• Nintendo DS and new games
• The generation gap...not really
• Voice acting, how to get started
• Internet Radio isn't dead!
• How to keep the big internet radio stations from dying

Download the episode here!

Ninja Kodou
"Nin-jutsu" (mp3)
from "Ninjutsu"
(Aardvark Records)

More On This Album

Despite a disappointing role as a dryad in a community theater production of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe as a child (Mom made me a very frumpy tree person outfit that looked quite sad next to the other dryads dressed like verdant Stevie Nickses), I've long been interested in the look of wood grain, especially in odd contexts. I never thought I was the only person interested in fake woodgrain, but I was a little surprised to find that there was a whole community of people devoted to something called the "faux bois" movement.

I'm a little wary of getting too involved here, because I find people who get so embroiled in an aesthetic or subculture that they can talk of nothing else to be rather boring and sad even if I like the aesthetic or subculture in question (see: steampunk, tiki, mod, rockabilly, '60s punk), but I have a feeling there's a limit to how embroiled you can get in faux bois. I guess I'm a little late to the party anyway - apparently Martha Stewart and Todd Oldham got over this stuff a few years ago.

Maybe I'm wrong about how embroiled you can get, though. The website It's (K)not Wood is showing me a whole bunch of fashion options I am quite taken with:

• wood shoes (no, not wooden shoes; wood shoes)
• sunglasses (although I think I would go with the real thing in this case)
• belts
• wallet
• hardhat

With a nice a-frame a-line woodgrain dress, what a lovely ensemble that would make! Okay, wait; I should definitely be careful with this stuff before things get out of hand.

like, for instance, walking around Asiatown IT Park, where all the avenues are lined with trees and call centers, i begin to realize in awe, that i see the same scene everyday. the various restaurants and coffee shops more or less have the same generic crew of call center people lounging around looking no different from each other. they have the same, predictable haircuts and wear the same predictable style of "personal style" as endorsed by supposed stores that cater to people who want to "stand out."  they even have the same THINGS in their hands- cellphones, ipods, cigarettes, mainly.

i used to tell people that in call centers you find all sorts of people; artists,lawyers, problem kids, single moms, jocks, con artists, sluts, geniuses, etcetera. i used to in awe of such diversity that one can find under one roof.

maybe being under that one roof, doing the same mundane job, has somehow created a subculture out of these diverse individuals. maybe now they aren't diverse anymore, and they have evolved into a group that is no less stereotyped than jocks, geeks, rockers etcetera.

What good thing could come from having a human species consisting of 90% sheep and 10% sheep dogs?

Let's see... Copycats and rebellion, last time I checked and people who really should open their eyes in ways of discrimination. I find that dressing up differently compared to everyone else does this.

Well what if this conformist to individualist ratio we find in humans is part of a greater purpose? What if it is a subconscious self protection mechanism that has been instilled in mankind to benefit our species as a whole, a form of swarm intelligence that allows our species to survive?

If it were the days of the cavemen or colonizing, I would say it's a great survival mechanism, but those days are over; what we're seeing are remnants of it. The positive side is that it promotes the illusion of order because Man can't cope very well when he is alone in the chaos and everything happens to fall down on his head like a ton of bricks and not much people are Discordians anyway :P But, on the negative it promotes something that says, "I can't think for myself because of the lack of independence." I've yet to see a nation or a group of people embracing a freethinker's way of life.

In the early 90s a group of fringe artists -- Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Greg Lamarche, Barry McGee, Stephen Powers, Clare Rojas, Jo Johanson, Terry Richardson, Margaret Killgallen, the list goes on -- unknowingly created a new movement that would definitively alter the future paths and intersections of art and culture. These artists found themselves sharing the same spaces and creating completely new spaces, both social as well as conceptual, as a result of their common interests in graffiti, skateboarding, punk rock, and surfing, things that for their entire lives had made them outcasts. The door had been opened by numerous modern and contemporary artists, from Duchamp and Warhol to Koons and Goldin, and with the road paved, these artists we able to introduce new subject matter, and thus a new movement, to the fine arts world.

As the "Beautiful Losers" ball began rolling, these newly recognized artists found themselves introducing mediums and imagery that had previously been considered too "low" for the mainstream art world -- a lot of their success and attention can be attributed to Jeffrey Deitch and his gallery, it should be mentioned. This fresh, highly inspired artwork encapsulated the essence of DIY communities, forcing the public and mainstream media to re-examine these often stereotyped niche cultures.

In 2004, the Beautiful Losers exhibit opened at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and toured the globe until 2007. The Beautiful Losers book, which coincided with the exhibition, was released by Iconoclast in 2004 and documents the artists involved in the project. For those who weren't able to view the show firsthand (like me), it offers a thorough look into the art, the artists, and the lifestyles that influenced their work.

The bottom line? If you've read the book or caught the show -- or especially if you haven't -- it's time to view the Beautiful Losers phenomena on film. After all, it has permeated marketing, advertising, fashion, and pop culture quite unexpectedly. The official US premiere is next week, August 8, 2008, at the IFC Center in New York. The film tells the stories of select artists from the group and examines the effect of subcultures turned loose on the mainstream. If you live in NYC, make it a point to see this film during the month of August, it leaves the IFC Center on the 22nd. And if you live in select cities around the country, check this calendar to see if the film will be screening near you.

Soooo, we all know that my life is a Seinfeld episode.  And, I guess, i would not want it any other way...or else my blog would be pretty useless.

OK, Jennene and I have been trying to play racquetball lately.  We've been 'trying', whilst Eric has actually been playing when he plays with us.  He's got lots of patience.  ANYway, I saw signs at the gym for 'Free Raquetball Demo 6-8pm'.  What better way to imporve our atrocious attempts at hitting that tiny blue ball against walls than to attend a workshop?  Free too! I figured there'd be about 5 or 6 gym members being instructed by some 49 year old guy, complete with head and wrist bands, who has been playing for 10+ years and thinks he's the 'it' to racquetball.  I also pictured a guy with a white tank top, hairy chest and probably driving an '84 corvette.  Stay tuned....

We show up to a crowd of about 40-50 HARD CORE racquetball players (the racquetball bags, gloves, outfits, goggles, the egos...the whole nine yards).  Instantly, I internally squeal with glee as I know we are stepping into a deep subculture!  Now, my dad played rball while I was growing up...he was the guy who beat everybody...in fact, he was the guy I previously described, minus the white tank and hairy chest.  My dad was REALLY REALLY good.  So, I was flashing back to the racquetball subculture immersion of my youth.  Flash forward to Jennene and I standing there looking at each other and knowing that we are so far out of our league it's like a Seinfled episode waiting to unfold!

Through some stealthy navigating through all the testoserone, gear, hype, I gather vital information about our 'demo-speaker' who is about 20 minutes late.  Our demo-speaker is ranked number one in indoor AND outdoor racquetball...ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the honorable, 29 year old, ROCKY CARSON .  He talked to the throngs, answered questions, started playing down the list of EIGHTEEN people that signed up to 'Play with the Pro' (they asked us if we wanted to sign up-we laughed and passed the clipboard to the next guy, who was the world champion in age 70+ division in racquetball...and slalom skiing, water skiing, etc).  It was bizarre to watch grown men drool over this kid.  It was worse than how guys act when a hot girl walks in the room.  It was like a worship service,with Rocky on the altar.  Rocky really was an UNBELIEVABLE player/athlete...and he was really genuienly a nice guy.  In fact, I kind of wondered if he was a Christian due his humility, his countenance and the way he treated people, etc.

While there are about 42 other things that made the fact that Jennene and I attended this workshop completely hilarious, I will move on to my PART 2 intro... it was CLEARLY a subculture.  And, I thrive on being exposed to sub cultures! 

J&E& I went home and started talking about sub-cultures over dinner....we brainstormed about all the subcultures we are in, have been in, were exposed to via growing up, etc... the list was immense....

Because it's a fascinating 'data gathering' topic with friends and family, I brought up the same discussion with Paul and Becka when I was at their place in the OC (which is it's own subculture, as well).  We had a lot of laughs and 'oh yeah!'s  :)    PART 2 will be a list of subcultures...I want to hear your contributions too!

"A ticket to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic in fancy-schmancy Walt Disney Concert Hall may not always be easy to come by at the last minute and top seats are now $147. But for most programs, bench seats behind the stage (which many love) go on sale two weeks before the concert for $15. Do I need to detail the princely sums in the thousands it takes to attend an NBA playoff? On Broadway, $400 tickets no longer raise eyebrows. At Disney, we are a democratic audience who sit together. In the supposedly populist Staples Center, luxury suites resemble nothing so much as the royal boxes in European opera houses of old. Anyone can go to an art museum, but not anyone can get past the bouncers at the latest in-crowd club."

It's an interesting idea, as this accusation of elitism gets thrown at certain parts of our culture despite the fact that this is a claim to superiority that is defended (whether correctly or not, it means that one cannot viably dismiss it as elitism and be done with it). More than this, as Swed notes, "anyone can go to an art museum, but not anyone can get past the bouncers at the latest in-crowd club."

This is one important point, the doors of high culture are fairly wide. There is no guarantee when sitting in an opera house that you will grasp the depth and complexity of, say, Berg's Wozzeck or take away any of the insights it offers. In fact, with no intellectual effort, it is almost a guarantee you will walk away disappointed. Is this all as bad as the supposed anti-elitism?

In Tenured Radicals, Roger Kimball noted the dreadful text Speaking for the Humanities (there is an entire chapter on it, see pg. 55 of the revised edition in particular) from postmodern "anti-elitist" authors who, at points, pin the defending of a supposedly elitist, traditional canon on amateurs, non-academics. What could be more a showcase of elitism that this grandiose ad hominem attack on all those who oppose them in one fell swoop? This is, of course, from a group who readily accuse "dead white male" culture of elitism.

Even more mundane than this, look a little further into Swed's article and one sees a whole host of potential elitist examples within popular culture. For my own paragon example of elitism in popular culture, take a look at just about any subculture, from emos to fans of Japanese animation, and tell me there isn't a solid presence of elitism in every one of them.

It's a familiar pattern: certain subcultures rise in prominence until they're fully in the public eye, at which point, inevitably, someone realizes that there's money to be made. The best examples of this are musical, such as the marketing of punk and hip hop to cash-flushed consumers.

But is this particular instance different? It might be argued that much of what 4chan has wrought is incompatible with popular culture. Yet the same thing might be said of past trends which "bubbled" and were captured, to some degree, by popular outlets. It may just be a matter of picking and choosing the most palatable aspects while leaving the more offensive and bizarre ones behind. Does this mean we're going to start seeing cats on billboards with captions inquiring "can I has Big Mac?" Maybe not now, at least; but a recent Kraft ad, with the letters "LOL" carved into a thick layer of peanut butter on toast might be something to think about.

(See here for a similar ad -- a Google search did not turn up the LOL variant, which seems to be located mainly in bus shelters.)

• name: Edgaras;
• place we met: Gediminas ave;
• he is a tecktonik dancer, and his music is tck;
• a place to meet with colleagues: a park by Gediminas ave, Cathedral sq;
• summer destinations: already has visited Croatia, going to go to: Germany.

• Edgarą sutikome Gedimino pr.
• jo užsiėmimas - tecktonik šokiai;
• vieta kur galima rasti bendraminčių - "savė" ir Katedros aikštė;
• vasaros kryptys: Edgaras šią vasarą jau aplankė Kroatiją,
  svečiavosi pas pusbrolį. Dabar ketina aplankyti Vokietiją.

Punk Venues in SF/Bay Area:

• On Broadway
• Death Pub?
• The Farm (late 80's)
• 924 Gilman (late 80's)
• Keystone (late 80's)
• Fun Terminal - arcade/venue/The Mutants (fritz fox, name of album)
• Ruthie's Inn (Berkeley)
• Wolfgang's
• Stargaze (Fremont, 80's too, I think)
• The Omni (80's)
• Echo Beach
• Mabuhay
• I Beam

Records/Recording:

• Aquarius/Rather Ripped
• 415 Records

Bands/People:

• Deborah Lyle
• Nyna Napalm Crawford & The VKTMS
• Romeo Voy
• Pearl Harbor and the Explosions (also)
• The Contractions
• The Stirrups (listed here)
• The Readymades
• The Nuns
• Crime (page)
• Mike Ness (social distortion, apt/venue in fullerton)

The Quake Radio station.

Scribbled Notes:

• Translator --> Nights of Keno -> The Fab Mob
• Linden Street Festival
• Stan Ridgeway/Penelope Houston -> Waller Video

The rapid growth in knife crime incidents is a tragedy for the victims, their families and UK society. Street crime is nothing new; neither is carrying a knife especially new. Thirty to forty years’ ago carrying a pocket pen-knife was de rigour for most boys. Yet in those days carrying a knife was closely associated with the principles scouting rather than as a weapon of aggression.  Somewhere between these decades there seems to have been a massive cultural shift towards aggressive behaviour.

However all that is based on the premise that media reports aren’t sensationalising the issue. The most up-to-date survey by the Metropolitan Police shows knife crime has dropped by 15.7 per cent in the past two years. Something a contradiction to the 17 youths killed in London alone during the first half of 2008. This contradiction is partly due to crime statistics themselves. Official police figures could be distorted to due police processes which don’t register all knife incidents between young people. In contrast the British Crime Survey (otherwise known as the victim study) doesn’t record data from people under 16 or anyone without a postal address. A recent survey by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) would seem to back this discrepancy up, reporting a 12 per cent increase since 2002 in teenagers carrying weapons.

Notwithstanding such statistical fillips along with scope for media exaggeration there are real victims of knife crimes mainly because more young people are carrying knives. Nowhere is this more poignant than in Ben Kinsella’s letter to Gordon Brown, which was sent just weeks before he falling victim to a brutal knife attack.

Ben’s solutions to knife crime were in stark contrast to those propagated by the News of World. Instead longer prison sentences the 16 year-old suggest the Prime Minister introduce parenting classes, curfews and youth clubs as possible solutions. Such an approach stills well with that of Camila Batmanghelidjh. Her organization Kids Company has helped around 12,000 vulnerable children integrate into mainstream society.

Batmanghelidjh's reasoning is that if you grow up in a dangerous environment where your parents and authorities aren't protecting you, then the conclusion is that human life is not worthwhile. The message, she says, is "the more violent you are, the more protection you'll have". It is hard for many people to appreciate what it’s like to be disenfranchised from mainstream society.

Being in a gang, carrying a knife to protect your patch provides young people with status when there’s not much else to do so you form a subculture. Our society is meritocratic. It’s a culture where to be someone in the world you have a big house, cars, and all the other material provisions money provides. Without money there is no status and for many young people the minimum wage will not provide them with the same status a gang will bring.

Maybe the knife carrying culture has changed over the decades because in the past young people had more opportunities to achieve with genuine apprenticeship schemes, and opportunities to create a life of your own. Now we have just created gangs or subcultures of young people frustrated by the lack of opportunity to enhance their status in acceptable ways.

Two Sub-Cultures of Surfers in California and Kanagawa

There are a plethora of subcultures in modern society, and to fully appreciate culture one must understand subcultures. Subcultures range in intensity and socio-cultural influence on their members. Some are loose groups with a weak in-group identity, such as men who gather to play pool as described in Tally’s Corner;¹ others are all-encompassing groups with a strong identity, like Hell’s Angels or bosozoku (youth gangs) in Japan². This paper describes a subculture that lies somewhere between these extremes of subculture identity and group solidarity: that of surfers.

Surfing has become popular worldwide, and surfers’ lifestyles have taken on an international flavor. Still, cultural mainstays such as language, beliefs, folkways and mores are different cross-culturally, and so are surfing subcultures. To bring out both universal and cultural elements of surfing, this paper studies surfers in two contrasting societies at two different time periods: Shonan in Japan and California in the United States.

Subcultural features such as identity as a surfer, interpersonal relations, status, and surfing’s meaning are explored. Not only are comparisons of subcultural group characteristics made, but social class is introduced as a control and shown to be influential for the behavior and life chances of surfers, independent of subculture.

Methodology
A Masters thesis on surfing subcultures in California is utilized as a major secondary data source.³ Hull, a surfer, engaged in participant observation with surfers in Northern California to describe their lifestyle and subcultural group characteristics. His work acts as a basis for cross-cultural comparisons and matches well with my own field observations.

The main data source consists of naturalistic observations of two surfing subcultures, which proceeded by what John Lofland calls accidents of current biography.⁴ That is, from a young age I have been a surfer, and at different times I have been a member of both surfing subcultures. The first subculture, called ‘T-Bay surfers’, are young surfers who lived in a beach town in Orange County, California, during the 1960s. The second, called ‘Reef surfers’, are Japanese surfers who live in a beach town on the Shonan coast of Kanagawa prefecture.

While being a member of the two surfing subcultures allowed access to inside information unavailable to an outsider, my activities and close personal ties within the two subcultures carry a natural bias. In regards to the T-bay surfers, there are further problems of recall and limited information about members over a long period of time.

An open-ended questionnaire was designed to explore the subcultural characteristics of the Reef surfers. An old friend and well-known member of the Reef surfers who lives a short walk from the Reef passed out the questionnaire to other members of the group, estimated at 20–25 surfers. Twenty-one Reef surfers received the questionnaire, enclosed in an envelope together with a pen, a beer coupon and a stamped envelope with my address. All except one, or 20 of 21 (95%), of the Reef surfers filled out and returned the questionnaire.

T-Bay and Reef Surfers
The T-Bay group consisted of 11 teenage males who lived in the same neighborhood and surfed at a spot within walking distance of their homes called T-Bay. They were usually the only surfers at this spot and regularly surfed there from the early to late 1960s. Most had been boyhood friends and naturally formed a surfing subculture when they got caught up in the surfing boom around 1962. At this time all but one were secondary-school students. While all members knew one another other well, when not surfing they stratified by age. The five older T-Bay group surfers were high-school students, excepting one high-school graduate. The six younger surfers, all best friends, were in junior high or first-year high school.

The T-Bay surfers also surfed south of T-Bay at Dana Point Pier, Doheny and spots in San Diego County, and they sometimes went surfing up north as far as Santa Barbara at Rincon and Hammonds Reef. Still, T-Bay was where they surfed most frequently because it was so close to home.

The T-Bay surfers fixed their own boards, wore surfing clothes (sandals, T-shirts, jeans, trunks, etc.), read surfing magazines, went to surf movies and talked about surfing. Their lives were centered on and enwrapped in surfing. Their tight group lasted until after high-school graduation, at which time there was a military draft and the Vietnam War.

The Reef is one of the spots where surfing first occurred in Japan. Surfing occurred there in the 1960s, and a few locals were out surfing when I first surfed there in 1972. The Reef surfers dealt with in this article were surfing there in 2004. Now the spot is crowded, with about 60 surfers spread over its three breaks at a time on summer days of good surf, though most are not local surfers. Still, the Reef surfers are visible as a group since they occupy an area near and around the steps that face the main break.

The Reef surfers are considered one of the better groups of surfers on the Shonan coast. More than half of them have been in surf contests, with three taking first place. Nearly all (17 of 20) have surfed outside of Japan. Hawaii is the most popular overseas surf destination, but some have surfed in California, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Canary Islands, Fiji, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Philippines and South Africa. They have surfed at nearly all spots in Japan along both the Pacific Ocean and Japan Sea coasts. Due to locality, surf spots along the Shonan coast and in Chiba prefecture are surfed most often. And, while Hawaii is a popular overseas surf destination, most Reef surfers said that the Reef was their favorite spot of all.

The Reef surfers closely identify with one another as a group. While they have friendships outside of surfing, the great majority reported that more than half of their best friends are surfers. The most popular get-together among Reef surfers is a barbecue party at one of their homes, where they all eat and drink until late, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. The surfers’ families are closely tied in with the group and are a part of the surfing scene during the summer, with wives, husbands and children gathering in the same area near the steps. It is not uncommon to see a Reef surfer teaching his four- or five-year-old child how to surf.

The Reef surfers range in age from 12 to 48, with an average age of 33 and median age of 39. Three of the surfers are female, and this number will probably increase, as more women are taking up surfing these days. Twelve of the Reef surfers are married, and among these ten have children, most not yet in their teens. However, regardless of age, gender and marital status, everyone is equally a part of the group.

Place and Dress
Along the Shonan coast, locals gather at spots where they are recognized by others as locals and group members. Most Reef surfers live near the Reef, predominantly surf at the Reef and when not out surfing occupy an area on or near the steps that lead to the sand in front of the Reef. Their surfboards, bicycles and motorbikes with surfboard racks, and clothes are strewn on or near the steps. The Reef surfers may be defined as a group by their dress, talk, mannerisms, engagement in the same activity (surfing), frequent interaction with one another, and a sense of identity with and belonging to one another.

The number of Reef surfers gathered at the steps depends on the surf. When there are good waves and it is a nice day, 15 or so Reef surfers will be around with some out surfing and others occupying the steps. The best surfer, a pro surfer, sits in the middle and at the top of the steps. His motorbike with surfboard racks is parked almost next to where he sits. There is a railing about three feet high on either side of the steps, and usually the same surfers stand leaning on the right or left railing watching the surf and chatting with friends.

Conversations as one would expect usually center on surfing, though family and work are also common topics. Personal relationships vary from best friends to acquaintances, particularly so with this group since age, marital status and occupation vary so widely. The youngest members, in their early teens, listen respectfully when their elders, some over 40 years of age, talk about surfing. Still, dress, mannerisms, and demeanor are strikingly similar.

Hull described the physical appearance and dress of Northern California surfers during the 1970s.⁵ His profile matches well with the T-Bay surfers and even approximates the attire and appearance of the Reef surfers today:

Active surfers are characterized by shaggy, sun-bleached hair that does not quite reach their shoulders. Crew cuts and Brylcream are definitely unacceptable. His face is usually clean-shaven, except, possibly, for a mustache. Super long hair or beards are rare among active surfers. His face, neck, hands, and wrists are tan from hours in the water and on the beach, even in the winter months. His neck and shoulders are often muscular, and his arms and wrists are well-developed from hours of paddling. His dress changes from season to season but his surf trunks and wetsuit are always present. His clothes are not new, and he is often wearing a Hawaiian or T-shirt, Levi’s (blue-jeans corduroys), and will be barefoot or have tennis shoes or sandals (slaps, thongs, etc.) on his feet. The T-shirt is rarely plain, and often quite colorful (but slightly faded) with a symbol of surfing printed on it in the form of a wave or a prestigious surfboard manufacturer’s name and insignia. His general appearance is one of carefully fostered casual ruggedness. It reflects his physical pride in his body, common among athletes, tempered by the independent, masculine, ‘back-to-nature’ image most surfers have of themselves.⁶

Surfing subcultures and language
Subcultures adopt a style of language different from that of the national culture. Among surfers, language centers on surf maneuvers and sea conditions and is only familiar to surfers. Furthermore, although language is different, many Japanese words for surfing are gairai-go – foreign words borrowed from American surfing lingo. One reason for this, as one of the Reef surfers said, is that it is easier to take terms for surfing from its place of origin and adopt them into the Japanese language than to figure out what they may mean in Japanese. A few of these surfing words in Japanese are gettingu ouuto (getting out), noozu raidingu (nose riding), kuroozu auto (close out), karento (current), padoru (paddle), padoru auto (paddle-out), teiku ofu (take-off), botomu taan (bottom-turn), oobaaheddo (overhead), waipuauto (wipeout), chopii (choppy), gurasshi (glassy) and paaringu (pearling).

Meaning
Meaning is the phenomenology of subculture. John Lofland provides us with a definition. [Meanings] are the linguistic categories that make up the participants view of reality and with which they define their own and others’ actions.⁷ Meanings are also referred to by social analysts as culture, norms, understandings, social reality, definitions of the situation, typifications, ideology, beliefs, world view, perspective, or stereotypes. Terms such as these share a common focus on humanly constructed sets of concepts which are consciously singled out as important aspects of reality. Meanings are transbehavioral in the sense that they do more than describe behavior – they define, justify and otherwise interpret behavior as well.

Each surfer identifies with the ocean and being a part of it through surfing. What this means in a phenomenological sense is different for each person. Conceptually, however, looking over responses by the locals to the question ‘What does surfing mean to you’, two general categories came about. The first category has to do with individual practical concerns, or what a Reef surfer gets out of surfing. Representative responses here are that surfing is ‘fun’, ‘gives me self satisfaction’, ‘is my favorite sport’ and ‘is good for my health.’

The second and most popular category (12 of 20 Reef surfers) has to do with surfing as life itself or as a representation of self. Some Reef surfers said that surfing means life itself or that surfing is the most important part of their life. One surfer said surfing means jinsei (philosophy of life) and another said that surfing means zen (spiritualism or Buddhism).

In Hull’s research, California surfers in the 1970s made similar comments on surfing’s meaning.⁸ The individuality of surfing was reflected in such expressions as surfing means ‘being able to enjoy myself in the atmosphere of the ocean’, surfing ‘gives me a pleasure of mind and relaxes me’, and surfing gives me ‘a feeling of freedom’.

California surfers also said that surfing is life or the essence of life: surfing is a ‘way of being with and expressing yourself through nature’, ‘a total escape from life’s pitfalls’, ‘a good life’, ‘being next to the source of life’, ‘a way of life’ and ‘everything’.

There are no survey data to describe the meaning of surfing for the T-Bay surfers. However, meanings came through in how they lived their lives through surfing. In this regard they were similar to other California surfers and the Reef locals since surfing was central to their lives, it gave them satisfaction and provided them with characteristics that defined their identities.

Similarities and differences between American and Japanese surfers
The locals at the Reef were asked about similarities and differences between Japanese and American surfers. For similarities, the Reef surfers cited the ocean and surfers’ connection to it: ‘they both love the ocean’, ‘they are into waves’ and ‘since both love the ocean the way they think is about the same.’ For differences, common responses referred to surfing style and the ‘physical differences’ of surfers in the two countries: ‘American surfers surf more powerfully than Japanese surfers’, ‘physique’, ‘power’ and ‘body’.

Status
Surfing groups in California and Shonan are made up of locals who have shown they can surf. Kooks (beginning surfers) are not considered members of the group until they have proven themselves. The top surfers in the group enjoy the highest status, and this pecking order goes down to the least skilled surfer. The best Reef surfers are the center of attention at the steps, others respectfully greet them, when they talk others listen carefully, and one cannot be considered a member of the Reef surfing group without their tacit approval. These top surfers also earn money by giving surf lessons, and one makes surfboards and another is a pro surfer.

Earl held the highest status among T-Bay surfers. No one could do what he did on a board. Earl was a nose rider who on just about any wave could hang five and his cutbacks on waves were remarkable. His surfing ability was the measure of comparison for the other T-Bay surfers. In the water, Earl had priority on the waves and on the shore his word about the surf condition, surfing in general and almost anything else for that matter was carefully listened to without objection.

Class
Social class relates to behavior regardless of subculture. Surfers come from all classes though most California surfers are from the middle class, and more towards the upper than lower end of middle class.⁹ This occurs because most surfers live close to the ocean where the cost of housing is high, surfboards and other equipment like surf racks and wetsuits are expensive and surfing has been a sport of the middle class. For similar reasons, surfing is a middle-class sport in Japan as well. However, a very demanding educational system and strict controls over youth in Japan creates conflict for middle-class adolescents who are a part of the surfing subculture.

Reef Surfers’ Social Class. The Reef surfers did not remain in the same class as their parents: they went downward, as their completed education and occupations were lower than that of their parents. Reef surfers had a lower occupational status than that of their fathers. Fathers’ occupational status was middle leaning towards upper class. The occupational status of sons, the Reef surfers, was at the lower end of middle class. While one Reef surfer was a researcher and five were businessmen, the others worked in jobs that are of lower status and are less mainstream than their fathers’. Two of them worked in the surfing world, one as a surfboard manufacturer and the other a pro surfer. The other four included private English language tutor, cameraman, boat assistant, and carpenter.

The locals at the Reef are ‘mavericks’ in Japanese society, with their loose, carefree lifestyles. I would argue that their downward social mobility is a result of the conflict between the surfing subculture and the dominant national culture, particularly in regards to adult expectations and strict controls of youth.

Pop culture portrays surfers as laid back, natural, fun-loving, and as doing their own thing. The meaning of surfing for Reef surfers as noted above fits these popular images. These values contrast with Japanese mainstream cultural values, particularly ‘obligation’ (on or gimu), ‘one must adhere to one’s place’ (honbun or bun o mamoru), and the strong emphasis on conformity.¹⁰ A surfing way of life conflicts with dominant adult expectations and norms of adolescent behavior such as compliance with strictures forbidding youth misbehavior, ‘hard study’, adherence to school regulations and rules aimed at suppressing individuality, and active participation in conventional youth activities. Furthermore, the Reef surfers identify strongly as local surfers distant from mainstream culture and society.

Asked what they thought were the defining features of their surfing group, the Reef surfers were in strong agreement that ‘close bonds or ties’ with each other were what the group was all about. They commented that the group provided their very identity as ‘locals’, meaning resident Reef surfers, who were members and belonged in the group. As if in opposition to the national culture, they said, ‘As “locals”, we have our own way of life,’ or, ‘We surf and have parties and barbecues, we are natural, easy-going and free, we respect and are a part of nature, and we are positive thinkers.’ None mentioned that there was some kind of uniqueness that distinguished Japanese surfers from surfers in other countries. To the contrary, they identified as ‘local’ surfers, and the surfing subcultural values and norms played a dominant role giving them direction in life and a sense of their identity and relations with others.

Nearly all Reef surfers who began surfing at an early age experienced downward social mobility. The minority or four surfers who as adults remained in the same middle social class as their fathers, all of them college graduates, began surfing at a relatively older age: three of the four began surfing in their late teens. In contrast, all eight of the Reef surfers who experienced downward social mobility, or as adults had a lower education and occupational status than their fathers, began surfing at a young age (12–15 years old). Reef surfers who either did not graduate from high school or ended their education after high school showed signs of early youth rebellion.

Coming from a higher class, when young, Reef surfers had every opportunity to achieve academically, get into high-ranked schools, properly prepare for college entrance and go on to college, but most decided not to. They had a class advantage to achieve while other lower working-class youth do not. In something of an irony, Reef surfers made a decision to reject getting ahead through education, even though in the usual course of events the educational system would reject such lower-class students.

Quite simply, as an adolescent in Japan you cannot both conform to a mainstream way of life and be part of a surfing subculture. The Reef surfers’ downward social mobility, then, reflects on the dire consequences of adolescent non-conformity in Japan. Surfing as a subculture in Japan goes against adult expectations of mainstream adolescent behavior, and active participation in surfing makes it near impossible to keep up the levels of academic achievement necessary for college entrance. There are no open admission programs for high school or college; that is, if you don’t get into a higher-ranked secondary school it is very unlikely that you will go on to college. The Reef surfers who experienced downward social mobility were surfing and not studying during their middle-school days, and as a part of a local surfing subculture they placed themselves outside the mainstream and only route to a higher education and the conventional middle-class occupational status of their fathers.

T-Bay Surfers’ Social Class. The T-Bay surfers came from working-class and middle-class families made worse by living in a wealthy coastal city of Orange County. The parental social class of the T-Bay surfers was much lower than that of the Reef locals. Half the T-Bay surfers came from single-parent households at a time when divorce rates were low in the United States and stigma was attached to single-parent families. Not one of their parents was a college graduate. Parental occupation was working or middle class. For those in a two-parent family, fathers’ occupations were working class: maintenance worker, gardener, truck driver, handyman. Most mothers worked full-time and held working-class or middle-class jobs: cafeteria worker, bakery worker, office worker.

Adolescent deviance and future socioeconomic status in the United States closely tie in with social class.¹¹ A ‘stigma’ is attached to the lower class, family finances and class culture severely dampen hopes for college education, and job opportunities are hampered by exclusion from mainstream social circles and low levels of education. Social control agents (police, teachers, etc.) expect trouble and keep a close watch over lower-class youth. Labeling encourages lower-class youth to adopt the identities of ‘bad boys’ or ‘bad girls’ and eventually leads to isolation from conventional youth activities. Early trouble at school and with the law coupled with limited opportunities to make it in middle-class society result in a social reproduction of class. The T-Bay surfers fit this pattern well.

The T-Bay surfers were a rowdy group nicknamed and identified by others as the South Gang. They had fun during adolescence, none expecting to go to college or to succeed in middle-class society. The T-Bay surfers began smoking and drinking in their early teens, played cat-and-mouse with security guards and the police, trespassed on private property, went joyriding, got into fights, engaged in minor theft, and so on. They were ‘outsiders’ at high school and looked down upon as social misfits from the bad side of town.

Two T-Bay surfers did not finish high school, most of the others graduated in the lower part of their class, and only two are college graduates. The latest I have heard (and some of the information is dated) is that all but one have worked in working-class or middle-class jobs: gardener, fisherman, truck driver, maintenance man, tree cutter, house painter, boat operator. The one exception is in academia. The consequences of active youth deviance and lower-class background also showed in conflict with authority and trouble as adults.

A little over half of the T-Bay group surfers have been arrested for criminal offenses as adults, and four of them served from six months to three years in prison. Only five T-Bay surfers ever married, and of the three marriages I know of today only one remains intact. Finally, tragically, two T-Bay group surfers died early, one after contracting AIDS and another committing suicide.

Conclusion
Although the Californian and Japanese surfers described in this paper are from different time periods, classes and cultures, they had surfing in common. Sugimoto (2003:25–27) argues that individuals from the same subculture but different societies have more in common with each other than they do with individuals from other subcultures in the same society.¹²

The downward social mobility of the Reef surfers suggests that early involvement in a surfing subculture is an impediment to ‘getting ahead’ in mainstream Japanese society. This is not only the case in Japan: Hull demonstrated that downward social mobility was common among Californian surfers in the 1970s. Conflicts that occur because of downward social mobility, for example, in the family or with adult authorities, need attention. A future longitudinal study of adolescent surfers could address these issues.

Our understanding of the role between class and surfing subcultures would benefit from research focused on class and its relation to the lifestyle of surfers. The youth deviant behavior and troubled adult life of the T-Bay surfers was more tied in with their lower-class background than with belonging to a surfing subculture. It may also be that surfing subcultures have a class dimension and that behavior of surfers varies according to class background. Differences of behavior in surfing subcultures by class, conflicts, social mobility, and cross-cultural similarities and differences would benefit from future research.

— Robert Stuart Yoder (United States/Japan)

Notes

1 Elliot Liebow (1974) Tally’s Corner, Boston: Little Brown and Company. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
2 Karl Greenfield (1994) Speed Tribes, New York: Harper Perennial; and Ikuya Sato (1991) Kamikaze Biker: Parody and Anomy in Affluent Japan, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3 Stephen Hull (1976) ‘A Sociological Study of the Surfing Subculture in the Santa Cruz Area’, unpublished M.A. thesis, San Jose State University.
4 John Lofland (1986) Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis, Second Edition, Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
5 Hull, 1976
6 Hull, 1976: 94–95
7 Lofland, 1984: 71–72
8 Hull, 1976: 73–74
9 Hull, 1976
10 John Condon (1984) With Respect to the Japanese: A Guide for Americans, Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press Inc; and Takei Sugiyama (1976) Japanese Patterns of Behavior, Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.
11 Chambliss, William J. (1975) ‘The Saints and the Roughnecks’, in Friedman (ed.) Annual Editions: Readings in Sociology, Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.
12 Sugimoto, Yoshio (2003) An Introduction to Japanese Society, Second edition, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

clipped from www.geekpreneur.com Our free 48 page ebook on Twitter, A geek’s Guide To Promoting Yourself and Your Online Business in 140 Characters or Less with Twitter, is now available for download. Advanced Twitter users: this is great for sharing with others to introduce the business and marketing uses of Twitter. We think that this will give non-Twitter users a “feel” for Twitter and that’s why we wrote it.

Related articles

• Geek Guide To Promoting Your Blog (or Yourself) on Twitter [via Zemanta]
• Live Podcast Recorded Tonight Check out the Video! [via Zemanta]
• Is Twitter Vulnerable to Marketer Attack? [via Zemanta]
• How can I insult this guy's architecture in 140 characters or less? [Caption Contest] [via Zemanta]
• Twitter and the Tiger Effect on Nike [via Zemanta]
• Twitter is no longer Blaine Cook's problem [Caption Contest] [via Zemanta]

Leonard challenges the notions of youth (typically male) sub-cultural activities existing primarily on the street (place) by focusing specifically on the production and distribution of Riot Grrrl zines as a networked operation that exists inside the home - thus the private space of the bedroom "becomes a site of activity"(107). The production of these zines usually involves just "pen+paper+photocopier" and can contain a variety of topics. Typically the distribution for these zines operated in a sort of mailing list fashion - or were distributed at punk shows (106) - and were produced in small editions. In this way the movement attempted to stay underground, not wanting popular media to represent them or their views. By not being sold publicly these distribution methods encouraged forms of engagement with the zine and their writers [also meants national/international participation: ie not bound by ones location...and this reminds me of online social networks...]. (108) Leonard mentions this regarding e-zines: "Whilst the e-zine has the potential to reach a very wide audience, it does so at the loss of individuality, lacking the personal qualities of paper zines." (103) Leonards analysis involves examining zines' as an alternative space for interaction and expression qualities and quotes many of the zines themselves revealing the way the zines were used to insert female, individual voice into history, the scene and contemporary displays of fashion and beauty. "By writing themselves into the text, through relating personal experiences and concerns, riot grrrls have expanded the discursive parameters of the fanzine." (107) These differences existing in each zine is celebrated by Leonard as it complicates traditional notions of youth subcultures, especially via the lack of a central location and a "unified progression." (111) The existence of the many pages about riot grrrl on the internet is, in Leonards explanation, a further complication of any "notions of a unified community" [this is tres obvious if one just googles "riot grrrl"] and in contrast to physical zines, the WWW is a space where a certain amount of anonymity is present and thus allows for an open space for women to discuss/express themselves.  (113)

"Using riot grrrl as a case study it will consider how a sub-culture can maintain a sense of 'community' when its participants do not meet in the collective space of a club or music venue, but are broadcast over a wide geographical area. This chapter will argue that sub-cultures should not be considered unified groups tied to a locality, creed or style but as dynamic, diverse, geographically mobile networks." (101)

things she mentioned & i learned about riot grrrl:

1. most members decided to be straight edge (102)
2. many older women did identify with the movement (102)
3. "Riot grrrl is a feminist network which developed in the underground music communities of Olympia, Washington, and Washington, D.C."
4. "..Kathleen Hanna, singer for Bikini Kill, states that the name 'riot grrrl' was inspired in 1991 by the Mount Pleasant riots in Washington, D.C." (102)
5. "During that time, Jean Smith, a woman we know who's a writer and musician, said something like, 'We need a girl riot, too"....At the same time, Allison and Molly from Bratmobile were also in DC, and they heard this and said, "We're going to start a fanzine called Riot Grrrl". (Hanna, quoted in Juno, 1996:97-98)" (103)
6. "Zine" is a shortened form of "Fanzine" (earlier: science fiction enthusiasts, later: punk fanatics) (103)
7. "Sara, writer of Out of the Vortex, comments: 'Only by controlling the medium do we control the message....for this reason zines are extraordinarily unique and powerful political tools' (quoted in Vale, 1996: 168)" (105)
8. 1992 - National Press creates a disruption in the underground nature of riot grrrl (109)
9. "Those involved in riot grrrl stress that no one viewpoint or cultural product (be it a zine or record) can be taken as representative or indicative of the whole." (110) Here Leonard offers the description of riot grrrl as "multiplicitous" and continues from this notion of multiplicity into the comparison of Deleuze and Guattari's "notion of a rhizome". She concluded by examining the nature of riot grrrl on the internet and relates the many many offshoots of using the term riot grrrl (or just grrrl) back to the rhizome.
10. riot grrrl mostly consisted of middle-class white women

Created by OnePlusYou

For the most part, I'm not personally interested in studies of subcultures or alternative factions of people within society. I tend to side with the argument that critical deconstruction primarily weakens these types of identities, de-mythologises them and leaves them mundane and phoney. I'm referring to the sort of studies by Richard Hoggart and Dick Hebdige, then right through to endless productions either indie or mainstream that approach cultural movements that are generally music-based, white, predominantly middle-class and invariably of American original.

That said, with this post I don't want to provide a critique or a commentary as such, but just share a small collection of moments when forms of cultural movements seem to escalate beyond simple consumption or teenage self-identification. Here are a few examples of various 'urban tribes' in real, physical conflict; situations which seem like sci-fi films coming to life. I'm not necessarily saying that each of these scenarios is based on similar dynamics, but I do suspect that cultural sectarianism is something that will become increasingly prevalent in ever greater spheres of life, and increasingly important in the functioning of postmodern consumer capitalism.

Emo in Mexico vs. Punks, Rockers, Jocks... etc

A series of strikes and counter-strikes against one specific subculture, largely explained by Mexico's conservation Catholicism and the emos' "lack of ideology".

"The trio of long-haired teenagers grasped the plaza wall to shield their bodies as hundreds of youths kicked and punched them while filming the beating on cell phone cameras. "Kill the emos," shouted the assailants, who had organized over the Internet to launch the attack in Mexico's central city of Queretaro. After police eventually steamed in and made arrests, the bloody victims lay sobbing on the concrete waiting for ambulances while the mob ran through the nearby streets laughing and cheering."

Goths in Britain vs. Chavs

An ongoing battle I'm sure anyone who was in any way 'alternative' during their youth can relate to. Chav (or townie, Gary, charva, ned) is perhaps more related as a category to class than consumption (to impose a false distinction).

"... the gang had turned on the young couple simply because they were Goths or "moshers" and dressed differently to them."

"So you don't think they attacked you because of how you were dressed?
I believe what was originally said was "Let's get the moshers!" They just needed some kind of excuse to the beat shit out of us. I think it's more about the kind of person that attacked us. There were several attacks that summer and if you look at the kids who were responsible you could cut them all out with a cookie cutter."

A Local Precedent

Probably the most famous of inter-subculture battles, the mods and the rockers at Brighton Beach in 1964. Remembered now in a nostalgic, "where were you..?", sort of way, that probably masks the deep violence from the period.

Rap Gangs in Liberia and Sierra Leone

This development is both the most surreal and the most terrifying. Following the influence of American gangsta rap and a massive influx of second-hand t-shirts sent as aid, West African militias began identifying themselves as, for example, the Tupac Army or the Butt Naked Brigade, led by General Butt Naked.

"In the late 90s, Sierra Leone (considered by the UN to be the worst place to inhabit in the world) took "thug life" to a new level... The indigenous rebel army, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), began as a loose confederation of quasi-communists looking to liberate the enormous wealth of the local diamond trade and put it back in the hands of the common people... RUF members became easily recognized. They identified themselves as the Tupac Army by only wearing Tupac shirts. They smoked Philly blunts, sported gold hoops, and were often trailed by boombox-toting lackeys (children who'd been press-ganged into service). As "California Love" played in the background, villages were sacked and looted, women were forced into slavery, and the arms of would-be foes were hacked off to prevent them from exacting revenge."

"The civil war [in Liberia], which killed an estimated 250,000 people in this nation of 3 million, was characterized by the eating of human hearts and soccer matches played with human skulls. Drugged fighters waltzed into battle wearing women's wigs, flowing gowns and carrying dainty purses stolen from civilians."

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

I have found that the women I have studied have at least one thing in common – they

oppose the dominant media representation of femininity and resist the notion that

women should look and behave in specific ways. Other areas of commonality

amongst my examples are issue related to individual identity and a sense of belonging

to a community. These issues seem to be important within the three generations that I

have discussed. The legacy of Patti Smith’s gender resistance seem evident in

contemporary music, with females artists such as Tarrie B which justifies my

argument and her similar mode of resistance. The Spice Girls also made a
contribution, they had a limited effect on changing notions of femininity even though
they were much more mainstream than my other examples in my dissertation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·   LEES, S. Sugar and Spice: Sexuality and Adolescent Girls. 1993. Penguin
Publications: London

·   FRITH and HORNE, S and H. Art into Pop. 1989. Routledge: London and New
York

·   WHITELEY, S. Women and Popular Music. 2000: Sexuality, Identity and
Subjectivity. Routledge: London

·   OCEANSOUL619. 2007. The Punk Years: Typical Girls [online] [Accessed 19^th
December 2007]. Available from World Wide Web:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lS_LdMypHw4

·   X-RAY SPECS. 1977. Oh Bondage, Up Yours. London: EMI. Compact Disc,
2mins 40secs

·   SONYBMG. 2007. Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) [online].
[Accessed 28^th December 2007]. Available from World Wide Web:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QQHrspjw4aA

·   LAING, D. One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock. 1985. Open
University Press: Milton Keynes and Philadelphia

·   GAAR, G. She’s A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll. 1993. Blanford:
London

·   WIKIPEDIA. 2007. Punk ideologies [online]. [Accessed 14^th January 2007].
Available from World Wide Web:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_ideologies>

·   BUTLER, J. Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits Of “Sex”. 1993.
Routledge: London

·   WHITELEY, S. 1997. Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender. London:
Routledge

·   HEBDIGE, D. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge

·   MCDONNEL AND POWERS, E, A. 1995. Rock She Wrote. London: Plexus
Publishing Limited

·   MONDOTRASHO. 2006. Riot Grrrl Retrospective [online]. [Accessed 20^th
Janurary 2008]. <http://youtube.com/watch?v=V0hS7hA133w>

·   BIKINI KILL. 1993. Rebel Girl. Washington: Kill Rock Stars. Compact Disc,
2mins 46secs.

·   MOUSNONYA. 2007. Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl [online]. [Accessed 19^th Janurary
2008]. Avalible from World Wide Web:
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5huGKZ-fY8>

·   WIKIPEDIA. 2007. K Records [Accessed 19^th Janurary 2008].
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Records>

·   Myspace: Riot Grrrl Online. 2005. [online]. [Accessed 8^th February 2008].
Avalible from World Wide Web:
<http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46989150&MyToken=1a76c7b1-c248-4811-992e-32ceff130c94>

·   BAULD, M. 2008. Interview with the author on 1^st Feburary 2008. Bristol.
[Cassette recording in possession of author]

·   NOMOREYOUTUB. 2007. Kylie Minogue: Better the Devil You Know. [online].
[Accessed 14^th February 2008]. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=spyyKkOK20I>

·   DRISCOLL, C. 1999. Girl Culture, Revenge and Global Capitalism: Cybergirls,
Riot Grrls, Spice Girls. Australian Feminist Studies. Vol 14. No. 29.

·   DRISCOLL, C. 1999. Girl Culture; or, Why Study the Spice Girls? Australia:
Wakefield Press

·   Fay Weldon, Wednesday 5^th December 2007, “Girl Power?” Daily Mail

·   HALFPENNY, F. 2008. [Personal communication]. 28^th February

·   HARVEY, K. 2007. MSN Interview: Beth Ditto. [Online]. Available from World
Wide Web: <http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/music/interviews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6462854>

CHAPTER IV

THE LEGACY

In this final chapter I would like to discuss what remains here in 2008 in terms of
female resistance through the means of music. In this final chapter I would like to
discuss the issue of whether we can find evidence of what I have described as ‘female
resistance’ in the contemporary music scene. I have broadly elaborated in the
previous chapters, two of history’s major movements that were made by women and
for women. The Punk movement being some what of a foundation for women to
begin to resistance in music and certainly how the influential Patti Smith inspired
women to do so. I have also examined the way in which the Riot Grrrls were a much
more overtly political force in terms of a feminism perspective. So essentially this
final chapter will discuss how these two movements have opened up a door for
women in music 2008. I shall discuss the self-professed feminist and lesbian Beth
Ditto of the Indie/Rock group The Gossip, Tarrie B of the heavy metal group My
Ruin, the Spice Girls and finally I shall briefly look at Riot Grrrl and where it is
positioned today. In looking at these figures I shall make note of aesthetics, lyrical
content as well as media intervention. I am limited here by a current absence of
critical work on these groups (although not doubt there is a wealth of ongoing
research waiting to hit the presses) and will be relying on some small scale
ethnographic work, some lyric analysis and the analysis of current journal and
newspaper articles.

THE SPICE GIRLS

I discussed in chapter one that I would include ‘Pop’ music and not predominately
‘Rock’ music as a way of being unbiased, this is why I felt it was important to also

incorporate ‘Pop’ in the final chapter, in this case the Spice Girls. In many ways the
Spice Girls are complex. They discuss the notion of ‘Girl Power’ (more so back in
1996 and their rise to fame) and use it as a force. (Note: ‘Girl Power’ was used in the
early 1990s by Riot Grrrl).

                                     Spice Girls (1996) promotion poster

The lyrical content in the song ‘Wannabe’ is quintessential ‘Pop’ as well as
conforming to dominant heteronormative ideals (as established earlier in the
comparison between the songs of Kylie Minogue and Bikini Kill). Note: I am not sure
that this song is as straightforward as that – it is also about an unthreatening version
of sisterhood – i.e. friends are as important as boyfriends etc. The objective of the
Spice Girls is complex- they aim and are seen by the public to resist the status quo
and live wild lives. Aesthetically each member of the pop group is made to appear as
sexual – each Spice Girl are also stylized specifically, which gives a potential male
audience a position to negotiate which style is sexual to them. For example Sporty
Spice may attract a person who prefers that ‘athletic’ type. “Are the Spice Girls
marketed as different flavours of sexual opportunity – versions of what a girl would
be like in bed? They certainly could, I would even say surely do, appeal to many
forms of voyeurism and desire” (Driscoll, 1999:212). This argument by Driscoll as
well as my argument becomes problematic in regard to strictly being sexually
‘available’ to the male gaze as they also offer a plurality of feminine types rather than
a singular normative model – including a lesbian group member (Scary Spice).

                    An example of the spice girls as ‘sexually available’ (2007)

The commercial side of the Spice Girls is also of interest. During December of 2007

the Spice Girls acted on a Tesco commercial, this itself supporting capitalism, the

commercial itself also portrayed the girls in a stereotypical sense of ‘women should

attend to the shopping’. The Spice Girls evidently and heavily rely on the media and

thus commercialisation in order to gain recognition in the world of music. This is

evident in their latest single entitled Headlines:

“Let’s make the headlines, loud and true
I wanna tell the world I’m giving it all to you
Let’s make the headlines, loud and clear
The best things suddenly happen when you are here
And if I lost my way you’d carry me home
Take me all the way to heaven, never leave me alone
And it’s just like everything matters when you are near”

                     Still image of Posh Spice on the Tesco commercial (2007)

Drawing back from chapter two and Hebdige’s critique on social class, Driscoll

looks at a potential social class audience by comparing both Spice Girls and Bikini

Kill “the Spice Girls direct their slogans and appeals very broadly, certainly with the

intention of including ‘domestic’ or home-oriented teenagers and preteens, while

Bikini Kill has primarily a college/university or adult audience, and market
themselves with specific reference to this delimited rather than general audience”
(Driscoll, 1999: 211). What Driscoll critiques here then is ‘college/university’ being
educated people – which traditionally defines as middle class. Driscoll (1999) also
states that there is a conflict going on between the Spice Girls and Riot Grrrl “While
Riot Grrrl zines and sites decry such pop phenomena as the Spice Girls, some of the
Spice Girl fan material describes the Riot Grrrls as dull and dour, whining, self-pitying and sexless –

which are, interestingly enough, some of the same accusations Riot Grrrls have

levelled at ‘second wave’ feminism.” (Driscoll, 1999:209). This indicates that rather

than women challenging and resisting men in 1991, women are now resisting women.

Driscoll also states that if ‘Girl Power’ is feminist, does this imply that a feminist

minority has now become popular culture than renders it as majority? Fay Weldon, a

British feminist essayist is furious over the come back of the Spice Girls. She openly

accuses them of killing feminism and thus a very bad influence on people. In her two

paged article that was placed in the Daily Mail she states that “a generation of our

young womanhood has taken to binge drinking, Saturday night sluttishness and

‘happy-slappings’, I blame the Spice Girls. There are one or two other factors, I dare

say, such as the cult of consumerism, the decline of religion … morning-after pills

and the rest: but, if we’re going to look for scapegoats, Posh, Ginger, Sporty, Baby

and Scary are, surely obvious candidates.” (Weldon, 2007)

BETH DITTO

During my research findings I found that Beth Ditto of Indie/Rock band The Gossip

would be a crucial figure to discuss in relation to female resistance in contemporary

music. Ditto has the characteristics of Riot Grrrl in terms of subversion as I shall state

below. Ditto herself is a self-professed feminist and also a lesbian, as I mentioned in

the previous chapter, I shall not specifically look at lesbianism but certainly look into

her feminist interest and lyrical content as well as her potential connection with Riot

Grrrl. Respondents to my research have suggested that Ditto belongs within the Riot

Grrrl trajectory stating: “I consider myself a ‘Riot Grrrl’, but I can't answer all the

questions, but I do believe Beth Ditto is one of the only true ‘Riot Grrrls’ in the music

industry to this date … It is also difficult for a women in the music industry not to fall

into the trap of having a good media image. We’re expected to have perfect bodies,

skin, hair, dress sense, and the papers will rip into you if there's the slightest thing not

up to scratch. The only person I’ve seen who doesn't care about that is Beth Ditto.”

(Online interview with member of Riot Grrrl Online, interviewed on 17.01.08).
Dittos performance is consistent with the Riot Grrrl approach; she subverts the

dominant norms of femininity in terms of her appearance and her actions. That of a

Riot Grrrl performance, she subverts what the media portrays as what a ‘woman’

should appear to look and act. There was a recent interview conducted by Microsoft

Network that asked Ditto a series of questions that are relevant to this context. The

author of the interview introduces Ditto in a positive way. “In a world used to seeing

‘perfect’ looking celebrities – where size zero is the ultimate accolade in every
celebrity hungry magazine, Beth’s laid-back attitude to her body is a refreshing

change” (Harvey, 2007)

Further into the questions, the interviewer asks “Have you ever tried to conform or
diet?” Ditto answers with “Still to this day I have to battle with ‘oh should I be on a

diet? It’s not that easy but it’s about confidence. I can’t shut off the entire world. I
feel

how I feel, but it’s not like it used to be. I challenge myself and no matter what I am

right. I’m the one who’s accepting myself and not trying to change myself. It doesn’t

mean people are f***ed up or wrong it means I’m just not going to let it work on me.

Life is too short.” (Harvey, 2007)

                                      Ditto and her perfect ‘size’ resistance

<