Hegemony: has teen exploitation just been repackaged?

Teeangers are now seen as counter culture, rather than a sub -culture controlled/exploited by the adult culture, and have been since about the 1960's; however this has grown to be definite over the years. Is this true? or has the exploitation of the teenage culture just been repackaged? Have teenagers never progressed to a counter culture; have they always been a sub-culture and been manipulated to believe they are equal to the adult culture?

There is the possibility that there was a counter culture where the teens were equal alongside the adults and realised the exploitation that was happening, however it can argued that the sense of anti-consumerism and anti-establishment is now being used by the adults to control the teen culture. Back in the 1960's, anti-consumerism was huge and young people were cynical of the media; this continued well in the 1980's, although this time it was becoming less anti-consumerism and more anti-establishment due to the birth of the punk genre. However, I believe that the 21st century image of the punk has been manipulated by the media and controlled to make a 'calmer' version of punk; a less actively anti-establishment, more passive anti-establishment - where they believe they're against all things establishment but wouldn't actively push out against society. 1980's Punks

This 'calmer' version of punk has switched a parent view of the stereotype because they're not the hardcore, anti-establishment, scary punk kids from the 1980's; they're a nicer, conformist, 21st century version: "punk rock as whole is gaining acceptance from the parents of suburban America" (http://punkmusic.about.com/od/punk101/a/punktimeline_2.htm, Ryan Cooper, "1989-Present: Punk Shapes Up Into What We Know Today").

Aiden - 21st century punk.

Everyone is an individual. Or so they say. Everyone is certainly unique; individual, however is a different story - are teenagers made to believe they are individual and through this exploitation they're making themselves less individual and more conformist? "Emo's" for example, say they're individual, suffering the plight of life alone yet they all dress the same and listen to the same music because that's "how emo kids dress and what emo kids listen to." They just conform to stereotype that the media pump out; "Cute is what we aim for" is a mainstream emo-rock band that has an influence in the emo-rock genre and not just through their music. Their style conforms to what is expected of an emo-rock band and therefore what is expected of the "emo kid." There is an element of hipocrisy because society call teenagers that are heavily influenced by their music taste and peers, conformist (when they call themselves individuals/rebels), however adults that are similar to the teenagers are seen as rebels and non-conformist because they're not doing what society and the media believe an adult should do.

Although teenagers want to think they're individual and what they choose to do is down to their personal choice; this isn't the case alot of the time, obviously there is choice there - it isn't a dictatorship, however where you hang out, what you wear and who your peers are predominately come down to your interests and what you have in common with them, the question is: how much of this is controlled by the media? Has the media created a calmer, more "adult-friendly" versions of stereotypes? Do "emo kids" dress how they do because the media have created the stereotype through their music? I believe that the media expose teeangers' insecurities; although we want to be individual, we don't want to be alone, isolated; we want to belong to groups/gangs - this controls us and this is what the media plays on: our want for belonging. The reason teenagers follow the crowd in terms of fashion and hangouts is because we don't want to be left behind. By creating "adult-friendly" versions of stereotypes, for example: punks, the media are giving adults a sense of security as they feel they have a superiority over teenagers because the teenagers aren't as proactive against consumerism and the establishment compared with the teeangers of the 1960's and 1980's. The hegemony of the 1950's has returned; the teenagers believe what they see in the media is how they should act and believe that it is normal.