Have Chavs been ostracised for being the wrong type of white person? Much has been discussed around the problematic role of ethnicity in Chav culture. Indeed, many scholars have discussed how Chav adopted the language, dress and style of ethnic minority groups. This assimilation of non-white identities leaves the Chav stranded on two fronts: (1) they are marked as Other by predominantly white social groups and vilified as race/ethnicity traitors (Bennett, Chavspeak); (2) they stand apart from ethnic minority identities through a series of exaggerated and denigrated consumption choices – adopting a bricolage identity that defines them against other groups surrounding them. In actual fact, such a simple “uniform” had much deeper social implications. It’s worth highlighting that chavs were usually young boys and girls belonging to the English working class. Sons and daughters of workers, hairdressers, salesclerks, part of the working-class world, very often living in council houses in Northern England, but also Ireland and Scotland. Chavs were usually poorly educated and had a brash, loutish and sometimes antisocial behavior, for which they were often compared to hooligans. Many believe that this word should not be used anymore, because it’s considered offensive and racist towards the English middle class, which in this way is discriminated and denigrated. Bennett, Joe. "‘And What Comes Out May Be a Kind of Screeching’: The Stylisation of Chavspeak in Contemporary Britain." Journal of Sociolinguistics 16.1 (2012): 5-27.

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While some of the TikTok videos could loosely be considered an homage to the ‘chav look’, the majority are undeniably derisive of the working class – particularly young girls, who are not only facing deeper inequality than their male peers, but are scrutinised more than anyone in the way they talk, dress, and act. Defined as “a young person characterised by brash and loutish behaviour, usually with connotations of a low social status”, ‘chavs’ have seemingly made their return to popular culture, this time on TikTok. Hollingworth, Sumi, and Katya Williams. "Constructions of the Working-Class ‘Other’ among Urban, White, Middle-Class Youth: ‘Chavs’, Subculture and the Valuing of Education." Journal of Youth Studies 12.5 (2009): 467-482. Heeney, Joanne. "Disability Welfare Reform and the Chav Threat: A Reflection on Social Class and ‘Contested Disabilities’." Disability & Society 30.4 (2015): 650-653. As TikTok’s user base is primarily Gen Z – born between 1995 and 2015 – most people on the app missed out on the cultural proliferation of the ‘chav’, and the more outward class-hating and false promises of social mobility that happened during the New Labour government of the 00s. The majority making these skits would be too young to have seen or remembered Ladette to Lady, or Jade Goody on Big Brother.Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Boston: Harvard UP, 1984. Nayak, Anoop. "Displaced Masculinities: Chavs, Youth and Class in the Post-Industrial City." Sociology 40.5 (2006): 813-831. Young, Robert. "Can Neds (or Chavs) Be Non-Delinquent, Educated or Even Middle Class? Contrasting Empirical Findings with Cultural Stereotypes." Sociology 46.6 (2012): 1140-1160.

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For today’s teens, too young to have encountered the first ‘wave’ of such representations in the early/mid 2000s, this is something new and ‘humorous’,” says Majid Yar, a professor of criminology at Lancaster University, and co-author of a 2006 paper titled, The ‘chav’ phenomenon: Consumption, media, and the construction of a new underclass. The ‘why’ of it goes to the heart of class-based societies,” explains Yar. “Demonisation serves as a mechanism for keeping people ‘in their place’, for reproducing hierarchies where opportunities, recognition, and reward are monopolised by some groups at the expense of others.” Yar references an account called TheTikTokChavs, which has over 550k followers, as an example of this, explaining that the boys creating the videos “are reportedly students from a private fee-paying stage school in Epsom – the very epitome of middle class privilege”. chav, n. Etymology: Probably either < Romani čhavo unmarried Romani male, male Romani child (see chavvy n.), or shortened < either chavvy n. or its etymon Angloromani chavvy. Brit. slang (derogatory). In the United Kingdom (originally the south of England): a young person of a type characterized by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of designer-style clothes (esp. sportswear); usually with connotations of a low social status.

References

Hayward, Keith, and Majid Yar. "The Chavphenomenon: Consumption, Media and the Construction of a New Underclass." Crime, Media, Culture 2.1 (2006): 9-28. Edwin H. Sutherland put forward the notion of differential association which asserts that criminal behaviour is learned through interaction, it emerges when a person is exposed to “more social message favouring conduct than pro-social messages.” He argues that criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values the same as non criminal behaviour. If we remove the criminal factor from this theory, it can be applied in the context of chavs; the reason for their behaviour such as loitering or the reason they conform to a dress code is because chavs would like to express themselves just as the upper classes do. They too feel the need to follow a fashion, trend or culture just as much as everyone else.

What brands are Chavvy? (2023) - Fashioncoached

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! Essay Writing Service The importance of consumption choices and, more specifically, of choices which are considered to be "wrong" adds one final piece to this map of the Chav (Mason and Wigley). What was already noted as discrimination towards Chavs centred upon notions of class, socioeconomic status, and, ethnicity, is amplified by emphasis on consumption choices deemed to be aesthetically undesirable. This all comes together through the “Othering” of a pattern of consumerist choices that encompasses branded clothes, sportswear and other garments typically labelled as "chavvy". Chav: Not Always a LabelFoucault, Michel. “The Subject and Power." Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. Eds. Hubert L. Dreyfus and Paul Rabinow. Brighton: Harvester, 1982. 777-795. Chav videos are popular because everyone knows at least one ‘chav’, or may have gone through a ‘chav’ phase themselves, making the videos relatable” – Hollie, TikToker