Chavs were made up by a middle/upperclass newspaper in 2004 to paint the working class as all animalistic thugs. They never actually existed, and like with The Loch Ness Monster, the stories of run-ins with them were always too ridiculous to be true

    • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
      17·
      9 days ago

      Chav is not a term to describe a working class person - it’s a term to describe a subset of youths who are pretty much feral.

      By feral I mean aggressive and “antisocial” in the “are you looking at me pal” kind of response to eye contact. In essence, a youth whose primary strategy is to escalate to conflict by the shortest possible route in the hopes of winning status.

      What that has to do with coming from an honest working family is beyond me!

      • Pat_Riot@lemmy.today
        3·
        9 days ago

        Hey, ignorant Yank here, and I’d like some clarification. Is chav the bri’ish version of redneck?

        • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
          6·
          9 days ago

          I’m not from the USA so I don’t really have a clear idea on what a redneck is.

          However, going from media representations (dodgy ground) I’d say no. There isn’t the strong streak of racism, and the demographic is uniquely young for chavs (since most grow out of it).

          • Pat_Riot@lemmy.today
            3·
            9 days ago

            Fair enough. The racism isn’t a necessary component to being a redneck but it is fairly prevalent. Rednecks don’t outgrow it typically either. Thanks for the straight reply.

            • kip@piefed.zipEnglish
              3·
              9 days ago

              i don’t know much about usa subcultures either but it might be somewhat similar to guidos? i’m not sure how well they are known for antisocial behaviour. the closest international comparison i can think of is russian gopniks

    • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
      3·
      9 days ago

      Reply to edited chart - violence against adult was not as common. Violence against other kids however…

      Also, 1995–2002 was peak chav ;)

    • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
      3·
      9 days ago

      In my experience, Chav has never been used to describe a normal working class person. In Northern Ireland, we had our own variant “Spide” or “Smick” which were generally more tame. Less burberry more tracksuits