Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2009, Page 65

DREYMAR UM BILAR Á OYCGJUM
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drive a car. Many boys from the lower classes
work hard to save money for their first
private car, which is also, preferably, acces-
sible the very day they get the licence (Gaini,
2009). The perfect birthday celebration for
children reaching the age of majority
includes the key to 'freedom' incarnated in a
metal car key.
The driver's licence gives access to cars
that give access to lifestyles, networks and
youth groups. The dream of cars is also a
dream of popularity among peers, high
social status in society and, not least, force
of attraction towards potential worshippers
and lovers. For those who don't drive
themselves but still want to be recognized in
local car cultures, it is important to have
friends and acquaintances with 'fancy' cars
in order to compensate for personal short-
comings. Indeed, many young people who
are frequent passengers of cruising cars don't
own a car or even a licence to drive. Many
young men driving dark streets at night have
underage girls on the car’s backseats. Espe-
cially, in villages and towns outside the capi-
tal area, young people spend many hours in
cars that have many functions - e.g. as
mobile leisure club, cafe, disco, bedroom, etc.
(op cit).
Cars represent mobility, a sweet move-
ment that makes the driver feel that he floats
above the landscape without any limitations.
Young people associate the car with a
broader horizon, opening the eyes to new
ideas, styles and networks. For many young
people in the Faroe Islands, notably in small
non-urban communities, the car symbolizes
a free private space out of their parents’ con-
trol. Young men and women who live in
their parents' houses, often because of the
limited range of rooms and apartments for
rent in the community, value cars as free
'rooms’ replacing the house they don't have
(Gaini, 2008). The car functions in other
words as a safety valve for structural societal
problems, e.g. the housing shortage in a
traditional society turned (late) modern.
Another special condition making it easy to
seduce people into the international car cult
is the rainy and windy weather of the basaltic
islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
Trip to adult life
A drive can be an adventurous trip that
young people bring to their adult life.
Psychologists have for years investigated the
behaviour and feelings of drivers when they
are on the road (Best, 2006; Mogensen,
2002). The risk taking youth is relevant in
these studies. Cars are also connected to
women and sexuality. Men talk about their
cars as if they were attractive women that
they dominate. When men discuss car races
that they have taken part in, it is often a
metaphorical story of sexual intercourse.
The car is a masculine object that men use
in order to get in contact with women, but
the car is also a cultural capital leading to
high rank among peers. This is a simplified
image of reality as many young modern
women reject cars as symbols of masculinity.
Cars often function as a link between
boys and girls. Many love stories start on a
drive. For many years already Faroese youths
have had drives as a favourite leisure time
activity. Niels Frid, a Danish journalist, wrote
already in the early 1980s:
"Okay, what we are doing now, it is
important in Faroese culture, among
young people, and it is what we call 'to