ABSTRACT
Style has been an integral concept to youth studies from its early emergence within cultural studies. At its core, style is a key arena through which cultural studies scholars have examined the intersections of social structure and production of collective identities by young people. In its earliest expression, cultural theorist Dick Hebdige developed the concept of “style” in his text, Subculture (1979). In his well-referenced discussion of punks, mods, and teddyboys, Hebdige identified a crucial relationship between youth subcultures, resistance, and style. In order to understand the significance of “style,” readers must first become familiar with the concept of subculture, for in Hebdige's work style was a key expression of resistance to dominant social norms and practices by the subculture. Writing over 20 years later, Maira (2002 emphasized the earlier theorist's assertion that subculture was not just different from dominant culture, but it presumed an active resistance to dominant cultural practices via style. Hence, youth style continues to be a key aspect of the demarcation between the dominant and subculture.
