Goths, Gamers, and Grrrls Deviance and Youth Subcultures

by Haenfler, Ross

• ISBN13: 9780195396669
• ISBN10: 0195396669
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

"There are surely people and practices that you find strange. Even stranger, though, is how we often have different ideas regarding what is strange."--from the Introduction How and why do subcultures emerge? Do youth subcultures mount a meaningful resistance to mainstream/adult society? How do men and women enact gender in their scenes? What does it mean to be "deviant"? Who decides what is deviant and what is "normal"? A concise, engaging, and affordable supplementary text for introductory sociology courses and any course that covers popular culture, youth, or deviance, Goths, Gamers, and Grrrls: Deviance and Youth Subcultures addresses these questions and many more. This unique volume introduces students to the sociological study of deviance, equipping them with the theoretical tools necessary to analyze various youth subcultures--and virtually any subculture--in new and fascinating ways. Author Ross Haenfler opens with an introduction that provides an overview of subcultural theory, a definition of the concept of resistance, and explanations of various theories of deviance and delinquency. He goes on to examine eight different youth subcultures in depth: skinheads, punk rock/hardcore/straight edge, hip hop, heavy metal, virginity pledgers, Goths, gamers and hackers, and riot grrrls. Each chapter begins with a brief description and history of the scene before exploring a specific sociological concept or theory. Topics addressed include symbolic interactionist theory, status hierarchy, the role of style and politics in music scenes, enacting race and gender, moral panics, positive deviance, social stigma, the components of a virtual subculture, and more. The book concludes with discussions of resistance, commodification, and what happens as subcultural youth age.

Author Biography

Ross Haenfler is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi. He is the coauthor of The Better World Handbook: Small Changes that Make a Big Difference (2007) and Straight Edge: Clean Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change (2006).

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Skinheads--The Symbolism of Style and Ritual

Punk Rock, Hardcore, and Straight Edge--Status and Hierarchy in Subcultures

Hip Hop--"Doing" Gender and Race in Subcultures

Heavy Metal--Moral Panics, Satanic Scares, and Moral Entrepreneurs

Virginity Pledgers--Religion, Sexual Identity, and Positive Deviance

Goth--Stigma and Stigma Management

Gamers, Hackers, and Facebook: Computer Cultures, Virtual Community, and Postmodern Identity

Riot Grrrls and Fic Writers: Girls Take on the Media

Questions and Conclusions--Resistance, Commodification, and Growing Up

References

Notes

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.