Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2006, Side 88

86
CONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES IN CHILDREN’S CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION
having it up? Cause all three of you have got it/
Andrew: It’s cool.
David: It’s cool yeah.
Interview, WPS, P6, Male, 10/6/03
Therefore, it is evident that constructing cool
identities was partially dependent on groom-
ing. Clothing proved to be equally as sig-
nificant as grooming. The P6 boys fre-
quently spoke about various clothing styles
such as “sweaty”, “goth” and “baggies”9.
The type of clothing deemed appropriate de-
pended on the context with in which it was
wom. The boys (from both schools) clearly
distinguished between what they considered
to be appropriate clothing for different oc-
casions. They explained that for parties they
dressed up, for school they wore uniforms,
for skateboarding they put on baggy trousers
and for golf they wore chinos trousers (play-
ing golf was an activity the boys from WPS
engaged in - a possible indication of the
greater affluence of their socioeconomic
background). There were other differences
between the schools e.g. the boys from NPS
were less likely to speak of specific cloth-
ing for various occasions (except for par-
ties for which they wore designer brands).
Furthermore, the boys from NPS were more
likely than those from WPS to have jew-
ellery (rings, necklaces etc.) signifying sym-
bols of their favourite football teams.
Interestingly the girls generally, had a
tendency to downplay the issue of Tooks’.
They frequently indicated that looks were
not important and made statements such as
“going to school is not a fashion show” (In-
terview, NPS, F, P6,10/12/02). Yetthegirl’s
statements did not seem to correlate with
their actions. They clearly did make an ef-
fort with clothes and hair. This was con-
firmed in interviews with parents (Parent in-
terview, P6, NPS, F, 10/1/03) whilst other
girls told the researcher directly.
Interviewer: But do looks matter for school?
Kathleen: Yeah they do their hair for school and
put hairspray in.
Interview, P6, NPS, Female, 7/1/03
Kathleen: Most of the girls in our class: looks
are everything.
Interviewer: What makes you say that?
Kathleen: When there’s parties they come in all
sorts of dresses
Interview, P6, NPS, Female, 7/1/03
Therefore, the data along with the above
statements indicate that the girls were much
more concerned with looks than they cared
to admit. This may be linked to the girls’ age.
They were in primary six and therefore, on
the boundary of their teenage years. It is con-
ceivable that the girls had not quite reached
an age where it was acceptable in the peer
group to openly be concerned about ap-
pearance.
Nevertheless, there were several cases of
children who were simply not interested in
fashion, clothing, gel or other grooming
products. Therefore, not all children use
clothing and grooming in the same way as
a resource for identity construction. Over-
all, it can be concluded that appearance is
of key concern to the children in general and
critical in identity construction. The physi-
cal body remains central throughout child-
hood; however, extra-physical appearance
increases in importance as children get older.