Teenage Hoodies: A Threat to Society or a Media-made Panic - Research Proposal Example

Teenage Hoodies A threat to society or a media-made panic? Sociology   Introduction A ‘hoodie’ is a style of clothing whose origin can be traced way back to Medieval Europe, where back then, the socially accepted clothing was a cowl (long, attractive hood) that was worn by monks1. Quite a number of factors led to the rise of the hood in the world. It was evident that the hip hop music culture was significant in the introduction of the hood back in the 1970s. In Australia and this case New Zealand, there is a day specifically dedicated to the hood. In 2008, in order to challenge the media and the youth stereotypes on the issue of the hood, New Zealand set a day as part of the annual youth week and named it the ‘hoodie day’. The hoodie faces a lot of criticism from the media, politicians, and council members thereby raising the issue of un-appropriateness of the hood to the society. The essence of this day is to request for an audience to schools and the community to view the hood on a different front i.e. to see the good in the hood. Therefore, on this breath, the hood has just been so much hyped by the media causing panic and unnecessary tension by what they do portray the hood as being a menace t the society. This notion that the ones wearing hoodies are to no good and are threatening to the society is a media propagated fiction which needs to be dealt with and clear the name of the hood. The hood should be a garment worn for its sole purpose of warmth and to the comfort of the one wearing it and should not be thought to be an anti-social behavior as portrayed by the media. Millions in our daily lives wear the hood, and has been with us for a long time, though it has come to be misunderstood for the wrong reasons2. The media bring out a totally different scenario once the stereotype of the hood finds its way to the media’s doorstep and at that moment the dangers and threats the hood brings to society are held with a rather different magnitude. But, are hoodies to the best of our knowledge a threat as the media makes us believe? The negative stories released and portrayed by the press are the key causes for the negative perception of the hoodie by the society. The media are the fastest, and the easiest way to convey information to the society and information is integrated by the people and the way that information is put is the way the society understands it. The media refer to hoodie as ‘louts’, ‘frightening’ and ‘threatening’ and when such words describe a garment, the society will obviously panic3. The media have been quoted several times and researchers have conclusively admitted that even in situations that crime was committed and still there was no evidence of hoodies, the media’s headlines and columns would quote the ‘hoodie’ involvement. This will directly build stigma to the people wearing hoodies with this association to negative attributes and a lot of panic to the general public. Most of the media houses are always competing, and the issue of hoods in an attempt to outdo each other, the journalists will use the most exaggerated words to bring out this issue4. Overview Writing an overview of the critical literature on teenage hoodies and media made panic requires the understanding of the various crimes associated with the hoodies and the media point of view when bringing out the information and the setting on which the crimes occur. There are various basic spheres of mass media that interact with crime: News and online platforms. Each of these spheres can be divided into sub-spheres of media information and representation; in turn they may also be divided into different styles of disclosure and crime construction5. Media made panic also known as moral panic refer to an intense fear or feeling that is brought into a group of people about an issue that seems to threaten their social life. In the context of this question, media represent crimes committed by hood–wearing teenagers in a way that creates panic among members of the society. Hoodies can refer to the name given to those teenage boys considered as bullies, feared among their age mates. It can also refer to the piece of clothing worn and mostly hides once identity. Assumptions The media tend to represent and impose assumptions on the issue of hoodie wearing among the society that guys on hoodies are dangerous and should not be trusted. The knowledge by the media does not rest on a factual ground at times and relies only on their cognitive skills. Individuals often generalize and make assumptions and judge others by what they wear. Because of various headlines brought by the media on crimes committed by people wearing hoodies the general society tends to view such people as criminals. Wearing of the hoodies among the youth can be explained through several theoretical backgrounds in this age of insecurity6. Conservative frames Conservative nature within the society is one way to look at it, where the modern trends in clothing and other social behaviors are viewed as going against the moral values and beliefs. Most journalists work within conservative frames in order to create and maintain the accepted social order, and regulate the teenagers who are mostly affected by modernization7. This means that understanding the conservative nature of the society, and in our case, the media people, clearly shows that a hoodie is just like any other cloth, and one should not be judged because of what he wears8. A piece of clothing in the modern world represents a class of people, occupation and sometimes of a tribe or nation. Hoodies being part of the current development are subject to critics by the conservatives9. Media makes it even worse in the movies, where those committing crimes are mostly wearing hoodies, and those people watching the movies relate that into the modern life, hence causing a moral panic. Those people wearing hoodies are viewed as being dangerous as they may look difficult to identify. What the media do not understand is that most people in sports like relaxing on the hoodies. Most people like jogging in them in the streets in the morning and evening as they keep one warm and comfortably makes them enormous10. Media have different kinds of representing their coverage, most of the time they frequently include street crimes and violence and supremely rarely cover those crimes committed by those in prominent jobs or offices. Logically, one is more likely to find more jobless teenager in hoodies on the streets, than the guys on suits11. Hoodies might make it easier to commit a crime, but not the same way a gun does. The culture of wearing hoodies is just part of the massive global transformation brought about by the modernization and changes in population characteristics and life style12. Hoodies are mostly presumed to be worn by arrogant bullies in high schools, and those kids who are likely to cause problems in classes. In Britain, New Zealand and Australia, hoodies means feared guys and sometimes guys in hoodies are not allowed in supermarkets and stores as they are viewed as thieves and hiding weapons in them13. This assumption has no concrete or solid facts; it is based on ideologies more than reality. In America, everything seems binary as they categorize those who wear hoodies as dangerous black guys who are to no good. On particulars streets in America at some times of the night, those in hoodies are viewed as thugs and connotes threat and represent the sick values of the black people, but that applies only to those who holds such angle of thinking14. Generalization Reverend Lyn of the Unitarian Universalistic Church, thinks that reasons behind the label criminal on those young people on hoodies is because, teenagers have become generally dangerous in the society, hence others including the media immediately conclude inaccurately and by generalization. Detective Ron also states that hoodies itself is not obviously threatening but how the person wearing the hoodies behave or act15. According to researches, the representation of teenagers in hoodies has imposed panic on other people. Statistics show that a majority of the cover stories about young boys in local and national papers in the past year, in UK, were about crime and described as “yobs” thugs, sick and feral16. According to the research carried out by women in media revealed that the best coverage on teenagers received in the media is after death. Similarly, a study carried out on nearly a thousand teenage boys found 85 per cent show newspaper as an avenue that portrayed their negative side. A third of them said that they are often wary of teenage boys with 80 percent noting that it was because of the media stories17. Fiona Bowden a member of the research committee notes that the teenager boy’s image has been tarnished in the media, which focuses almost wholly on them as criminals or victims. She concludes that media is facilitating make teenage boys wary of others18. Conclusion The hoodie has been among the society’s mode of clothing for the past couple of years. But it has been recently branded a couple of names associated with the vices present in the society including unlawful and violence. However, the garment is worn, and in whatever weather present, the hood will always be treated with a lot of caution by the public. The media have been quoted in many instances interviewing rioters, with their hood on and constantly associating this with the general crime. Once the media address the hood in a negative way, the public attention is undoubtedly caught and thereby leading to panic.   References Bessant, J, and R. Watts. Sociology Australia, 3, revisedth ed. 2007. Braddock, K. (2011, August 9). The power of the hoodie. The guardian [London]. Garner, R. "Hoodies, louts, scum: how media demonises teenagers." The Independent, March 13, 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/…eenagers-1643964.html. Prickett, S N. "How did the hoodie become a menace to society?" The globe and mail, March 27, 2012. Zimmerman, S. "Are Hoodies a Threat?" Kpvi news 6, March 29, 2012. Kornblum, William. Sociology in a Changing World, 9th ed. Cengage learnig2011 Read More