Essay: ‘Lad Culture’ and its Deeper Correlation with Toxic Masculinity

Walking around a university campus can be a liberating experience. As one can watch as many young minds come together to create ideas, solve problems, and grow in their educational journey. Around campus, all genders are welcome to thrive and investigate the many wonders of the world around them. It may seem that gender inequality and bias within school systems has greatly diminished, as more than half of the student body in higher education is female, with those who identify as women also tending to do better in university settings than their male peers. Although, this increase in female involvement in higher education does not signify complete equality. There are many places around campus that females, and vulnerable individuals feel unsafe, and unwelcome due to the actions of a select group of male counterparts. This group has been classified as ‘the lads’. As I will further discuss below, the lads generally partake in behaviours such as binge drinking, chanting, banter, etc., which is fine on it’s own, but the concern existing with this behaviour is that it can lead to misogyny and usually engages with the degradation of women, which has lead to sexual harassment, blurred lines of consent, and the objectification of females. The term for this is ‘lad culture’. It is is a subculture that has always existed within society, although only in recent years has it come to the attention of the public. This is in part due the evolving of societal ideas and judgments that place equality at the forefront of political and social issues, and is also due to the rising prominence of media (that of news media, social media, etc.). Historically, issues that gain a mass societal response as well as large amounts of airtime are considered to be a moral panic, especially when regarding topics of youth. Moral panics tend to indicate that there is a greater agenda or reason for the alarm that usually concerns fear culture, or a political agenda. Although a nationwide chain of events and incidents, such as laddish behaviour, cannot merely be put into terms as a panic about today’s youth and sexuality. Although laddish behaviour can be considered a moral panic due to its exposure in recent media, it should not be regarded as a mere temporary panic, and should instead be looked at as a social issue prominent within universities that has deep rooted issues of misogyny and gender inequality. I will show this through discussions of lad culture, the historical issues of gender inequality in which lad culture is rooted in, media perpetuation and response to lad culture (both positive and negative), and by looking at lad culture through the lens of moral panics (specifically about youth).
Lad Culture
Lad culture can be described as the intersection of sexuality and hegemonic masculinity. The ‘lad’ is socially pervasive, and partakes in boyish and crude behaviour. Connell’s hegemonic masculinity describes an ideal that opposes femininity presented in males (2005). The hegemonic male is strong, powerful, emotionless, aggressive, sexual, and as seen most prominently in lad culture, sexualizes and objectifies women.
Lad culture is often associated with sexual threats and violence that are often perpetuated through mob mentality, usually in the environment where drinking and/or drugs are involved (such as night clubs, pubs, or parties). Although it should not always be looked at in a negative generalizing light, as not all who participate in laddish behaviour share these attributes and participate in the harmful acts that are readily heard about around campuses and in the media. Those who are involved in laddish behaviour are not a clear cut group, they are not easily identifiable by any couple features (Elley, 2018). Society has come to expect groups of boys to be rowdy and demanding of attention, hence the classic phrase: “boys will be boys”. Youth are often looked at to be “radical” rule benders and expected to act in opposition to power and seniority. As many studies have found, individually these boys oppose the sexually dominated, abusive, and dominating ways. Although, once in a larger group, values fade and reveal traditional hegemonic masculine traits and ideas as highlighted in “I drink, therefore I’m man” (Dempster, 2011). Laddish behaviour becomes a way to bond with others, particularly on a night out, where alcohol can cloud previous judgements and conceptions of what is okay. Furthermore, as pack mentalities prevails, individuals may convince themselves that their behaviour is acceptable as others are also participating (Dempster, 2009). Although, this does not excuse the behaviour nor does it explain why laddish behaviour can continue without a group environment or the direct influence of others. This can be explained as a trait of the self fulfilling prophecy. Self fulfilling prophecy is the idea that once labelled, a person is more inclined to act the way they are expected to by the population (Merton, 1948). As such, those who are commonly labeled as rowdy or ‘laddish’ may be more inclined to act in the way they are expected, or may unintentionally fall into these stereotypes due to the way others may act when around them. Lad culture is often perpetuated by campus environment (Phipps and Young, 2013). Sports team initiations, club nights, and social media banter all contribute to the environment and understand of lad culture which many participate in without realization. In this, it becomes easier to understand the mob mentality that it produces and hence why some individuals claim different values, but associate with and contribute to lad culture (due to the immense exposure to laddish behaviour and ideals).
From a societal view, it is important to remember that lad culture is often positioned in the middle of contrasting ideas. Lad culture predominantly exists in higher education but opposes structure and rule. It works around the glorification of women, but only that in a sexual or degrading light. It is an unconscious attempt to regain class power by oppressing those who threaten the progressing of ideas and cultural norms, such as women having power, or men who do not fit traditional hegemonic masculinity (Walker, 2006). Ironically lad culture involves the support of traditional ideals of masculinity in exchange for power in a society that respects and gives power to men (much like traditional American values in the 19th century). Although by participating in lad culture, not only are they furthering themselves lower in the class position, but respect is also lost by fellow peers. When engaging in laddish behaviour, power is taken away and the young men are punished instead of glorified as they hoped. Although the attention from the media evidently rewards such behaviour (as by drawing attention to it) when it is in fact trying to broaden community knowledge of the growing issue. In this is situated a moral struggle between broadcasting news affecting a large population, and drawing more wanted attention to those who are at fault. This media presence can intentionally present as an ideal for young boys to look up to. As such those presented in new stories are not the victims, but the young male perpetrators who are described as the ‘wild, partying teens’ who always appear to be having fun and marching to the beat of their own drum. Such is represented in an article claiming that lad culture is no longer a prominent issue, and glorifies the days of beer chugging, and banter, instead of discussing victims as well the negative impact lad culture has had on others (Martin, 2015). Other news articles, such as one from the Independent, discuss lad culture but merely talk about the ways in which laddish behaviour is shown on a night out instead of initiating a discourse as to how these actions affect others (Morgan, 2012). Groups affected are only discussed as a statistic (usually found at the beginning of the article), which eliminates the voice of the victim, but further establishes how a lad is to act.
Media Presence
Being that lad culture is a prominent issue across university campuses, it is no surprise that laddish behaviour, incidents, and events can be found all over the news media. This is both a positive and a negative. Forward-looking, the prominence of lad culture in the media creates space for discourses that involve everyone. It shines a light on issues that have always been prominent, but are only now being looked at in a critical and constructive way. Feminist critiques now have a much larger audience and platform to discuss issues that have been around for a while that are finally coming up to surface. A new platform is created which allows for women and victims as well as others affected to create a new discourse in a manner that is productive and beneficial to creating progress in combating sexual assault. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow people affected to come together and openly discuss issues of inequality and violent sexual culture perpetuated on student campuses. Prevalence within the media has allowed for many groups and societies to come forward that work in supporting victims, as well as new initiatives that work to teach people the dangers of their behaviour (such as the Good Lad initiative), and campaigns around university campuses that discuss consensual, safe sex, and combat rape culture (such as the NUS’ I Heart Consent campaign, 2018). On the contrary, the hyper-visibility of the topic tends to “numb” the extent of the issue, painting it as common or an “expected” part of university life and may be highlighting the wrong aspects of the problem (ie. focusing on the lads, instead of solutions, and discussions of inequality). I will further discuss the disadvantages of media perpetuation of lad culture later in this essay.
In the Digital age, young people are subject to many varieties of life styles and culture, that can be both positive and negative, perpetuated by things such as social media, news media, movies, music, and television. Malleable young minds pick up on many of the stimuli and incorporate them into their own lives. As outlined by Phipps and Young, many young people are drawn to music and take both musical and lifestyle inspirations from musicians and interpret this behaviour into their own lives. For example, the influence Noel Gallagher had on British youth as the “New Lad” (2015). For reference, the new lad is someone who is in opposition to the feminine, androgynous fashions of the 70s and 80s, as well as in resilience to female empowerment movements (Connor, 1998). Gallaghers opposition to power structures made him an icon for young rebelling youth. Attributes Gallagher displayed are now seen as those similar to the behaviours displayed within lad culture. Thus instances of laddism presented in the media become an ideology for young boys to incorporate into their own lives. Many are too young to understand the consequences of such behaviour and its harmful ways to look past the fun and care free spirit of the lad. Furthermore, lad culture presented in the media display an ideal of hegemonic masculinity for others to mimic. This also illustrates how issues of laddism are not new to society, but have only been discussed in recent years.
Moral Panic
With high public exposure, lad culture could be considered a moral panic regarding contemporary youth. Stanley Cohen (1972) coined the term moral panic to describe when “a condition, episode, person, or group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”. In short, a moral panic emerges when something challenges the safety of the community and/or the normative ideals of society (Elley, 2018). Most commonly, moral panics relates to topics of sex, drugs, and the vulnerable of society (as it is thought that those on the outskirts of society cannot help themselves). Attention is further drawn to the topic of lad culture due to its nature surrounding the young and vulnerable, as well as its prominence within educational settings. Lad culture is commonly seen as a moral panic about youth as a vast array of stories, articles, and studies have arisen in recent times which highlight the issue. Discussing the myth of innocence and youth is a tender topic which creates many anxieties in parents and older generations alike, which is why it tends to be the on the forefront of news media outlets (Kantola, 2011). Laddism is a way to create terror regarding youth and sexuality, the same way that music and “provocative” dancing have been used to address so called increasing sexuality and youth. Ultimately, the increase in laddism in the news can be seen as a symptom of the upper class using moral panics to control the masses and ultimately spread their agenda of sexuality regarding youth (which usually tends to take the form of abstinence education, Critcher, 2003). In this sense, responses to lad culture can be seen as an attempt to control and restrain today’s youth (especially as the ‘lad’ is not a new phenomenon) instead of seeking ways in which the problem can be helped (Elley, 2018). Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish the creating of news that follows a higher agenda versus the reporting of news to broaden understanding of the world around us. In many ways, moral panics are also used as selling points for news outlets (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995). People fear for the safety of their children and all thus buy into more moral panic of youth (read into the issue more by buying newspapers, watching news, etc). Although, through exposure, the rise in discussion of lad culture has allowed for many support groups, services, and workshops to help victims, as well as spread awareness of sexual violence across campuses, and opens discourses regarding consent. A moral panic implies that the issue is temporary and exasperated beyond it’s affect, although this is not the case for lad culture. Lad culture has been a prominent aspect of the the social life of young people that has been played off as “boyish behaviour” for far too long.
The title of moral panic carries many consequences and negative connotations that will then surround the issue of lad culture when referring to it as such. Labeling ‘lad culture’ as a moral panic puts certain implications on the issue that ignore the voices of the victim. On the contrary, increased public awareness of an issue due to a moral panic can lead to interrogations that may be uncomfortable for victims of sex related crimes to endure. Open interrogations expose the victim to the scrutiny of the public, as cases become further publicized and discussed. Additional harm may come to the victim as discourses that still blame the victim circulate in non-feminist, or out-dated discussions that may base the victim’s experience on their sexual past, circumstances, or promiscuity (Daginstanli and Milivojevic, 2013). A moral panic indicates that the issue or topic is being blown out of proportion in comparison to the actual issue, thus it ignores those who are actually affected by affair. Furthermore, this means that whatever progressive measures are taken are discredited in response to regarding the issues as a mere panic, and thus an over exaggeration of the concern. Classifying something as a moral panic does not change the significance of the affair, nor does it nullify it. Women are portrayed as statistics only defined as a number in sexual abuse cases, instead of portrayal in an emotional way (those depicted as more static characters are the male perpetrators who are often described as men having fun, or boys night gone rogue).
Additionally, moral panics tend to combine all young people into one uniform group, and portray all as either identifiable villains or as victims. This also allows for the demonizing of particular groups of students, usually those involved in societies, or sport groups (Elley, 2018). Furthermore, labeling one group of people as the “problem group” or as the villain, eliminates them from any discussion regarding the matter, when in reality everyone should be involved in the conversation in order find functioning solutions to the issue (The Guardian, 2015). Another issue of identifying any issue as a moral panic is that there may be an underlying agenda under the hysteria from media producers in an aim to promote conservative interests. This is a commonality among concerns regarding youth, sexuality, and control, as we see young people (even those in higher education) as vulnerable beings in need of protection from sex (including consensual), which usually indicates a need or prompt for policy or political changes.
Additionally, the prominence in the news media, as well as on campus discussions make topics of rape and sexual violence almost normalized, as one comes to expect sexual harassment on a night out (Furedi, 2011). In this, it also normalizes the experience of the victim, identifying it as a common occurrence. As something becomes normalized we also become desensitized to it, which is harmful to those actually affected by it, by undermining their experiences.
For students, lad culture is a very visible issue due to personal experiences, but also because it is perpetuated by the news media which in turn creates a culture of fear. Attributing to this culture of fear is the tendency to seek out information that aligns with one’s beliefs. As Phipps and Young (2015) state: “The frequency with which that term is now used, and the growing number of experiences that have been redefined as abusive, really shows how abuse-obsessed contemporary culture has become”. Fear culture is produced when people fear that they may become a victim. This is often perpetuated by an abundance of information in the news, or the linking of unrelated events (Glassner, 1999). For example, in the 1990s, drug related issues had been decreasing, although due to prominence within the media, citizens believed the crisis was on the rise, and feared for the safety of themselves and loved ones. The media’s attention is called to the topic of lad culture, as acts that have been historically looked over are now being called to attention due to a societal shift in views.
Thus, lad culture should not be viewed as a moral panic, as it diminishes the voice of the victim and opens them up to scrutiny, but ignores the deeper rooted issues of gender inequality from which lad culture was born.
Issues of Masculinity and Inequality
Moral panics arise when there are deeper socio-political concerns and a convergence of current social issues (Daginstanli and Milivojevic, 2013). Thus lad culture is not a new phenomena, despite having only recently come into the forefront of the public’s mind. Behind this laddish behaviour exists years and years of deeper issues of masculinity and inequality.
A more recent study discussed the rise of laddism in relation to neoliberal university settings. Phipps and Young describe this phenomena accurately: “Universities exist within (and perpetuate) a culture based on ‘having’ or ‘getting’ (within the context of grades and careers), which develops a sense of entitlement and in which education becomes a transactional exchange” (2015). In a culture that perpetuates and gratifies the idea of owning, getting, and having, universities educations are no longer about knowledge, but are instead about obtaining degrees and credentials. Similarly, this idea can be replicated for people. Lad culture perpetuates the idea that females are objects by quantitatively ranking women, and viewing female partners as “notches” or “scores” instead of emotive individuals. Thus as stated above, this produces a sense of entitlement towards women in certain settings and environments, especially in a university based context (where one is surrounded by an environment which is already in the mindset of “getting”). Furthermore, an increase of females within the education system, and achieving higher grades than their males counterparts, may pose as a threat to some males, as historically higher education, as well as that the more “respected” and “acclaimed” careers were male dominated. Laddish behaviour can be seen as an attempt to dominant and suppress women as they work their way towards the same goals and ambitions of their male peers. Recent studies have expressed that men who feel low in power and have recently gained more control are more likely to commit sexual assault (Persaud and Bruggen, 2017). This can be looked at through lad culture as young men may feel subordinate in relation to women who as a general group, are more likely to succeed and achieve higher grades than that of their male peers. As part of a group or team, one can feel a greater sense of resilience and power (which also comes through drinking, a major factor in lad culture) which works in relation to the theory of sexual assault outlined by Persaud and Bruggen. Thus, some sexual assault cases are perpetuated through a feeling of power inadequacy or lack of authority in everyday life, and then a contrast feeling of oneness perpetuated by pack mentality and alcohol. In some, the idea that males are more likely to obtain jobs because of their historical power position still remains. It’s this sense of entitlement that aspects of lad culture have been attributed to. It is the same sense of power that Persaud and Brugge outline. This links to dated ideas of sexism, that men are superior and must hold power over women. It isn’t surprising that these ideologies still exist today in some young people, as older generations with unchanging attitudes still influence culture and ideas. The phrase “old habits die hard” rings true here, as men have always traditionally been in power, and some may (unconsciously or consciously) feel that they must regain said power over women, which in instances of lad culture, is done through belittling and sexual harassment.
Moreover, campus culture allows for laddism to take place, and in a sense, encourages it. Through a combination of club nights, sports initiations, and other university sanctioned events, laddish behaviour is able to thrive through the nature of events that promote the degradation of others as well as vulgar behaviour. Although certain institutions may perpetuate and promote laddish behaviours, we can attribute the actions of these boys to the self fulfilling prophecy and pack mentality theories. On a night out, lads are expected to act in a certain way (boyish and animalistic) which relates back to ideas of self fulfilling prophecy (those act according to how others perceive them, or how they are expected to act). Furthermore, it is common ideology that laddish behaviour can be linked to sports teams (as large groups of boys are able to “play off” of each other). Likewise, nightclubs often put on promotional events exclusively for varsity teams (such as initiation, or team nights), or to celebrate a game (regardless of the outcome). Without pointing fingers at those guilty of laddish behaviour, it is safe to say that such events allow for, tolerate, and perpetuate laddish activity by glorifying said behaviour (banter, chanting, etc.) as it ultimately increases ticket (for those within the sporting community and supporters) and drink sales. Furthermore, these events are usually put on for the male enjoyment and female commodification (female dancers, all girls get in for free to increase the number of women at events, etc.) which relates back to issues of gender inequality and female objectification.
Furthermore, lad culture has always been around, both within and outside the contexts of a higher education environment. Before lad culture had been named and identified, it was classified as typical “boyish” or “boy chase girl” behaviour. Lad culture has always been around but can now be linked to recent socio-economic trends such as the increase of feminist discourse within everyday life as well as gender inequality issues on the forefront of news and discussion. The lad that we see today is classified as “The New Man”, which as discussed above is a backlash to the male androgynous movements from the 70s and 80s, and female empowerment movements (Phipps and Young, 2015). Masculinity is positioned within a framework which includes other ideals such as femininity, and relates to current social and cultural constructs. In this, the lad is viewed to be an opposition to the androgynous or more feminine male present in the 80s and perpetuated through figures such as David Bowie (Phipps and Young, 2013). This movement of the new lad is also in relation to the perceived “crisis of masculinity” in which men feel the need to regain superiority as women are prevalent in the workplace as well as in higher education. Although positioning women as the same position as men excludes topics and discussion of female oppression that are still happening today (Phipps and Young, 2013).
Society has perpetuated and allowed for hegemonic masculinity and lad culture to be present for years. Historically, these norms and discourses have been accepted as little progress was being made in women’s rights. Although, some people will continue to think this way (especially in older generations), unless there is a major shift in understanding consent and sexual harassment. There needs to be an attitude shift to understand lad culture and how it can exist but also be respectful of women and boundaries (Koulouris, 2018). Initiatives such as the Good Lad workshops are already in place to extend understanding of consent and respect among high school and university students.
Additionally, more research should be done in terms of the root issues of lad culture and why it is so prevalent even though the misogynistic ways are not respected individually by those who participate in laddish behaviour. We must get to the root of the issue, and include everyone in this discussion, in order to find a viable solution that can be upheld in higher education settings in the long term. Furthermore, we must strive to understand how other groups of people (those who present masculinity in less traditional ways, non binary people, trans people, and people of all sexualities) are affected by lad culture in a hope to include everyone in the discourse of equality.
In conclusion, lad culture should not be viewed as a moral panic, or panic about youth, and should instead be regarded as a problem which concerns deeper issues of masculinity, and inequality that are now at the forefront of issues in contemporary higher education. Social responses to lad culture has prompted discourses for solutions, but also heavily played on the description and glorification of the lads instead of why said behaviour was taking place and what could be done about it. Furthermore, labeling such as a moral panic opens victims to public scrutiny, and additionally classifies the issue as an over exaggeration to a small affair, which eliminates and belittles the experiences of all affected. Lad culture is not a new issue, unlike some media outlets would suggest, but it is unfortunate that it is only now resonating with the public and invoking a change to how we view laddish behaviour. References
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