Some Reflection on the Youth Subculture: A Study of the Subculture of Exhibitionist Car Driving

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty Member, Department of Social Sciences, Gilan University

2 MA (Sociology), Gilan University

Abstract

Over the past few years, the subculture of exhibitionist car driving has attracted the attention of any social and cultural researchers in our country. These phenomena have been formed in interaction with general social trends. Therefore, the study of these phenomena would facilitate a better understanding of these trends and currents. The present paper is an attempt to study the grounds that cause formation of subculture of exhibitionist car driving among the youth. In fact, understanding of the latent and open layers of this subculture is the first attempt of this study. Hence, while reviewing the conceptual framework of the subject and related theories, the viewpoints of Hebdige of Birmingham School have been used for the extraction of some ideas. The research method employed was qualitative and the data were collected through interview with 18 youth of the city of Rasht. They were selected through snowball sampling method. The findings of the study indicate that the subculture of exhibitionist car driving is being formed among the youth of the city. More importantly, this subculture is a process of identification, exhibition vis-à-vis others, attraction of the attention of opposite sex and also a compensation for shortcomings in the field of cultural infrastructures and entertainment environments.

Keywords