Lad culture

Lad culture (also Laddish culture and Laddism) is a subculture commonly associated with Britpop music of the 1990s. Stereotyped for mainly males it also involves a liking for alcoholic beverages (especially lager), football, fast cars and men's magazines such as "Loaded", "Maxim" and "FHM".cite web|url=http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2004/07/why_its_time_for_the_battle_of_the_sexes_to_end|author=Baldwin, Laura|date=2004-07-20|title=Why It's time for the 'battle of the sexes' to end|work=The F-Word: contemporary UK feminism] [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1742634,00.html|author=Jha, Alok|date=2006-03-30|title=Lad culture corrupts men as much as it debases women|work=The Guardian] The term Ladette refers to a female incarnation of the male Lad stereotype.

Impact

Initially a product of "Loaded" and its subsequent imitators and a reaction against the New Man culture, Lad culture, unlike the New Man image that did not reach far beyond various forms of journalism, reaches beyond men's magazines to movies such as "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and to the BBC TV sitcom, "Men Behaving Badly".cite book|title=Cultures of Masculinity|author=Tim Edwards|pages=39–42|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415284805] cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/475253.stm|author=|date=1999-10-17|title=Health: Lad culture blamed for suicides|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC]

In contrast to the stereotype of the New Man, the New Lad stereotype comprises a display of masculinity that is presented as a parody of sexism. Lad culture is seen by sociologists as a reaction against the femininity of the New Man image, against the journalism of such magazines as "GQ" and "Arena", and against liberal sexual politics; and the adoption of male exclusivity and a retreat to a male-only world of pubs, pornography, and football. Edwards, a sociologist at the University of Leicester, in particular describes the New Man as "pro"-feminist, albeit narcissistic, and the New Lad as "pre"-feminist, and a reaction to second-wave feminism. cite book|title=An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives|author=Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace, and Melissa Tyler|pages=354|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415312582]

The "Men Behaving Badly" and "Fantasy Football League" television programmes present images of Laddishness that are dominated by the male pastimes of drinking, watching football, and by sex. These are presented as being ironic and "knowing". (The masthead of "Loaded" is "for the man who knows better".) Feminists have a problem with Lad culture in this regard because they view much of the humour that it comprises as being a simple reclamation of the language of sexism, rather than a knowing parody. They see the New Lad culture as either incorporating feminism, or as an actual backlash against it. Several are severely critical of Laddism. Germaine Greer's "The Whole Woman" (2000), contains a fierce critique of Lad culture.

Edwards notes that in part this is because the way that people read men's magazines varies. In particular, they infer varying degrees of irony to the overt sexism therein. He observes that in fact Lad culture men's magazines of the 21st century have little that is actually new. Noting a study of the history of "Esquire", he observes that there is little substantial different between the New Man "Arena" and "GQ" and the New Lad "Loaded" et al.. Both address assumed men's interests of cars, alcohol, sport, and women, and differ largely in that the latter have a more visual style. From this he infers that "the New Man and the New Lad are niches in the market more than anything else, often defined according to an array of lifestyle accessories", and concludes that the New Lad image domainates the New Man image simply because of its greater success at garnering advertising revenue for men's magazines. The New Man image, that could be perceived as namby-pamby, failed to appeal to a wide readership. The more adolescent Lad culture appeals to the ordinary man more.

Recent work on "laddish" cultures in secondary schools has suggested that core features of "laddishness" include popularity and going out or "hanging around" with mates; playing sport (mainly football); wearing the "right sorts" of clothes; messing around and being funny; and, particularly importantly, not being seen to work hard at schoolwork. [cite book|author=Jackson, C.|date=2006|title=Lads and Ladettes in School: Gender and a Fear of Failure|location=Maidenhead|publisher=Open University Press|isbn=]

Effects

Lad culture has been identified as a source of disorientation [cite press release|url=http://www.bps.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/releases$/iccpl-2001$/lad-culture-and-boys-confusion-about-behaviour$.cfm|date=2001-06-28|title=Lad Culture and Boys' Confusion about Behaviour|publisher=The British Psychological Society|location=Leicester, England] and depression in British youth.

A study of the architecture profession found that lad culture had a negative impact on women completing their professional education. [cite news|author=Gates, Charlie|date=2003-07-11|title=Lad culture forces women to quit: RIBA-funded study looks at reasons behind profession's high female drop-out rate|work=Building Design|volume=1587|pages=3] Pundit Helen Wilkinson believes that lad culture has affected politics and decreased the ability of women to participate. [cite news|author=Wilkinson, Helen|date=1998-08-07|title=The day I fell out of love with Blair|work=New Statesman|volume=127|pages=9–10]

See also

* Ladette to Lady

References

Further reading

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