcs play the samc kind of rolc as ordinary daydrcams. Narrative fhntasics about bumping into David cassidy in thc supcrmarkct, or bcir.rgchoscn out by him fronr thc li-ont row of a conccrt, both carry a strongly scxual clcrncnt, ancl arc also means of bcing clistractcd from thc dcmanils of work or school .r othcr aspccts of cxpcricncc which might bc pcrccivcrl as boring or unrcwarcling.

PaulE.Wil
CU LT URE, DIFFEREN

5.

Girls who dclint: thcnrsclvcs activcly within thcsc tccnyboppcr subculturcs arc inrlccd bcing acri'c, c:vcn though thc flamiliar iconography sccms to rcproclucc tratlitional gcntlcr stcrcotypcs with thc girl as thc passivc f'an, and thc star as 'fhcsc thc activc malc. girls arc rraking statcmLrnts about thcrnsclvcs as c()nsumcrs o| music, fbr cxarnplc. . . . Tccnyboppcr culturc ollcrs girls a chancc to tlcfinc thcmsclvcs as rlill'crr:nt fiorrr anrl atrart ll-orn both tlrcir y o u n g c r a n < lt h c i r o l < l c r c o u n t c r p a r t s . T h t ' y a l t . n o l o n g c r l i t t l c g i r l s a n d n o t yct tccnagc girls. Yct this potcntially awkward anrl anonymr)us sl)acc can bc, antl is translornrcrl into a sitc of acrtivc{.cmininc irlcntitv.
I. YO MATTER HOW H

I \ schoolculturc, it mur culturc. This shouldnot lc

uncliff'crcntiatccl or com rcproducing thcmsclvcs tn

Classculturcsarc

Conclusion
Fcmalc participation in youth culturcs can bcst lrc untlcrstoo<lby rnoving away fiom 'classic' subcultural tcrrain markcd out as oppositional anclcrcativc l>ynumcrous

and groups, institutions

i n l l a r t i tu l a l t , P P o s i t i o n s .

thc

particular circumstanccs w iar thcmcs. Thc thcmcs are tions at thc samc lcvcl in a

sociologists. Girls ncgotiatc a difi'crcnt lcisurc spacc and diflcrcnt pcrsonal spaces fl-om thosc inhabitccl by boys. Thcsc in turn ollcr thcm dif-fcrcnt pcissibiliticslbr 'rcsistancc', if indcccl that is thc right word to ustr. Somc o1'thc cultural fbrms associatccl with pre-tccnagr- gir'[s, lc,r: examplc, can bc vicwcd as rcsponscs to their pcrcc-ivcdstatus as girls and to thcir anxictics about movir.tginto thc rvorlcl of tcenagc scxual intcraction. C)nc aspcct of this can bc sccn in thc cxtrcmely tight-knit fricnclship groups lbrmcd by girls. A lunction o1'thc social cxclusivcncssof'such groupings is to gain privatc, inacccssiblespacc. This in turn allou,s ltrc-pubctal girls to rcmain sccmingly inscrutablc to thc outsicle worlcl of parents, tcachcrs, youth workers ancl boys as rvcll. Tccnyboppcr subculturcs could be intcrpretcd as ways of buying timc, within thc commcrcial mainstream, I'ron-rthc real rvorld of scxual cncounters whilc at the samc timc imagining thcsc cncountcrs, with thc help of the imagcs and commodities suppliecl by the commercial mainstrcam, fr-om the saf'e spacc of the all-f.emalc f.ricndship group.

thc working-class PcoPle ological constructions. _ln infbrmal groupingsandco and anclideascan dcveloP aPP most thc may not bc continuously reProduced thc lbrmalised andofficial
prctations of, or relati and recreated in concretc

f'urthcr availableasr However, thesc

social regions are not of thc institutionalised, cu

ated from basicstructural out of, opposedand tr becausesocial regions