Calixto 1
Marco Calixto
Instructor: Jamie Schulman
Soc 103: Section 1
11/27/17
Paper Report
Subculture: Greasers
The term “subculture” is defined in the dictionary as “a culture within a broader
mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs.” Studying subculture in
the perspective of a sociologist, is to understand and comprehend a specific culture. In today’s
modern society of America, there are many variety of subcultures that a sociologist can examine
from the past or in today’s society. For this paper, the chosen subculture to be investigated is the
greaser subculture. Greasers are defined as “a working-class youth subculture that originated in
the 1950s among teenagers in northeastern …show more content…
However, not everyone was willing to engage in such traditional roles. Thus, youths of male
and female gender rose up in rebellion.
Calixto 3
How the greaser subculture was misrepresented or misunderstood in society was due to
the attires displayed from the greaser youths in contrast to the standard clothing of
society in the fifties. The attires that fitted the standard norms of conformity involved males
wearing flannel suits, sport coats, dress shirts, dress pants, letterman jackets, bowling shirts and
saddle shoes. For females, they include button-up sweaters, fitted blouses, full knee length skirts,
halter strap dresses, and petticoats with full skirts. The attires that either a male or female greaser
used include: Clothing usually worn by greasers included fitted T-shirts in white or black (often with the sleeves rolled up), ringer T-shirts, Italian knit shirts, Baseball shirts, bowling shirts, "Daddy-O"-style shirts, denim jackets, leather jackets, black or blue jeans (with rolled-up cuffs anywhere from one to four inches), baggy cotton twill work trousers, black leather pants or vests, bomber jackets, letterman jackets, tank …show more content…
The outcomes that came about for the greaser subculture was that it led to them being
frown upon by the upper-class people in society. This raised difficulties in them finding
employment. Yet despite the adversities they faced, they took pride at being greasers. This can
supported by the following passage:
These teenagers were rebellious and were considered to be street gangsters known as “hoods”. This subculture became extremely popularized so it started to become internationally practiced. They then started to grow into other types of individuals quickly. This group was formed with the faith to have a group of young men who shared common values. They wanted to stand out from the mainstream society and go against what the society considered as the correct ethical behavior. At this time, society frowned upon individuals who seemed different in terms of cultural values and ethnicity.
And by doing so, they established a subculture that is still revered today. Since the greaser subculture can be characterized as a youth culture, it can be elucidated
by a sociologist or a person with a degree in sociology. In his article, The Sociology of
Marco Calixto
Instructor: Jamie Schulman
Soc 103: Section 1
11/27/17
Paper Report
Subculture: Greasers
The term “subculture” is defined in the dictionary as “a culture within a broader
mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs.” Studying subculture in
the perspective of a sociologist, is to understand and comprehend a specific culture. In today’s
modern society of America, there are many variety of subcultures that a sociologist can examine
from the past or in today’s society. For this paper, the chosen subculture to be investigated is the
greaser subculture. Greasers are defined as “a working-class youth subculture that originated in
the 1950s among teenagers in northeastern …show more content…
However, not everyone was willing to engage in such traditional roles. Thus, youths of male
and female gender rose up in rebellion.
Calixto 3
How the greaser subculture was misrepresented or misunderstood in society was due to
the attires displayed from the greaser youths in contrast to the standard clothing of
society in the fifties. The attires that fitted the standard norms of conformity involved males
wearing flannel suits, sport coats, dress shirts, dress pants, letterman jackets, bowling shirts and
saddle shoes. For females, they include button-up sweaters, fitted blouses, full knee length skirts,
halter strap dresses, and petticoats with full skirts. The attires that either a male or female greaser
used include: Clothing usually worn by greasers included fitted T-shirts in white or black (often with the sleeves rolled up), ringer T-shirts, Italian knit shirts, Baseball shirts, bowling shirts, "Daddy-O"-style shirts, denim jackets, leather jackets, black or blue jeans (with rolled-up cuffs anywhere from one to four inches), baggy cotton twill work trousers, black leather pants or vests, bomber jackets, letterman jackets, tank …show more content…
The outcomes that came about for the greaser subculture was that it led to them being
frown upon by the upper-class people in society. This raised difficulties in them finding
employment. Yet despite the adversities they faced, they took pride at being greasers. This can
supported by the following passage:
These teenagers were rebellious and were considered to be street gangsters known as “hoods”. This subculture became extremely popularized so it started to become internationally practiced. They then started to grow into other types of individuals quickly. This group was formed with the faith to have a group of young men who shared common values. They wanted to stand out from the mainstream society and go against what the society considered as the correct ethical behavior. At this time, society frowned upon individuals who seemed different in terms of cultural values and ethnicity.
And by doing so, they established a subculture that is still revered today. Since the greaser subculture can be characterized as a youth culture, it can be elucidated
by a sociologist or a person with a degree in sociology. In his article, The Sociology of