Lifestyles patterns change of Iranian youth (2)

These young people have a low patience to phase progress and having plans for the future. However, their demands are not merely based on materialism, and they prefer a good and high-quality life over materialistic privileges, and sometimes we can see contradictions in their thoughts from this view.
Generally it seems that environment in which the new generation of young people are growing have basic differences with the previous generation. What motivated the previous generation is very different from what motivates the new generation. Mentioned developments necessarily reflect a part of modification of value and characteristics of the new generation of young people. It is clear that these developments and features with futuristic look reflect hobbies, interests, experiences and backgrounds influencing on the part of young people and it cannot be generalized to the whole experience of young people. In Western countries for depicting the development and spacing of one generation from past generations, they use particular name or label such as x-generation or z-generation or y-generation. For example, expression of x-generation is generally used for youths in the age group of 18 to 29 years old. This expression offers an image of upside-down baseball hats, wrinkled and patchy clothes, body piercing, passivity or hostility to the values of interest to their parents' generation, and above all it evokes the image of an unknown wave of young adults (Askilson, Doyle 1999:52).
A diverse range of intellectual values and orientation can be named as typical features of this generation that its areas have a lot of similarities with browsing features in this article. It seems that regardless of the social and historical context, levels of development and other social, political and ideological contexts, globalization in the cultural and economic levels, particularly technological and media developments have made the same conditions of life for social life of young people and phenomenon of youth. However, this homogeneity in contexts does not mean particular ignorance of special social historical context of each country and the impact of local forces on the global cultural process of youth’ existence and conditions. Young people are of dialectics of local and universal forces in historic and developmental conditions of each country. In the rest, we will discuss the necessities of mentioned cultural and value changes on formation of Iranian youth’s lifestyles in fields of media consumption (especially new and virtual Medias) and also culture of body and balance.
2. The new Media:
Becoming media and domestic increasingly describe the consumption of a major part of Iranian young people’s leisure and have deeply affected their lifestyles. Individualization of lifestyles of young people in addition to being affected by the growth of information and communications technology, it explains their growing as well. Interactive property of media have given more possibility to choose and more functionality to the youth and more opportunities to Digital, declarative and authorized participations for them. In continue, we will discuss in brief about some influences of new media on stylization of youth’s choices and the spread of new habits among them.
2-1-Internet:
Internet as a new form of media has found an increasing prevalence among young people, and although due to more limited learning of the media in Iran (in comparison with Western countries) its effects on communication, values, and identity patterns of young people is more focused on more consuming youth layers who have generally an average and higher economic and cultural capital; however, it is expected that its charm to be added by creating more infrastructure facilities in schools and deprived areas. The results of the national survey, values and attitudes of young people in 1383 suggests that entertainment use within the chat rooms and enterprise instant messaging is the predominant use of the Internet among young Iranians and in the next priorities sending e-mail and searching and are looking for scholarly information are placed. Provided incentives for young people to chat is for overcoming loneliness, finding new friends, evocative of those kinds of conversations and finally the freshness and variety of chat. It seems that young Iranians’ tendency to the media is partially due to the leisure limitations and sometimes constraints that young heterosexual relations can have in public space, so that 100% of virtual talks of young people have been with their opposite sex. On the other hand, in addition to communication compensation and facilitating performance, attractions such as anonymity, the possibility of impersonation and deceit of others are other attractions that are fluid and diverse rather than other electronic media for young people. Mentioned features can have broad necessities in gender relations, power relations, and relationship patterns between young girls and boys of Iran, that both from the positive dimension and negative dimension are discussable. Cyberspace although in a dominant way is a continuation of gender relations of youth in the actual world in which the dominant share is for boys, they have more skill and space and seek their sexual adventures online, and reproduce language, power, values and communication patterns similar to real space, however, for a range of young girls, especially those who have the least social and cultural capital it is a liberating and empowering experience as well. On the other hand, for those young people who do not use Internet for entertainment and online chat, but try to produce content, creation of databases and networks for themselves, and in particular for setting up a blog, internet has had a serious effect on role in shaping the modern identity, as recent theorists such as Giddens, Beck, Lash, Yuri and Bowman have referred to. This group of young people compared with young people whose dominant Internet usage is for fun, have more cosmopolitan tendencies and also show differences in other features such pluralism and combined values and identities (see Zokaie and Khatibi, 1386). Therefore, in parallel with reduction in pure leisure incentives and meeting basic curiosities, Internet provides an arena for young people to rethink their identity. Continuous and active presence in cyberspace and continuous use of multiple and unique features of the Internet, in particular, interacting and exchange of information with other multiple and different users has led to formation of modern identity and reflexive among Iranian users, in particular young users by professional use. The presence in this space as a plural space has made relativism and diversity acceptance easier than before for Iranian users (they face with relatively homogeneous world in the real world).
The Internet has also provided a new frontier in the formation of Iranian youth’s values, particularly values related to marriage and romantic friendships for young people. Tastes, preferences and interests of young people are increasingly taking the same form of consistent with the values, norms and sensitivities of Western romance. Western romance criteria (or norms related to dating and partner choosing based on the values of self-tool, masculinity, extreme functionality, pleasure seeking, discrimination, diversity, individual religion (religion at least) , outdoor attractions, quick transmission of feelings, patchwork making, risk-taking, and not commitment, dependency on cyberspace, fluidity, reciprocity and ambiguity, complexity, redundant, fantasy-oriented, sexy erotic love, raising the level of expectations and making it valuable are distinctions. A look at Iranian and non-Iranian multiple and diverse sites are from the same type, and analysis of structure’s content, format and content of documents and users information projects indicate the growing influence of these patterns in the interaction of young people and their life. in some of these sites that users have to complete cases for themselves and respond to standard questions from webmasters, many questions and sometimes predicted unusual and unconventional ones, in addition to extreme separating the individual (and hypothetical), tastes and lifestyle, sometimes they cause sensitivities or make young people to make prompted choices or give responses reluctantly (for example, some information about the sexual orientation and intensity of the applicant's case are asked).
On the whole, the presence of Iranian users in the virtual space should be considered as allowance- even though not so valuable- for their legal entrance to the modern world. Presence in cyberspace has changed Iranian youth geographical situation and in the different aspects and in different fields, it allows them to be modern and live modern. However, this experience in a negative way might affect their skills or interests to search for alternative ways and creative passing of leisure time in the absence of training and media literacy education, strengthen the passive consumption of media in them. Also virtual entertainments affect the youth’s interest in social cooperation and civil activities and about professional consumers and producers it can replace one-side cosmopolitanism with social cooperation. Although these interests or values are not destructive, they may cost the excessive change of source frameworks of youth and make their identities less important in national, religious, and civil levels.
2.2: Mobile
Mobile phone as a means of communication in addition to expediting and facilitating communication has undergone many changes in communication patterns of young people. A sense of security and confidence, deepen friendship and emotional relations, expansion of the scope of personal relationships, relationships away from family control are the impacts of this communication media on interactions and lifestyles of youth. SMS besides the new facilities of mobile phones with new features, colors, games, camera and Bluetooth technology has taken the mobile phone higher than just a communication tool and has made it as a base for entertainment, fun and leisure activities.
Mobile also for its part has helped the process of finding individuality, independence and socialization of young people and making youth enjoyable. Mobile phone has given a greater independence to young people who still live with their families, and enhances their self-esteem. Flexibility in time and space has made mobile a perfect tool for entertainment and communication foryouth. The mobile phone allows young people that by considering the possibility of constant contact with the family to spend more time outside the family, without inciting the anxiety of their family. Of course, this freedom is still subject to class status, facilities of life, and especially the gender of youth and cultural factors still continue to act in the context of structural factors and are described by them. Hence, for instance, although some young girls know the ownership of cellphones as a strengthening experience that at least has rid them off the irritants related to public phone stations and sometimes can contact with their friends out of supervision of their family members, yet more freedom is for young boys who are less obliged to answer their family’s worry and questions: the interesting thing is that, unlike Western countries that usually a mobile phone is for a small circle of close friends and relatives and know it as a very personal tool than phones, in Iran, people give their numbers more easily to relatives and friends and feel to have more freedom and will in this issue.
2-3- body styles:
Growth of nutrition, health, and sport technologies on the one hand, and the importance of agency and autonomy, extensive consumerism, the importance of youth and growing interest in the young and beautiful bodies that are inspired from the popular culture of new media, on the other hand, the body has become central issue in made in social and cultural studies in contemporary society. Physical Culture represents a picture of society and major cultural developments, as well as the process of its changes.
Results of the limited studies and especially observations at the community level suggests the importance of projects of the body to a greater range of young girls and boys and their direct or indirect investment in that path, although significant change as similar fields of young people should be sought in girls’ lives. the study of the author on a purposive sample of youth participating in fitness clubs (Zokaei, 1386) in Tehran shows that about all index components of physical satisfaction (height, weight, physic, evaluation of the body, the overall feeling of the body and inside feeling about the body) consent of boys is more than girls. However, the average scores of young boys and girls of BMI that is achieved of dividing weight by the square of height for both groups is at an acceptable level. This assessment is mental more than being an observer over the objective physical situation. More than 53 girl clients of clubs and 32% of boys and in fitness clubs have a diet at some point, although their reasons and motives were different. Following table shows different motives of the diets in Tehran among the young athletes:
Being fashionable Satellite and media advertisings health and fitness The attention of the opposite sex Having more confidence Attention for marriage Keeping up with the joneses
Female Man Female Man Female Man Female Man Female Man Female Man Female Man
37% 37/4 11.5 12.9 12.5 19/7 17/8 12/2 7/2 4.8 2/9 2/7 1.11 8.8
as the results of the table show, attention to fashion for young people is a reflect of the active media culture pressure of their environment more than an inner need that depicts the ideal and perfect form of body for them and in contrast with the expectations, not only girls, but boys are affected in the same way (in this case). The next longing of responders of diets is health that its importance has been more for boys than the girls, and with a brief difference, the attraction of opposite sex is the next important motivation of this group of young people which has been stated more from girls’ side.
It seems like the appetite of wearing some clothes in the shops of cities has made the girls interested in suffering hard diets and has made them more sensitive about representing a “favorable” and “suitable” image of themselves in the places where they are more judged by others. The tool importance of diet and exercise similar to a manner for achieving a fit body in the girls is obvious from their less satisfaction from the result of their diets. While over 40% of boys have considered their diets satisfying and this percentage is only 23% among girls.
Respondents The ideal height for women. The ideal height for men Ideal weight for women Ideal weight for men
Girl 168/3 182/7 57/2 84/9
Boy 167/3 180/8 58/7 77/6
Although the mechanisms and reasons for attendance to the body fit and style for two genders also show differences, for example, gaining confidence, friendly competitiveness and more responsive to consumer market among girls is still more than boys, it seems that media culture’s effect in spread of ideals related to body fit is so popular that has made same choices among male and female respondents about ideal height and weight. The following table shows evaluation of girls and boys about ideal height and weight for men and women separately. The above table’s information clearly indicates the growing convergence of the two sexes’ trends about the importance of body and body fit that the major affecting mechanisms as mentioned is the role of media values and culture. Similarity of judgments of both sexes except in the case of ideal weight for men is quite impressive and non-random. This result depicts that physical culture more than being dependent to men culture and values suitable for it, is related to media culture and popular western values about ideal body and the increasing process of individualism of youth’s values. Although the project of body for Iranian young people is comprehensive and includes different layers of youth, like the other fields of style, is subject of structural conditions of youth, and inequalities and differences in social-economic capitals and the place of living affect it. As the same, body styles are penetrated by female and male patterns and changes in such values. For instance, the young people living in more deprived areas show male values more than people living in rich areas, and these differences continue to sport tastes and choices and a different attitude and look toward the body. An evidence for this matter is the choice of martial sports for young people living in less affluent areas and choice of single sports and more expensive ones for youth living in affluent areas.
3. Conclusion
Iranian society during the last decade has been observing alternative life styles. Acceleration of the process of social segregation, relative prosperity and the rest of society after the obliged war, the influence of related forces and processes to globalization and more direct and indirect proximity of people with it (especially young people), the development and growth of information and communication technologies and the ubiquitous influences of new media, the spread of individualistic values, rethinking of youth (especially girls) to their social position and roles and habits change and communication patterns of males and females, more democratic atmosphere of the family interactions, the importance of leisure, change of economic conditions and intense experience of university educations for young people, particularly girls, along with other reasons and fields has been a groundwork for a major cultural transformation in the recent period. Basically, during the period of cultural transmission, life styles are collected faster than existed cultural value frameworks and systems. Therefore, astronomical comprehensive and sustainable lifestyles can provide a useful sign in direction of emerging culture. During theoretical discussions, we showed that although lifestyle is dependent to social class and status, it can cross structural borders. Lifestyle groups are formed based on the scope of their flexibilities that exist in prestige market about the priority of related values with special tastes. Thus, regarding the observation of whole conditions and fields in which Iranian young people are acting, we can say: a different generational and historical experience is their motivation; a different background that modernism of Iran’s society acts in it has increased the importance of status groups, and the quality of consumption and has led the formation of lifestyles. Of the youth’s lifestyle components we can mention religious memberships, family models, leisure activities, media consumption, body and clothing that the tow last factors were discussed in details. Thinking about the sense of manner and motivations of young people from pleasing consumption of media and also paying attention to body are depicting the change of values in Iran’s society and the current youth generation that the important features of it can be named as individualism, differentiation, pragmatism, and demanding independence. Although the above directions in cultural level show a fast and widespread process, they are not considered as the only active processes in social and cultural life field of young people, and other alternative patterns of life could be counted considering structural backgrounds and life experiences of other youth’s groups.