chav discussions

http://en-gb.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2252653660&topic=3281

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4091478.stm

http://www.gapyear.com/boards/index.php?op=vt&c=6&f=1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/victoriaderbyshire/2008/01/a_complaint_about_the_chavs_di.shtml

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Branding and stereotyping / chavs fashion

"The bigger the better" and I am talking about the bling - bling! A real, self-respecting chav, will not go out without it - no matter of gender. The most common thing you can see a chav wearing is the tracksuit, worn by both men and women, in many colours and brands. They are usually of famous sportswear brands such as Adidas or Nike, tracksuit bottoms are often worn with a brand t-shirt or a hoodie. Trainers are the chosen shoes for most occasions, and it was not altogether uncommon to see the trousers tucked into the socks. But you can also see a lot of Burberry (scarfs, hats,shirts). The female part of that subculture or the "chavettes" made their own way in fashion, expressing it in their make-up and hair (applying a lot of fake tan or foundation, a heavy spread of lip gloss, thickly applied mascara and a strip of eyeshadow and hair  pulled tightly back into a high pony tail and then stiffly gelled) and for the complete look let's not forget the golden hoop earings.

Chavs and public reaction

I asked people what they thought of chavs, in 3 words:

“tacky, slang, sportswear”

“the earrings, teen pregnancy, loud”

“Vicky Pollard, ‘innit’, cheap beer,”

“Croydon facelift”

“disastrously dressed dogs”

“common, uncouth, trashy”

so yeah, people have lots of nice things to say about them..

Chavs and background

Is there a link between the two? There has been a lot of information written about how chav culture is commonly associated with the working class and also unemployment. They seem to be the only group in our society that is ok to hate, yet over the years people have started to glorify this idea of chav and become famous from it, one of the main people being Jordan aka Katie Price. Although we are aware of the fact that chav culture is strongly linked to council houses, unemployment, children, drugs and alcohol, we do not always make the connection that these people could be suffering.
When digging deeper you realise that the people associated with this subculture seem to be stuck in a vicious cycle. If you start from the children, their parents never had much money, there were probably periods were one or both were unemployed and that is if both parents were around at all, as there is a lot of single parents within this subculture. There was probably exposure to drugs and alcohol at a young age and even witnessing parents being drunk or under the influence of drugs which may lead them to be abusive to the children and/or partners, friends etc. There does not seem to be much encouragement towards education and parents do not appear to have high hopes for their children, which in turns means that these children will learn that to have a successful life they must be like their parents and therefore do not have any real goals or aspirations. These children then go on to have their own and therefore will pass on what they learnt from their parents. This means that all these bad habits and low aspirations are passed on from generation to generation which in turn means that this subculture just keeps on expanding.
I feel that being a chav is more than dressing in a certain way, it is a whole lifestyle and something that is with you from the very beginning unlike other subcultures that maybe just effect certain stages in your life. Although I do feel like I am making a huge generalisation and that what I am writing comes from personal observations and articles that I have read.