Within youth culture, there are clear distinctions between some of the values in male versus female subculture. Coleman (1959) found, in asking high school boys how they would like to be remembered "here at school," that they responded "star athlete" over 40 percent of the time, and "brilliant student" less than 30 percent of the time.
Boys like to spend a good deal of their time in fairly active outdoor pursuits such
as organized sports, driving, boating, and just going around with the fellows. Sorensen
asked respondents to rank twenty-one activities in their order of importance. Boys
ranked "having fun," "becoming independent so that I can make it on my own," and
"learning about myself" as most important. They ranked "getting loaded and hanging
out," "having sex with a number of different girls," and "trying to change the system"
as least important (Sorensen, 1973, p. 49).
Having a car to a fellow was the answer to his desire for adventure.
We discussed over and over ways to customize it, ways to increase
its speed and increase gas mileage.
One did not date a certain girl, stay home and study for a test the
night of the big game, or walk if he could possibly attain a ride-
only 'oddballs' did such things. The subculture also demanded that
what was known to one was common to all; one shared confidence
with his buddies and not to do so could possibly alienate him from
the group.
The group appeared to condone many things or acts, which in reality
individually each member would probably frown upon. Everyone
appeared to accept things as valuable because the group did.
Being with girls does not occupy the major part of their thought time (Coleman,
1959, p. 332). To be sure, it comes to occupy more time as they go from the freshman
year to the senior year in high school. The comparison with girls' leisure time activities
shows a sharp contrast in some categories. Girls spend far less time in the active
outdoor ways that boys enjoy, more time just being with their friends, and far more time
in vicarious pleasures: reading, listening to records, watching television, attending
movies, and attending games.
The general pattern of these leisure pursuits, showing
considerably more activity among the boys, is indicative of something that seems to be
quite general in the adolescent community: boys have far more to do than girls have.
The boys in our high school were divided into three separate
groups, but these groups could not be definitely defined because a
boy might belong strictly to one group or mingle in all three. The
first group and the group held in the highest esteem was the group
of boys who participated in sports. The second group was made up
of fellows who took part in plays, studied a lot, and were in the top
of the class academically.
However, there were a few cases when the
athletes were top students and took a leading role in the
government of the school. The third group consisted of the boys who
had little interest in school either from the standpoint of the
academic work or the extracurricular activities. Their main interest
seemed to be in their cars, their jobs, and in getting out of school as
quickly as possible. They took very minor roles in the social
activities of the school and were often frowned upon by the other
students for their lack of responsibility.