What is the cultural significance of the hoodie?

What is the cultural significance of the hoodie?

“The hoodie represents all that is wrong about youth culture today”. This quote from David Cameron represents how youth is portrayed through an adult’s point of view and in the media. The hoodie is represented as a piece of clothing which hides ones identity and implies that when a youth is wearing one; they are a ‘young yob’ or ‘feral’. The hoodie could have this reputation from the grim reaper, who represents death. The fact that the grim reaper’s hood covers his face, adds to the hidden identity which is portrayed through the youths of today.

Angela McRobbie, a British cultural theorist, says that “the hooded top is one in a long line of garments chosen by young people, usually boys, and inscribed with meanings suggesting that they are ‘up to no good’”. This suggests how older people can feel scared of British youths. It makes youngsters look anonymous and they all look the same so they have no identity. She also says that reactions to the hooded top only increase its popularity. This relates to Stanley Cohen’s theory because he states that the media amplifies social anxieties and creates moral panics and folk devils. This creates a cycle because people make connections between what has happened in the media and wider problems, so they blame these other problems. This can relate how youths are represented, because when there is an event in the media that involves youths, society blames the whole youth culture and then the issue becomes exaggerated and this could lead to youths rebelling against adults and taking on their typically stereotype.