Cheer Up Emo Kid!

Anthony Giddens, the bad boy of sociologists, is talked exclusively in chapter 5 of Media, Gender, and Identity. His sociological outlook has given him endless critique, yet seems so attractive. Gauntlett even mentioned how his attitude of, "oh, you're making it very complicated, but it's perfectly simple" can cause a great deal of frustration, yet he still is correct. His theory on structuralism is that, "social life is more than random individual acts, but is not merely determined by social forces" (pg.93). Simply, it is a middle road.

Gauntlett also talks about the idea of modernity and the forms that come along with it. He mentions how we are coming out of an era of post-traditionalist, which he calls modernity. Traditionalism is when a society does not take individual action into thought since tradition spells action. Modernity is when the actions of past people do not make or form the people of that time. It is the breakdown of tradition. Giddens was mentioned on how we are often told that we are in post-modernism, when actually we are in late-modernism. Instead of being past modernity, we are viewing an influenced modernity. The main ideal of late modernity say that the self is created by the individual and that we may choose our lifestyle, though we all have influences that can be external (except in romance, no more arranged marriages).

I can't help but think of emo kids while talking about Giddens, structuralism, and modernity. In a lot of ways they are the ones who do break the idea of traditionalism as mentioned by Giddens by coming into school wearing make-up and girls jeans, and being criticized even though millions of girls do this everyday. Also, they are an image of the age of late modernity because the image they make is the image of the self and it is their lifestyle to dress this way. However, they also fall under the consumerism of modernity that does tie in with the individuality as Gauntlett puts it. It is bands like Panic at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, and Avenged Sevenfold that give this new look on consumerism play on individuality. (i do have to admit that their music is good, but their look is sooooo annnoyyyingg)
Panic at the disco image from http://www.realbuzz.com/images/articles/panic%20at%20the%20disco%20!(0).jpg