Me and my friend, Lois, were talking today about the effects which the media has on us and it has really made me think. One issue particularly stands out, that being chavs vs. moshers. For those of you who don’t know, a chav is England’s version of a gangster and a mosher (or mosh head) is like a goth.
There was an old man, who is well known in our area for being crazy. He shouts at random people on the streets and always looks drunk. These little chavs were teasing the old man, trying to get him to chase them and pushing him to get a reaction. Me and Lois sat by and watched, saying things like ‘Ooh that’s awful, what’s the point?’ but we never got involved.
Surprisingly, the older chavs who were sat on the opposite side of the precinct from us actually got involved. They asked the man what was wrong and tried to help him out. Well, yeah, he did start having a go at them, but the point is that those chavs, people who I had always considered as vermin, tried to help him before I did.
That was when me and Lois began to ponder why it was that we thought of chavs so negatively. There were the obvious answers, those being ‘They shout stuff at us’, reasons which affected us personally but then Lois brought up a good point. If you live in England then you will know alot about the whole ‘Hoodie debate’. That being, the media has been putting a lot of attention on youths wearing hoodies, basically saying that they’re all gangs who are going to mug you. Not only that but the media constantly bombard with you with things about gangsters/chavs mugging old women and committing other crimes. Now call me stupid, but surely it can’t be only chavs who commit crimes? No, of course it can’t, it’s just that the media chooses to show chavs in a certain light, when not all chavs are like that.
It’s not only chavs which get media attention either; if you read The Daily Mail or are a MCR fan then you will have no doubt read The Daily Mail’s article about emo’s, calling them a dangerous cult which revolves mainly around self-harming. Again, whilst some emo’s might self-harm not all emo’s do. It’s this sort of negative attention which gives people who listen to rock music a bad name because those less informed will think that anyone who listens to any sort of rock is an emo, be it Rod Stewart or Slipknot. People who have no clue what the stereotypical emo is like will assume that anyone who likes to wear black self-harms which simply isn’t the case.
It’s this sort of attention which strengthens stereotypes and I don’t think its right. It makes people who aspire to chavs (and why aspire to be something you’re not?) feel the need to drink, because that’s what they think all chavs do and it makes people who aspire to be emo’s slit their wrists just to fit in with the crowd.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t believe everything that the media tells you because 90% of the time it is their own biased view on the matter. The media wants you to look upon different social cliques in one light or another rather than letting you make up your own mind. Don’t let this be the case: think before you judge someone solely on what music they listen to or how they like to dress.
