The Depiction of Girls in Subcultures
As this course is called Subcultures in the Mainstream Media, I think it is important to point to Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber's, Girls and Subcultures, that uncovers what it means to be a girl in a subcultural group to researchers and journalists. They explain that the image of girls in films and written accounts is often skewed and exaggerated, "when girls do appear, it is either in ways in which uncritically reinforce the stereotype image of women with which are now so familiar… or else they are fleeting and marginally presented” (McRobbie et Garber, 105).
The pair believe that where girls do exist in subculture, they are depicted as either completely invisible or as sexual objects in recorded accounts. In looking to the biker subculture, press releases showcased the 'motor-bike girl' as "a sort of subcultural pin-up heralding...a new and threatening sort of sexuality," McRobbie et Garber, 108). Furthermore, these women were very rarely shown as important figures, never having hold of the handlebars of these burly bikes. Instead, females were placed behind the males, sitting as more of accessories rather than individual beings of the subculture. As history progressed, this image was forever stamped as a reference to the sexuality of the 1960s, (McRobbie et Garber, 109). Throughout the media, most subculture stories are told with a male forefront, where women either went completely unnoticed or their participation is noted with gender stereotypes. "With the possible exception of sexual deviance, women constituted an uncelebrated social category, for radical and critical theorists," a reality that seems unfairly biased (McRobbie et Garber, 107).
McRobbie and Garber are exclusively speaking about what is depicted in the press and mass media and their work is not to point out what these girls are to a subcultural group but what the media portrays them as. If we were to take these theories and apply them to all previously explored films, we could envision what both McRobbie and Garber are attempting to expose. In Kids, for example, we see Jenny as a sheltered and separate entity of the street subculture and her engagement within the subculture is limited or seen as less important. She is depicted as a character with little to no voice within the group. Although she has intentions of warning other girls of Telly's disease, she never gets to actually speak up and in this she is invisible. In fact, during all violent scenes of Kids, there is no female participation. As the group sits in the park, the girls are merely on display for them. Furthermore, in the film This is England, the females are not illustrated as significant parts of the subculture but accessories to it. Just as Jenny was, the women are silenced and never verbally speak up for the group or against others. As McRobbie and Garber explain, because sociological work is male dominated, so are the depicted views. Although, Persepolis tells a story of a female's strong inclusion in subculture, the film was written by a woman. And so we see the troubles of male domination and gender biases exposed.
Lyrics fromNo Doubt's I'm Just a Girl:
Don't you think I know exactly where I stand This world is forcing me to hold your hand 'Cause I'm just a girl, little 'ol me, don't let me out of your sight I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite, so don't let me have any rights
Work Cited McRobbie, Angela, and Jenny Garber. “Girls and subcultures.” The Subcultures Reader. 2nd ed. Ken Gelder. London: Routledge, 2005. 105-112. Print.
