Welcome back to Egypt6...
When we last left our caped crusaders over one year ago, we were periodically blogging about random topics and having some mildly spirited conversation, while no one on the Internet paid attention. For old time's sake, here is a new topic to ponder...
I was at the mall yesterday with Cat having a bite to eat before our movie and I couldn't help but notice that the place was overrun with teenagers. Now, teenagers at a mall is no big thing today, but when I was growing up, no one hung out at the mall. I distinctly remember the King's Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, NY being a scary, filthy place that we only went to when we were desperate for some item we could not by closer to home. Later on I do remember the nice, clean Staten Island Mall becoming a new place to go, but again, I have no recollection of anyone my age actually hanging out there.
This led me to ask the question, "When did you have to be born to think that hanging out at the mall was just something normal?" Cat contends that it may have to do with where you grew up. She did not live near a mall, so it was never something she thought about. Having lived in the city myself, I cannot speak for everyone, since NY did not easily give up its small business mentality, which I think factors in the discussion.
Nevertheless, I think this is still a generational question. According to sources, we (being the authors of this blog), were born at the end of of generation X, which was supposed to have ended between 1979 and 1982. I have always contended that this was a transitional era, which explains why for example, it is considered acceptable by many when someone in our age bracket is not technologically literate. In this case, the thinking was that you needed to have exposure to a computer to learn how to use one. In the same way, you would actually need to have malls to want to hang out in them...
So, bringing this back to the original question, at what point did teenagers start hanging out in malls? I think this didn't really start until the mid 1990's, which would place the birth date for this phenomenon circa 1983-1984. I am sure there are more enlightened milestones people use to judge generations; The Kennedy Assignation, Reagan getting shot, the Challenger Explosion, the first or second world trade center bombing, but alas, I will leave you with something far more superficial...
What do you think?
The Mall Generation...
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4 comments:
I'll jump in here briefly, though all I have is anecdotal evidence. I personally did not hang out at the mall a lot, but a lot of people in my high school class did. And, as you suggested, that was largely due to the fact that we had a large, safe mall nearby. There was a sketchier mall too, actually, and I even remember kids my age or thereabouts hanging out there as well.
I wish I had more input here. I don't necessarily agree with your idea that mall-frequenting is a phenomenon that defines a certain generational line, but I have no real knowledge of it aside from my own limited experience. So... yeah.
When you put it that way, I wouldn't say that mall frequenting "defines" the generation, but rather it is more of a backdrop for the generation.
In many ways the mall is a great equalizer and is more social than the older "hang outs" and basements where people use to meet up in the past. Whether or not you interacted with the cool kids or the nerds or whatever, you were actually in proximity to them and you were all exposed to the same stores and the same media. In the past, people just avoided those who were not their social equals, but in a strange way, this got them in the same room, kind of like the Breakfast Club without the detention.
I have to believe that something about this exposure and simply the change in where people hung out is important to this generation and their identity. Today with the Internet, I think the generation that has followed this first group of Mall-dwellers can actually act on the exposure and assert their individuality in ways that the previous generation couldn't.
Maybe I was just sheltered somewhat, but I don't think my upbringing was anything like what I just described above and was probably more like one from the 60's and 70's... I would hang out a different friend's houses, would go to the park, or just hang outside in the grassy field outside my apartment where I lived. I don't think I was heavily exposed to anything in pop culture and definitely was not too swayed by any trends. If anything, thanks to facebook, I am probably more plugged into that than ever.
Anyway, my point, if I had one, was that I think there is a gap in culture between people our age and some of the younger generations. Obviously it is not the same for everyone and the mall may or may not be a piece of it. Again, I cannot put my finger on it, but there are definitely markers that define it. I would welcome any thoughts for what defines from your perspective...
Okay, so I just thought of something. Haven't quite finalized my idea, so bear with me. I think that the rise of mall culture is due to two main factors that sort of worked hand in hand.
First, the decline of local businesses and "the downtown area." Where I grew up, I lived alongside a highway. The closest true town square, with stores and such, was too far away for a kid to walk or even bike to. The old-time idea of a kid going to the soda fountain or corner store was not available to me. In places like where you used to live, suburban Maryland, it's even more extreme; housing developments spring up in the middle of nowhere, and then soulless malls and strip malls spring up to take those developments' money.
Then there's what I'm going to call "the rise of the tween." Tweens/teens, I remember reading a while back, are the biggest consumers. This is, as far as I know, a fairly recent phenomenon (I'm not going to get statistics; this is just a blog comment). Twenty years ago, it didn't seem like children had as much of a group identity as they do now. There was some kids' music when we were kids, but it isn't the huge industry that it is now. Young people have greater feelings of entitlement, more of an idea of what they're supposed to want, and more disposable income at their hands.
I think you see where I'm going with this. With these two forces working together, like a Consumer Culture Voltron (man, dated myself with that reference), you have young people with nothing to do nearby their homes, and strong consumer impulses. Add to that the fact that more parents are working and just looking for a place to dump their children for a while.
Kind of disjointed, but hopefully there's a point in there somewhere.
Keith, way to date yourself with the Voltron reference. Still, I recently saved the day at trivia night by knowing the names of the twins from Thundercats, so I can't claim I'm less geeky/old in any way. Now, a few comments on the mall phenomenon.
-First: I think kids' hangouts are dictated by proximity and transportation. When I was in Jr. High, we hung out at each other's houses or during after school activities. Once we knew a few people with cars or were old enough to drive, we hung out more at the mall. Also, while I didn't do either of these in my high schools days, I know that there is precious little to do in the country besides get high and get pregnant. In comparison, the mall is a fairly benign attraction.
-It's not so much that you prefer one venue over another--rather, you go where your friends are. None of my friends ever went to sporting events, so I was hanging out in the theatre department and the arcade instead of football games.
-Lately, there have been one or two violent incidents in places where teens hang out (in DC and its suburbs). One spot is the outdoor mall complex in Silver Spring. People complain about the number of teenagers, but then, when the new community center was built in town, they didn't allocate any of it as community space for adolescents. Most of the summer jobs usually taken by teens are now scooped up by cash-strapped adults, so there are more teens with spare time than usual.
-Just as a reference point, Mallrats came out in 1995. If those characters were supposed to be 16 or 17, they would have been born around the same time we were. And malls, when I occasionally go to them--are still mobbed by hordes of teenagers.
On a final note, I'm embarrassed to admit that I heard about this post from ANDREJ of all people. Glad to see Egypt6 is back in action!
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