Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2009, Page 68

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DREAMS OF CARS ON AN /SLAND
leaves the man. The cargives life content and
meaning and cannot easily be substituted by
any other interest. This monomaniac charac-
ter is rare but survives in enclaves of latemo-
dern Faroese society. The Atlantic cowboy,
proud of his macho style and working class
(fishing) background, had his heyday in the
1970s and 1980s. Fle was the weekend
playboy and action-seeker with strong bonds
to traditional family-based village communi-
ties (Gaini, 2006). The cowboy is today con-
tested by several new types of men with
much more ambiguous and urban mascu-
line values. The Atlantic cowboy was very
close to the stereotyped village youth pole
in the previously mentioned capital—village
continuum.
The village youth stereotype, according
to a 26-year-old female informant, is the boy
who comes to Torshavn in a car that has a
lowered chassis, 4000W subwoofers, 17
inches sport rims and preferably many lights
on all sides. The driver wears slippers, a white
cotton T-shirt and a brown or black leather
jacket. But, says the informant, today the
capital is full of villagers, so the difference is
not obvious anymore. Today cars identified
with Atlantic cowboys - e.g. Opel Mantra
and Toyota Corolla in the 1980s - are con-
sidered rather farcical. The new trend is to
have expensive luxury cars - BMW always a
hit among young boys showing muscles -
that exhibit economic wealth more than
anything else (Gaini, 2009). The owners of
these vehicles are seldom amateur mecha-
nics with dirty garages. They are not very
young and they wear black shoes fitting to
sterile offices in Torshavn. Women are also
active car drivers with interest in motors and
wheels, a shift from the strongly male domi-
nated era of the cowboys (Dennis and Urry,
2009).
Lifestyle and values
Cars are used as leisure playthings. The
youngest drivers, aged about 18-23, often
have free access to their parents' car in
evenings and weekends. Faroese youths are,
compared to contemporaries in many
neighbouring countries, relatively indepen-
dent and unrestricted in their relation to
parents and other seniors in the family. This
explains the large amount of young people
driving in the streets at night. Driver’s license
holders are privileged to amuse themselves
with cars without noteworthy caution from
veteran drivers. The car functions as a mobile
bar and discotheque without a dance floor.
The driver tries, in fierce competition with
driving comrades, to gather friends and
attractive admirers into his car for a journey
through the mountainous landscape after
sunset.
The car is a sex symbol in modern me-
dia. Actually, it has been a symbol of seduc-
tion from the very beginning (Best, 2006).
The car has - in movies, music, arts etc. -
signified the fulfilment of man's erotic de-
sires. It is a social stage where comedies and
tragedies are played, but it is also a practical
tool that makes everyday life more flexible,
mobile and adventurous. You never know
where the car takes you. At night, when
others are sleeping or in the nightclub's neon
lights, who is driving the car? Are the drivers
boring outsiders without a social network?
Or are they exactly the opposite? These
questions have no simple answers. Young
people driving alone without any fixed
destination are trying to avoid boring family