Dick Hebdige- Subculture & Style

(Ref page 52- Home Grown Cool: The Style of the Mods)

In this section I will analyse a piece of text from Dick Hebdige's 'Subculture: The Meaning of Style'. The chapter 'Home Grown Cool: the style of the mods', puts emphasis on the mod's inspiration and relationships with immigrant races and cultures, highlighting this in a positive way.
In the early 60's, the immigrant communities in Britain were fast growing, particularly within the working class districts of the city. This immigrant boom meant that for the first time, multiple races and subcultures were living side by side. In particular for the mods, who grew up around West Indians, this was seen as a window of opportunity to branch out and take inspiration from the black culture, as white British people.
As an example of multicultural living, the Mods were quiet and subdued, and responded positively to immigrant presence. The Mod was described as a 'typical lower class dandy' (Goldman, 1974), obsessed with the details and perfection of dress, measuring and fitting. Mods were known for being fashionably neat and tidy, which made them stand out within the working class crowd to which they belonged: 'Quietly disrupting the orderly sequence' (Hebdige, 1979).
Mods were different to other subcultures. Rather than being brash, loud and intrusive, such as other subcultures like the Teddy Boys, Mods were subtly living in the background, in an almost secretive manner. Having their own clubs and bars, they maintained an essence of secret identity. Within these establishments, the Mods shared an 'emotional affinity' (Hebdige, 1979) with black people, enjoying the soul music they brought to Britain's underground clubs.
It is this emphasis on clothing, presentation and selective leisure that meant Mods were not concerned with work as the regular man was, instead focusing on vanity, a desirable quality.

Gender Ads- The Gaze & The Media

The Gaze, in media terms, denotes the idea that "Men act, and women appear. Men look at women" (John Berger). The Gaze is a prevalent part of both historical and modern society, in which we explore how both women and men (but more commonly women) are dehumanised and portrayed as objects, often through the mediums of art, literature, and advertisements. The Gaze presents art as being more than just a passive observation, but an in-depth examination and scrutiny of the perfect woman, one who is dominated and made sexually submissive by the male culture of stereotypical 'strong' and 'powerful' men.
Here I have examined this idea of The Gaze, within an advert by cigarette company Tipalet. This advertisement was printed in 1969, and features an image of a man, blowing his cigarette smoke into the woman's face, coupled with the slogan 'blow in her face & she'll follow you anywhere'. The surface meaning of the advert could be seen as unharmful, a simple visual representation of a male and female interaction.
The advertisers intended meaning is to sell the cigarette brand, and does this by aiming at men, trying to convince that their brand will attract females. Until the advert is under close observation, it seems harmless, but the idealogical and cultural meanings tell a different tale. The derogatory slogan subtly suggests the woman being naive and stupid, and connotes that of an animalistic statement, in saying 'she'll follow you anywhere', as if the woman is being presented as a dog. It could also be said that there are sexual connotations within the slogan when it states 'blow in her face'. This representation that women are less than men, and a lack of respect, supports the derogatory view of women in the media, hence is an example of the gaze.