The traditions of going out (clubbing)

Of all the cultural influences that have come out all over the world in the 20^th century, it’s likely that none has been so overwhelming as popular music. And where can we find music in its all splendour? Clubs rather than pubs are the focus of many young people’s social lives. The growth of the “rave” scene in Britain has meant that dancing had again become a central activity, as it was in the dance halls of the 1950s and early 1960s and the discos of 1970s. Alcohol has tented to be a peripheral element of UK dance culture in the 1990s. Instead, rave places much more emphasis on taking drugs such as “Ecstasy”. People dancing constantly for several hours are more likely to drink fluids to avoid dehydration and to restore energy levels, which no doubt accounts for the cultish popularity of the soft drink in the rave scene. The counter-cultural status of raves can be compared to “blue parties”, or “shebeens”, which became particularly popular in Afro-Caribbean communities in the 1980s. Like raves, blue parties were associated both with a specific type of music (reggae and raga) played through enormous sound system, and with drugs (cannabis) more than with alcohol. Though cans of beer or other alcohol would usually be sold freely or are even included in the entrance price

But there is another way of going out on the town – pubbing. In large cities, especially northern ones, such as Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle, there is a whole ritual which revolves around “going out on the town” on a Friday or Saturday night. Long queues form as hundreds of people gather around the pubs, clubs and wine bars. Young women often dressed glamorously in thin-strapped or backless evening dresses, gauzy tunics or very short skirts, and young men in more casual shirts and trousers. The more popular clubs, for instance, sometimes hire “queue spotters” who look out for particularly stylishly dressed “punters” – the best dressed may well be allowed to go to the front of the queue, while those guilty of certain “fashion crimes” may be not allowed in it at all.

So we see people are always keen on going out in a place, where music is widely accepted. But there are a lot of traditions, that are not understandable for those, who are not clubber or ‘pubber’.

27. Young People & the Media

Mass media have always played a considerable role in promoting popularity or sometimes criticizing things, particularly youth subcultures. Thus it was Media that are powerful vehicles for communication, translating words, images, sounds & ideas into easily accessible public resources. In this way media facilitate intellectual growth & expansion and are valuable tools for environment. Young people can use media to express themselves by creating documentaries, Internet blogs, multimedia art installations, and their own recorded poetry or music. Yet media can spread propaganda, reinforce misleading stereotypes & encourage violence & destruction.

As adolescents become more immersed in media-saturated environments, they may be adversely affected by these negative messages.

Negative influences: Media have an immeasurable impact on the lives of young people. As the world becomes more media-saturated, young people increasingly turn to television, the Internet, video games, newspapers, music & radio as models for development. These in turn have the capacity to influence behavior. Many young people feel that rather than prohibition violence in Media, we should instead encourage critical analysis of the underlying power interests involved. They point out that seeing a nearing about the suffering & brutality in other areas of the world may inspire responsible & politically conscious. Positive influence: Young people note the many different forms of media & distinguish between their varying levels of impact on adolescents. Most believe that entertainment media are much more influential in their daily lives than news media. Still young people recognize that media can also play an educational role. As the information highway becomes faster, cheaper & more accessible, young people over the world are finding new ways to educate themselves & some schools are taking advantage of media as a supplement resource.

28. The Millennial Generation

The rapid changes in our swiftly developing world are bound to have a respective impact on people & the youth are especially responsive to them.today, in 21th century, the new Millenial Generation is shaping out. Its representers are often refferednto as self-reliant, entrepreneurial risk-takers, aspiring to be millionaires by the age they are 35. The children of the Baby boomers and the less uptight successors to Generation Xoverwhelmingly subscribe to the virtues of making money, dismissing government, party politics and politicians as irrelevance. They believe virtually anything should go. The MG seems to be self-confident and self-dependant. They aim high & don’t think themselves limited by background. Challenging to the dominance of the marcet economy they reject the outmoded motions of a job for life & express a desire to own thereown business. Safe establishment jobs are similarly dismissed(athough it isn’t true for all the countries) and is most regrettable, increasing number of youngsters is interesting in working in another European country. Not any longer do young people believe that privileged background will provide a shortcard to success. Instead they herald the arrival of thr meritocratic society. In Briatan they feel responsible for finding a job & somewhere to live as a result of post-Thatcher credentials. However the youth of the world put caring before job success, which is consoling after all. They see themselves as sensitive, sensible & responsible individuals. Is concerned with the environment, animal testing & heathy food. And when it comes to matters of crimes & drugs, they are more conservative than they have ever been. They are against legalization of light drugs, & less percentage is in favore of abolishig the death penalty. Nevertheless the youth are more liberal on adoption & don’t feel the necessity of explicit sex & violence on TV being outlawede. They are getting more individualistic, ambitious & tolerant, but don’t seem to care for politics. Either they have no political affiliations or lack faith in party politics. Holding such attitudes would be very frightening for young people. But we’ll do believe that still the MG is equipped with values of current impotance & that our future is in safe hands.

29. Monarchy or Republic

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one of the few developed countries of the world where a constitutional monarchy has survived with its ages-old customs, traditions and ceremonies, while the majority of European monarchies were swapped away or changed into republics through wars and revolutions. But as history shows, monarchies need to continuously reform themselves if they are to survive. The UK is not an exception; it’s making efforts to adapt to a changing world. Today monarchy has been stripped upon most its powers. The monarch reigns, though she doesn’t rule. From the evidence of written low only, the Queen has almost absolute power. She can choose anybody she likes to run the government. If she gets fed up with her ministers she can gust dismiss them. She can also summon a Parliament and it is she, who dissolves it before a general elections. The Queen is head of the executive, an integral part of legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces, the “supreme governor” of the established church and the personal Head of the Commonwealth.

In practice, of course, the reality is very different. Being a constitutional monarch the Queen acts on the advice of her PM and doesn’t make any major political decisions. Although the Queen is deprived of actual power, her value shouldn’t be underestimated. The monarchy gives British people a symbol of continuity and a harmless outlet for the expression of national pride. Monarchy is a part of a daily life, and it’s hard to imagine Britain without the Crown. Occasions such as the state opening of Parliament, the Queen’s official birthday, royal weddings and ceremonial events such as the changing pf the guard make up for the lack of colour and ceremony in most people’s daily lives. Today the monarchy is one of the greatest tourist attractions: Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle are on the list of priorities for most of tourists visiting Britain. The British monarchy as an institution hasn’t been a burning issue in British politics for several hundred years. But during the last two decades of the XX century more and more people support the idea of Britain becoming a republic. Monarchy loses its positions, though the Queen herself remains popular, but the various marital problems of her family have lowered the prestige of royalty in many people’s eyes. Nowadays every 5^th person favor Britain being a republic, people no longer want to be subjects, but citizens of their country, want to elect their governor and to rule their own country. The majority support the idea of having a constitutional reform, introducing a Bill of Rights and a written constitution. They think that monarchy as an institution is out of date and can’t keep in paced with the present quickly changing situation. Though other politicians claim that monarchy doesn’t negate modernity, it’s a nice remainder of the past, at the same time it keeps relevance to the present and the future. The Queen herself is looking at ways to ensure the Monarchy remains in tune with the modern world. She’s considering changing some of the Monarchy’s most ancient rules. One proposal is to end the primogeniture law, which means that the title of Monarch passes to sons rather than to daughters. The ban on heirs to the throne marrying Roman Catholics is also reported to have come under scrutiny. The Monarchy’s public image is also under discussion. The Royal Family agrees that it must end the damaging series of recent scandals in the British press. So, it’s clear that these changes are part of evolutionary, not revolutionary process. The British Monarchy has always been very good at adapting to circumstances. It has survived wars, political and social turmoil (беспорядок, суматоха) and ups and downs in its popularity. That’s why to my mind big changes are not expected soon.

30. The Stereotypes of the British people

The British, like the people of every country, tend to be attributed with certain characteristics which are supposedly typical. However, it’s best to be cautious about accepting such characterizations too easily. Societies change over time while their reputations lag behind. Many things which are often regarded as typically British derive from books, songs or plays which were written a long time ago and which no longer representative of modern life.

One example of this is a popular belief that Britain is a “land of tradition”. And at the level of public life it’s undoubtedly true. The annual ceremony of the state opening of Parliament, the ceremony of “trooping the colour”, the changing of the guard carefully follow customs which are centuries old. The British like symbols of tradition and stability. However, in their private everyday lives the British as individuals are less inclined to follow traditions. There are very few ancient customs that are followed by the majority of families. The British are too individualistic for such things. However, this doesn’t mean that they like change. The British value continuity over modernity. They have a general sentimental attachment to older, supposedly safer, times. For them it is more prestige to live in an old house, than in a new one; their Christmas cards usually depict scenes from past centuries; they like their pubs to look old. The British can be particularly and stubbornly conservative about anything which is perceived as a token of Britishness. In these matters, their conservatism can combine with their individualism. It’s difficult to imagine that they will ever agree to change to driving on the right, they are reluctant to change their system of currency and the metric system. They are rather proud of being different.

Another stereotype is that the British are rather formal in their general behavior. This is not true. There is a difference between observing formalities and being formal in everyday life. When people are “on duty”, they have to obey some quite rigid rules, on the other hand, when people are not playing a public role – when they are just being themselves – there seem to be no rules at all. Attitudes towards clothes are a good indication of this difference. Lots of men who wear suits during the week can then be seen in old sweaters and jeans.

There are many examples of supposedly typical British habits which are simply not typical any more. For example, the stereotyped image of the London “city gent” includes the wearing of a bowler hat. In fact, this type of hat has not been commonly worn for a long time. Food and drink provide other examples. The traditional “British” breakfast is a large “fry-up” preceded by cereal with milk and followed by toast, butter and marmalade, all washed down with lots of tea. What the vast majority of British people have in the mornings is therefore much closer to what is called a “continental” breakfast. The British are supposed to love queering. In fact, they do form queues whenever they are waiting for something, but this doesn’t mean that they enjoy it.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14