Lifestyles patterns change of Iranian youth (1)

Introduction

The notion that we have in mind of today's youth with modern or postmodern tastes and benefited from high economic and cultural capital and with consumer sentiment and different value and behavior orientations of common lived experience of young people may be associated with the term of life style. However, the fact is that having a lifestyle is not necessarily a modern or postmodern concept and small cultures or anti-cultures have a long history. The emergence of subculture of fashions or hippies of the 1960s in England or Iranian ignorant subculture of decades of 1340 and 1350 is proof of that. Revival of lifestyle issues can be disabled of cultural globalization processes, the importance of consumer issues and also public debates about the transition from modern society to postmodern society (especially with reference to the methods of cultural studies). In this paper, after presenting a description of the importance of lifestyle changes in young people's lives and theoretical trace of their lifestyle, we study effective indicators and fields which had been effective in its importance, and in the end, with analysis of the requirements of this cultural change on shaping lifestyles, some chosen areas of the formation of life style among young Iranians will be discussed.

1. The importance and placement of lifestyle in the lives of young people (from subculture to lifestyle)

Lifestyle can be seen as patterns of action that distinguish people in the community (Chaney, 1996: 4). Although Classical sociologists such as Simmel and Vebrublomer have considered aspects of the concept of lifestyle, they have never used it independently. Promotion of the use of this concept dates back to the late 80th century. Reimer, Swedish Sociology, articulates the following four main reasons for the resurgence of the concept:
1. the processes of "individualization" that have included more freedom and choice, especially for young people, in terms of which the world is rapidly changing.
2. Development of a new middle class that their orientation is clearly towards entertainment and consumption and mainly contains urban youth with vocational skills.
3. The increase in academic discussions about postmodernism where the emergence of new values and lifestyles play a key role.
4. The influential role of Bourdieu's works on the subject of lifestyles and especially his book “on the distinction field” (see Reimer, 1995).
As it can be seen, what explains the popularity of lifestyle in new sociology texts are structural changes occurred of including the spread of consumerism and the importance of individual autonomy, individual empowerment and freedom to choose. Mentioned features have a clear difference with common areas of subculture where young people and other groups use them to resolve social conflicts and collective identification. Thus, life styles should be known as functional responses to modernity (Chaney, 1996: 4). Subcultures are considered as semantic systems and ways of expression for presence that different groups create them in the collective effort for confrontation or contradict (or problems) in their common position (Barrick 1985: 21). Subcultures have been largely a response to construction limitations and a passive way to protest the existed conflicts in these structures, while lifestyle reflects changes in the relationship between the individual and his surrounding community and an individual response (although affected by collective values and norms) to situations and circumstances in which people are located. Hence, attraction of concept of lifestyle, for equal attention to individual and constructing aspects is effective on social action, while subcultures especially in their classic sense and in the West are associated with class features, although factors such as ethnic origin, religious beliefs, and similar notions affect them as well. Therefore, the presence of classic subcultures is a sign of society groups fighting for legitimacy for their behavior and lifestyles in contrast with a context that the dominant culture of society reveals.
Subculture as Stanley Cohen says is an "ideological struggle that young people are doing to solve their problems in a magical way. Subcultures are implicitly considered as a critique to the social system and society." For many youngsters resorting to subculture (by resorting to signs such as music, special Argos, fashion and design, make up and grooming, and other same things) provides a significant lifestyle during young’s free time and isolated from the tool world of labor. In this sense, subcultures represent a solution for facing the existence and identity crises for young people that more than being individual, it has a collective and social nature. Social and symbolic cultural context shaped by members of subcultures in addition to the individual level, enhance their self-esteem and their collective identity is reinforced. The above functions and features are generally describing the subcultures shapes and memberships of youth in Western countries. It is clear that the delay in the formation of the concept and phenomenon of youth in Iran has given a different quality to subcultures of Iranian youth in comparison to the West in legal, educational, institutional, social and cultural expressions. Although the use of signs of subculture to create a sense of group discrimination and giving meaning to a range of leisure experiences of some young people in the past three decades has similarities with its western varieties, their meanings, interpretations, contexts, continuity and their compliance with social and structural conditions are differ from the Western species of subculture. In Iranian subcultures, as is apparent in some example of the bands tagged with punk, rap, heavy metal, and other musical groups, the common element of collective identity and collective consciousness and ideological effort to solve collective problems for youth is absent or very pale. Subcultures belongings of Iranian youth that mainly with their external effects are consumption of fashion and decorating the outer body and in its informal and usually hidden effects with some of the components of Club culture (consumption of drug, alcohol and mixing heterosexual) are relevant, although sometimes in individual level have symbolic meanings and different strains and protest as well, however, in dominant side have no prevailing critical orientation to the dominant social order. Although Iranian youth’s subcultures are considered as a message and sometimes as a reaction to assumed or actual withdrawal policies to hardships for young people are sometimes structural and discrimination exclusions, however. They are a way to give meaning to the lives of this group of young people and relief or divert problems or crises is their identity, and ultimately about a wide range of youth with subcultural attitudes and behaviors, sticking to subcultures is a way to be youth and filling the opportunity to live (for an analysis of relationship in subculture and consumption culture see Zokaee and Poorgholam, 84, Shahabi 1382, Azas Armaki and Chavoshian 1381).
Thus, while subculture should be known as a conscious lifestyle, the lifestyle is not in such way, and it is a reflecting of changes in the relationship between the individual and the community and individual response (although is impacted by collective values and norms) to the situation and circumstances where people are located in. Hence, it is the concept of lifestyle attraction for equal attention to individual and constructing aspects effective on social action (the same, 102: 1386). The concept of lifestyle has created a reaction between topics related to national construction and potentiality. Lifestyle provides the possibility of interact of the young people with social structure circumstances and adapting to the structure or its change is the result of these styles of life. Thus, the reality of the same time experience of freedom and social constraints are well manifested in the concept of lifestyle (Zokaie, 102: 1386). The importance of lifestyle in modern society is due to the compulsive, class character and prospective factor is in the concept of subculture, is also related to the developments of globalization (Globalization of values, especially young people) and the broad impact of information and communication technology on it as well as other changes in the characteristics and indicators related to youth. Here are some of the indicators of development
2-indicators of youth and life style development
In contemporary society young people have different experiences of work and leisure. Loss of employment opportunities, development of educational-training interests and opportunities for young people and, part-time employment, more dependence of young people on their families, the importance of preserving and diversity of leisure are key areas that have left serious requires in the values and lifestyles of young people, so that today's youth is different from what existed in the past. Main features and important differences, as follows are:
2-1- continuity of adolescence:
Contemporary youth period is longer than the past period. Although in their common sense people recognize youth as the puberty and marriage border in Iran, premature puberty, delay of age of full-time employment, marriage and other components of the transition to adulthood is associated with prolongation of the period (see Zokaei 1383). Young people experience new ways to fill their living space and provide their transition experience (different patterns of friendship or job migration and education in abroad are examples of this). Youth in the current period starts earlier and ends later.
2-2-individualization:
Individualization is not a new process. Diversification of academic, professional and training solutions of youth, the loss of neighborhood context, and the compressibility of the labor market, rapid social and geographical mobility are affecting areas on this process. Although some authors challenge the claim that modernity is characterized by individualism (Mafsoly 1996) and state the processes of identification with collective feelings and mods parallel to the formation of tribal, musical, sporting or tourist grouping in the heart of modern masses society, the principle of formation of diversity and multiplication in tastes is obviously serious. Youth in experience of transition to adulthood rely less on their adult role models and are generally relied on their own function and choice. Individualization does not necessarily eliminate differences related to social backgrounds, gender or other areas, but it merely means that all social classes are more diverse. This diversity has made additional social gaps borders. Career and fields choices which have been traditionally masculine or feminine by the other sex, ambiguity in masculine or feminine tastes shared by both sexes (Zokaie and Mirzaee, 1385) are examples of this issue. Many young people already belong to their own social networks, and they cannot be simply distinguished based on distinct subcultures that there is little contact between them. Similarly, the importance of new information and communication technologies in the youth's leisure experience (especially satellite and the Internet) has led that young people spend their leisure in the privacy more than ever. Individualization makes young people more responsible for writing their biography and also their future. On the other hand, unisonous with Giddens (1991), we can say that the concern of individuals is emphasized less on bigger social classes to which they belong and the policy focused on the life makes their main concern as the growth of their own abilities and experience.
2-3-uncertainty and not risking:
Another feature of the new situation of young people that affects their lifestyles is less unpredictability of the future. This is partly the result of individualism and people relying on their own. At the macro level, uncertainty can be explained with the concept of Yek (1992) of the risk society. The recent modernization has made a great number and degrees of threat to society, including the risks associated with environmental pollution, the risk of nuclear energy, and industrial paid in food and agricultural products. In society there is a danger that the continuation of the classic direction of industrialism follows the risk of self-destruction (Kumar, 1995: 43-142). Perhaps the uncertainty could be counted as the outcome of the high-speed economic and social changes resulting unpalatable adult roles that many of today's youth will play in the future. For example, at the structural level, the multiplication of young people entering higher education and vocational training. Inflation of youth with high educational degrees and less educational ensuring to get jobs, with facing many potential choices on the path to academic life, career, professional next to structural limitations, alien background of Identity Managers and obscuring the transition experience of a range of young people will be followed.
2.4 Risk-taking:
Being uncertain about the future leads to the conclusion that all young people steps, which are taken, are associated with risk. Young people are forced to take risks and are aware of the costs and potential sources of their risk. It seems that the experience of transition in modern society is increasingly associated with risk-taking and many young people are now familiar with it. Iranian youth know that without educated professionals having jobs is very difficult, but at the same time they are also acknowledged that completing a college education is not a guarantee of employment as well and, therefore, many of them take a kind of gambling.
As another example we can name the migration of some college graduates to find work or complete their education opportunities abroad. Although the costs of immigration to some degree is dependent on cultural, economic and social capital of this group of students are incalculable, still their chances of success is fully guaranteed (see Zokaei 1386).
Personal relationships are equally risky. Choosing a spouse who previously was often with more supervision of society and family within local, family, and neighborhood familiarity networks is now associated with complexities. Young people have lost much of their former sense of security. Many of them see their future in jeopardy and are obliged to travel to their adulthood with no reliable guide maps and models.
On the other hand, the uncertainty and risk can be considered as a liberating experience for some young people. The unpredictability of the future can be more appealing than knowing one's limitations that he is facing in the future. Future version is unwritten and non-carved for young people and youth somehow know it. Another result of ambiguity is unpredictability and having to rely more on the element of risk and adventure, and negative attitude towards the world. The contemporary generation is more in the vicinity of the news and media and probably have witnessed more rape, violence and crime than any other generation (the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the risk of nuclear pollution, environmental degradation). Due to such areas the feelings of fear, insecurity and danger is more prevalent among this generation. Nowadays’ young people are less hopeful about their economic prospects. They know less structural mobility opportunity than their parents (intergenerational mobility), and it has more believe in enjoyable experience compared to our previous generation of youth.
2-5-different attitude to work and leisure:
From common criticism of adults generation to teenagers and young people is their lower motivation and commitment. At the structural level, as mentioned, the younger generation does not believe in job security. If or young parents of today, work was pivotal and base of life and pleasure was totally overwhelmed by it and it was defined in relation to it, in an increasing range of youth life after work today tends to be strengthened. The younger generation of today in building his identity relies more on leisure. As bukkake says leisure and consumption affect the manner in which people find themselves based on it (as whom they are and who they want to be). Consuming more than ever, has found leisure functional. By change of the style of consumption, old identity can be wiped and won an alternate identity. The wider and more important role that leisure plays in the formation of identity in today's world has this sociological sense in itself that job classes have given their places to the consuming slots as the areas of the collective interests and political groupings. However, the reality is that more important social gaps are still turning around other areas such as purchasing power, education, housing and similar indicators and lifestyle is not merely based on leisure.
For those young people who enjoy enough economic and cultural capital, leisure can be a source of creation of symbolic capital and a special type of communicating ability. When young people turn to exercise, they get together for drinks or travel, and they are no longer just looking for an extension of powers and getting away the stress just on their own, but they are rather looking for creating and shaping themselves in the form of social groups that can identification with them and give them collective identity (Roberts, 83: 1998).
Another aspect of the importance of leisure in modern society is beautification of everyday life. Modern young people are more concerned and interested in beauty and appearance and enjoyable experiences which are the result of leisure and penetrate into other areas of their lives. According to Chaney as lifestyles shape our character and feelings and as everyday life becomes beautiful, we find many reasons to worry about our appearance that feel our identities are at risk.
2-6- communication in a different way:
Mass media have become dominant sources in shaping youth identity. The current generation of young people should be known as the first generation of young people who are familiar with computers and communication technology. Many of them can work with a range of computer software and they can easily understand them. These technological developments have affected their tastes, enthusiasm, and relationship needs. Interactive and virtual communication technologies (especially the Internet) have had serious requires on the identification of young people. Risk-taking, transferability of emotions, giving the opportunity to reflect, reinforcement of the individuality and autonomy and selectivity, fluidizing identity, creating conflicts, reciprocity and crisis in identity, compensating some of the shortcomings of public space and the real world, making life private, individualism of identity and pleasuring and media, complexity in identity, beautifying everyday life, the rapid acquisition of experiences for adults, splitting the identity, the disenchantment of some Western life attractions, making a distinction, making distinction valuable and giving important to lifestyle are examples of assuming effects of cyberspace on values, identity and orientations of young people.
Similarly, new Medias have also affected communication needs of young people. Modern youth prefer to receive their needed information in short-cut and clear way, and as they are exposed to numerous choices, so they are always looking for a variety of styles and colors.
2-7-consumerism and pragmatist:
Another explanation of bias and priority to policies focus on life rather than priority making policies is immediate satisfaction rather than the mobile phone and deferred satisfaction. The new generation more than ever is looking for happy and pleased times, whether this pleasure is achieved in the workplace or at home. Although for a part of the new youth work forms an important component of personal and social identity, they simply do not work just for work itself, but they want it as a means to achieve their goals which are money, pleasure and leisure: it is clear that pleasure time becoming commercial and the necessity of paying money for experiencing many leisure fields (sports, travel and hanging around, improving artistic skills, and other things) has made the importance of high salary work for this group higher and stronger than the past and makes them worry about being abandoned of leisure companionships and activities.
On the other hand access to new media that clearly shows the glamor of benefits of welfare, science and new technologies besides excessive attention of parents have made some young people of new generation to be very demanding. This category has a strong penchant for immediate satisfaction. Many youth are looking for having these welfares and are in hurry to achieve them, and for a group of them, having money, wearing fashion and brand clothes, having a high prestige without doing tough works are strict demands.