Chav Culture

Across the pond, a new youth culture has evolved amongst the marsh-reeds of concrete council housing blocks. We call them the Chav, and they are multiplying. Who are they? Well, I'll explain.

The natural US counterpart for a Chav would be the Prep. This is mainly due to the basic rivalries in youth culture. All you hot-topic-eyeliner-wearing-alt rock-listeners will mark the Prep as your natural enemy. The same is true here; those in tight pants and sleek hair extensions are natural prey of the Chav. But Chav and Prep are intensely different species.

The Chavs, themselves, differ from the Prep in several ways. The Prep is usually the hallmark of being fairly well-off; you can afford to shop at Hollister. Here, the Chav is considered the badge of the lower class- they lurk in inner cities, outside boarded up shops and many other places besides. Preps are often defined by their involvement in school sports teams, whereas Chavs are not necessarily the sporty type.

Let me give you a general profile of a Chav. This fictional fellow's name is Chas, and he lives in North-Western England. His apparel, despite my pervious mention of lower-class status, is profoundly expensive. The trademark anorak, purchased from Helly Hansen for around £40, comes accompanied by Rockport walking boots at a staggering fee of around £120. You see, Chavs often come dressed in clothing suitable for hiking or mountaineering, although it is well adapted for spending long peroids of time outside drinking alcohol also. The Chav aesthetic comes complete with real (or fake) Diamond and gold jewellery, usually fairly chunky and ostentatious in appearance. So we've covered the appearance of Chas. Now, how does he behave?

Most people consider the Chav to be the group of people for which the word 'delinquent' was created. Typical social behaviours include getting pregnant at 13 (although not Chas, I fear, for Chavs tend to have a strong opposition to queers/trannies/etc), heavy drinking, shoplifting and assault. Following me so far?

Well, that is one popular opinion of the Chav. But a true one? I think not. Chavs are people too, after all, and they do get an awful lot of negative press on their part. We, assuming 'we' to be the pale skinned, long haired, tight-jean wearing generation, do get our fair bit of persecution from these Chavs. Are they not, in the slightest, justified for that?
Judging by our snobbish and dismissive opinion of Chavs, I'd say they see us as queer, uppity little faggots. At least, that is what I have been told. Perhaps we deserve it, perhaps we don't. Many people consider that Chavs are all brain dead idiots, but it certainly wouldn't do to place that prejudice on each and every one of them.

In this short entry, I hope to have shed some light upon one youth culture that is very much disregarded. I also hope to have impressed upon you that there is no such thing as a 'bad' group of people. There are only people.