Is There A Legitimate Subculture in Australia?

They dress like they're going to the gym. Theydifference between being in or out of fashion, high
have undercuts and spiky hair. They have a fewor low in sub cultural capital, correlates in complex
tattoos, hidden from their parents view. Theyways with degrees of media coverage, creation
listen to R&B and rap. They hang out in garages,and exposure'. In regards to the aforementioned
playing cards, swearing and smoking pot. Theirsubculture, commercial news and the content of
ideology of masculinity is a man that won't taketheir broadcasting are discussed often amongst
'no' for an answer, has control over his 'Mrs.'s' andeach other. They are in passionate resistance to
can stand up for himself. They speak with slangthe negative portrayal of their subculture. It can
derived from the African American slang, with abe argued therefore that due to the fact that
few Arabic words here and there. They drivetheir subculture is used as the 'topic of the day'
fast, done up cars with controversial personalizedso readily, that this actually encourages them to
number plates. Females are not welcome in thisbecome increasingly rebellious against the
gathering nor are adults. Who are they? They are'mainstream' and forms of authority.
the Lebanese youth. Their offshoot, 'hanging out',The convertibility of cultural capital into economic
is the symbolic axis and working social hub. Thiscapital is what ultimately defines cultural capital.
subculture is heavily reliant on being 'in the know'-Whilst sub cultural capital may not convert into
on being cool, calm and dangerous. If one were toeconomic capital, in being a market niche, with the
describe the social culture of this group, it wouldsame ease or financial reward as cultural capital, a
have to be 'coolness'. But what is this culturalvariety of occupations or increased capital for
value? How is it embodied? How is it displayed?existing occupations can be gained as a result of
Why it is so important to the Lebanese youth?'coolness'. American clothes designers, especially
What are its social uses, its demographics, itssportswear designers, such as Nike and Adidas,
biases and discriminations?American artists of hip-hop, rap and R&B and sad
They belong to a unitary culture. They maintainto say drug dealers all make a living from their
the same dress codes, dance styles, musicsub cultural capital.
genres and catalogue of authorized and illicit rituals.Sub cultural capital is not as class-bond as cultural
They are a subculture from an ethnic culture.capital, even though it converts into economic
They generally congregate on the basis of sharedcapital. Class does not correlate in any
ethnicity and ideology, their consumption of theuninterrupted way with levels of youthful sub
same media and, most importantly, theircultural capital. For instance, it would not be
preference for youth of the same ethnicity touncommon for a Lebanese boy that was raised in
themselves.an area that was densely populated with
Taking part in this subculture builds affinities,Lebanese households, like Bankstown, to remain
socialising participants into knowledge of the likesdressing, acting and speaking in the same way if
and dislikes, meanings and values of the culture.he was to move to an area that was densely
This community will last for several years untilpopulated with Anglo-Saxons and of a class.
these boys decide to settle down throughGender, after age, is the social difference along
primarily marriage. This subculture will then meltwhich sub cultural capital is aligned most analytically
into the 'mainstream'.to. Generally, the girls associated with this
The opposition of the 'mainstream' is undoubtedlysubculture invest more of their time and identity
how many constituents of youth subculturesin doing well at school. The boys, in contrast,
characterize their own behaviour. However wespend more time and money on going out,
can't take youthful discourses literally; they arelistening to music and 'hanging out with the boys'.
not a transparent window on the world. This is aThe 'refusal of complicity' might be said to
constant mistake that has been made by culturalcategorise the majority of Lebanese youth. These
studies. They have been inadequately critical ofyouth are not as anchored in their social place as
sub cultural ideologies, first, because they werethose younger and older than themselves as they
preoccupied by the task of perforating andare not settled with a partner nor have they
challenging prevailing ideologies and, second,integrated into 'Australian culture'. By investing in
because they were biased and tended tothis act of leisure, Lebanese youth further reject
correspond with the sub cultural discourses of thebeing fixed socially. They can postpone 'social
youth cultures they study. Academics haveaging' or that 'slow renunciation or disinvestment'
acclaimed subcultures, while youth havewhich leads people to regulate their goals to their
celebrated the 'underground'. Where young peoplepurposes, to support their state, become what
have condemned the 'commercial', scholars havethey are and make do with what they have.
criticised 'hegemony'; where one has grieved overActing as a barrier against social aging may be
'selling out', the other has conceived 'incorporation'.one of the reasons as to why it is so attractive
Youth visualize their own and other social groupsto people well beyond their youth.
through sub cultural ideologies, they declare theirLebanese youth can be seen as temporarily
idiosyncratic nature and assert that they are nottaking pleasure in the taste of independence.
nameless affiliates of an undistinguished heap. TheFreedom from necessity, therefore, does not
cultural theorists are not giving non-biasedmean that youth have wealth so much that they
explanations of the way things really are, butare exempt from adult commitments to the
incorporate ideologies that fulfil their specificaccumulation of economic capital. They simply
cultural agenda. One should therefore not simplyreveal a methodical dedication, which allows
delve into the way of life of a cluster community,practises that are discouraged by the mainstream.
but consider the way they make 'meaning theThe term 'subculture' is therefore useful as a
service of power'.means for analysing the position and experiences
The distinctions made by the Lebanese youth areof the Lebanese youth of Australia. Sub cultural
not simply affirmations of equal difference; theycapital is the key player of a substitute chain of
entail a strong claim to authority and presume thecommand in which the affiliation of age, gender,
inferiority of others. They are challenge thesexuality and race are operational in order to
weight of, namely the police and laws establishedkeep the resolves of class, income and occupation
by the government and see other sub culturalaside. Sub cultural capital discloses itself most
ethnic groups as inferior to them.clearly by what it dislikes and by what it definitely
Within this subculture, elevated levels of incomeisn't. The vast majority of Lebanese youth
and property do not associate with high levels ofdistinguish themselves against the mainstream
cultural capital, as the two often conflict.that, to some degree, can be seen to stand in for
Comments about the 'nouveau riche' reveal thethe masses- this distance is a measure of their
likely frictions between those affluent in culturalcultural worth. Sub cultural ideology unconditionally
capital but fairly poor in economic capital (likegives alternative interpretations and values to
those Lebanese youth that are academics) andyoung peoples, particularly young men's. It
those rich in economic capital but less affluent inreinterprets the social world. The Lebanese youth
cultural capital (like professional football players).jockey for social power through these popular
Therefore, the third category-social capital-thatdistinctions; they are favouritisms by which
stems not from what you know or what youmembers are both given social statuses and
have, but from who know, can be attributed foreendeavour for a meaning of self-worth. This
mostly to the subculture of the Lebanese youth.perspective foresees popular culture as a
Connections in the form of friends, relations,multi-dimensional social space rather than as a flat
associations and acquaintances can all bestowculture or as simply the end of the social ladder.
status. 'Tell the boys that you know so and soThe Lebanese youth should therefore not be
and watch them worship you'.categorised through their cultural differences as
The 'second nature' of their knowledge is a qualitybeing 'resistances' to hierarchy or to the isolated
that members of this subculture must possess.cultural supremacy of some ruling body. They
Nothing diminishes capital more than the spectacleshould be looked at as the microstructures of
of someone trying to hard. For example, apower entailed in the cultural competition that
subdued and pale looking Anglo Saxon malegoes on between more closely associated social
attempting to act, dress and associate himselfgroups.
with the subculture of the Lebanese youth.For another great article on culture click here.
K. Gelder and S. Thornton argue that 'the