The way they dress is a choice, an expensive choice at that, compared to other options. The same's true of Goths, Punks, and so on. Because someone is poorer than someone else doesn't make them immune from criticism in my eyes, if their choices weren't dictated by a lack of choice.
For the price of a gold curb-chain, they could have become passable representitives of any of these other groups, if they craved group membership. There's active communities of all of these "tribes" within easy travelling distance of just about everywhere.
What has happened is that they have made a choice. They've the most violent and intimidating subculture around at the moment.
If that option is made simple and goes uncriticised, curated by the insecurely aspirational into some kind of noninterventional neoimperialist anthropological zoo, then more people will choose this as a default option, and the lack of reaction causes less feedback and porrer coherence, and greater extremity as people move toward the reaction they are requesting of society by their membership.
The same is true of goths, or punks, or skinheads, though with different attributes being the prevailing criticism by the centre. Providing a reaction, hostile or otherwise, gives these movements the respect they deserve and maintains them as critiques of society.
This kind of hypercompensating under-agression can lead to alienation and loneliness.
For the price of a gold curb-chain, they could have become passable representitives of any of these other groups
Christ, the gold chain on the Argos site costs nearly a grand! If I could afford to spend that kind of money (over two months' rent) on a fucking necklace, I would not expect people to be championing me as some kind of representative of the struggling working-class.
Well, it's a handy terminology to describe a whole bunch of people who are not like you, much like "goth" except tastier in a rumble. For me, there's a necessary class-based element in "chav" (before we even explore the likely etymology) that brings up a nasty bubble of "pikey", "gippo" and all sorts of other we-don't-mean-it-like-that terminologies...
I use "goth" to describe, well, you know what "goth" means to most people. I can't be arsed to itemise the things that I would associate with the category, and anyway, blah blah insert prototype theory here. Though I did once get into a strange conversation with a very well-spoken lady (clutching a copy of the Cambridge University Reporter, so presumably some kind of academic) on a train about what goth was. It started with her asking me and my travelling companion "Excuse me, but are you ... goths?" and went downhill from there. ("What do goths read? Is it Baudelaire? Rimbaud? Or more like Poe?") Anyway, goths (like most people) are like me in some ways, and not like me in others. I don't really use the word to express difference, just as shorthand for a set of vague ideas about dress sense & musical taste. I probably use it most in connection with clothing to mean something along the lines of "black/velvet/shiny/overpriced".
The main difference is that I don't know many people who would self-identify (oooo, I hate that word) as chavs. I don't use the word very often if at all, and again, if I do, it's in relation to the bloody hideous style of clothing. I didn't know until recently that the word was etymologically related to gypsies, and ... oh, I'm tired. Sorry. You know what I'm going to say, I know what you're going to say, and if you like, you can think of me as a filthy racist for thoughtlessly re-posting a tired meme from el Reg.
I don't think I had any plans to do that. I _certainly_ don't think I mentioned any plans to do that... I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do that, on the whole.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-09 08:42 am (UTC)For the price of a gold curb-chain, they could have become passable representitives of any of these other groups, if they craved group membership. There's active communities of all of these "tribes" within easy travelling distance of just about everywhere.
What has happened is that they have made a choice. They've the most violent and intimidating subculture around at the moment.
If that option is made simple and goes uncriticised, curated by the insecurely aspirational into some kind of noninterventional neoimperialist anthropological zoo, then more people will choose this as a default option, and the lack of reaction causes less feedback and porrer coherence, and greater extremity as people move toward the reaction they are requesting of society by their membership.
The same is true of goths, or punks, or skinheads, though with different attributes being the prevailing criticism by the centre. Providing a reaction, hostile or otherwise, gives these movements the respect they deserve and maintains them as critiques of society.
This kind of hypercompensating under-agression can lead to alienation and loneliness.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-09 08:54 am (UTC)For the price of a gold curb-chain, they could have become passable representitives of any of these other groups
Christ, the gold chain on the Argos site costs nearly a grand! If I could afford to spend that kind of money (over two months' rent) on a fucking necklace, I would not expect people to be championing me as some kind of representative of the struggling working-class.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-09 05:59 pm (UTC)Like I don't know that. It's the glib trendiness of the word "ch*v" I'm impatient with.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 02:11 pm (UTC)The main difference is that I don't know many people who would self-identify (oooo, I hate that word) as chavs. I don't use the word very often if at all, and again, if I do, it's in relation to the bloody hideous style of clothing. I didn't know until recently that the word was etymologically related to gypsies, and ... oh, I'm tired. Sorry. You know what I'm going to say, I know what you're going to say, and if you like, you can think of me as a filthy racist for thoughtlessly re-posting a tired meme from el Reg.
Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 02:45 pm (UTC)(Now all I have to do is arrange a party.)