ing class by controlling teenager's actions and thoughts into acting the "right" way. Deviant youth are represented as answerable to institutionally sanctioned ideas, which fit the ideas of the nuclear family. Youth-as-fun are most likely to be found in advertising. Knowing that young people are most adept at reading complex visual signs, advertising aimed at young people is also the most textually sophisticated. Success in leisure circles is contingent upon the spending of teenagers, therefor the advert attempts to transcend the difference of class, race or gender in order to make its appeal to the homogeneous category of youth. In masking these categories the advert is able to play on the most important myth within capitalism, that "any individual can achieve prosperity and success with hard work, and the right attitude to financial investment (53)."There is also another category that many advertisers use, combining the fun and troublesome aspects, creating youth-as-trouble-as-fun. A good deal of fashion advertising is aimed at this category to attract the average teenager that has the tendencies to act out at times. This conventional representation of patriarchal, heterosexual masculinity that is portrayed in advertising is evident in television and film. Famous Hollywood heroes and action stars have had roles that meant defending society against its undesirable elements. These images aimed at youth may seem new and imaginatively presented; but are actually predicated on very conventional and conservative ideas about men and women.After reading about the representation of youth, I decided to put it my own test. While baby-sitting the other night, I watched the children become enthralled in the commercials, conclusive that they must have these products in order to be popular and to fit in. By presenting commercials and teenagers in a positive light, or at least in a way that teenagers and youth relate to, advertisers are a...
