Doing consumption and sitting cars: adolescent bodies in suburban commercial spaces

Abstract

Compared to the studies of the relationship between young people and urban public space, the way middle-class youths counterparts navigate suburban landscapes is understudied. This paper focuses on different ways young people's bodies adapt, explore, negotiate, and resist the behavioral norms associated with various parts of commercial space in an American planned suburb. The analysis of the data collected through ethnographic fieldwork and focus groups shows that the middle-class teenagers use street literacy as a means of navigating public space. The findings from the study indicate that the young people view commercial space as adult-centered and regulated. Nevertheless, the study also finds two general ways in which adolescents express their identities through location and performance of their bodies; in accordance to the adult-centered norms of commercial space or against such norms. The conclusion suggests that suburban middle-class teenagers experience a unique set of constraints and opportunities, but their responses vary by their social identities and their ability to navigate the space through bodily performances.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• bodies
• suburbs
• commercial space

Notes

I use teenagers, teens, and adolescents interchangeably to refer to the 14–18-year-old age group in this paper for the sake of clarity in writing. Although a 13-year-old technically qualifies as a teenager, my sample does not include middle-school-age children. I must note that there have been discussions over the complexity of adolescence, and that use of biological age may not capture it properly as a developmental phase. However, people who fall into this age group category do share their legal status as minors.

Planville is a pseudonym for the community I studied. I have also changed the names of the teenage informants in the fieldnotes to protect their identities. However, I refer to the businesses by their actual names, because all of the businesses mentioned in this paper are national chains and thus the reference would not result in the identification of Planville or the informants in the study.

Planville has a 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for minors.