Interesting article on BANTER and LADS

Well, don't think any of that applies to me. I love going out, getting drunk, and having sex. What I don't like is that just plain stupid behaviour is encouraged, and people who to me are weird angry nutters who shouldn't be let out of the house are encouraged to drink and sexually assault women, get into fights, then internet warrior it out on twitter.

It's not really about some form of puritanism, I think you're massively out of touch with what we're talking about. 'Laddish' behaviour nowadays includes flashing your dick at the teacher in lessons, making rape jokes, and perving over women in tight clothing because none of the above actually gets you anything on a night out. I'm pretty sure you've mixed up the weirdos in this situation.

Well, don't think any of that applies to me. I love going out, getting drunk, and having sex. What I don't like is that just plain stupid behaviour is encouraged, and people who to me are weird angry nutters who shouldn't be let out of the house are encouraged to drink and sexually assault women, get into fights, then internet warrior it out on twitter.

It's not really about some form of puritanism, I think you're massively out of touch with what we're talking about. 'Laddish' behaviour nowadays includes flashing your dick at the teacher in lessons, making rape jokes, and perving over women in tight clothing because none of the above actually gets you anything on a night out. I'm pretty sure you've mixed up the weirdos in this situation.

All "Lad" culture is, or rather, all it was at my university, was people - being no different than they were before. It was simply a name for a collective of attributes so many people had, it was just easier to call it "lad culture" than "groups of guys who like to go out drinking occasionally and have a fraternity with their friends.

When myself and my girlfriend of 2 years broke up - who was there for me? These "lads". When it was exam time, who helped me study? These "lads". When it came to getting jobs, who all helped each other out? These "lads".

Perhaps I've associated Lad Culture to mean something other than it is - or perhaps society has. Lad culture is just a close group of guy friends. Sure, within that there are lairy, rowdy, ********s - demoralising women and doing things for the sake of impressing their friends, but what subculture doesn't have bad eggs?

I have never intentionally, and as far as I'm aware, have never unintentionally, bullied anyone. I would not condone bullying, either.

The word "Lad" has a particular meaning. If you wish to describe a different phenomenon, you need to come up with a different word. You can't just appropriate the word to conflate the two categories and smear "lads" with the same brush simply to further your own sociological agenda. Its just the no true scotsman fallacy.

The word "Lad" has a particular meaning. If you wish to describe a different phenomenon, you need to come up with a different word. You can't just appropriate the word to conflate the two categories and smear "lads" with the same brush simply to further your own sociological agenda. Its just the no true scotsman fallacy.

Rape jokes are funny anyway, girls love 'em.

If you want to talk about damaging levels of misogyny and idiocy, talk about the PUA community and the message they give our young men. At least a group of lads playing the yes/no game know its sexist.

This.

Everyone reading this article is doing so with a certain ideal in mind, clearly different, from what me and py0alb have in mind. Lad, as defined in the dictionary:

1. A young man; a youth.

Everyone else putting strings on it are simply stereotyping. As I've said, every subculture has loud, rude, sexist people. Picking them to be the figurehead of a group is your choice, but then don't assume all people within that subculture are like that.

I'm starting to get the feeling that the people defending Lad culture aren't really all that familiar with what it is nowadays. I'm going to explain it - through the power of metaphor

Remember Ali G came out? At first a few people saw it and made jokes amongst themselves. Then everyone was talking about it. Then it got less funny and people stopped talking about it.

Apart from that one kid, who didn't get that it was just a joke and was determined to keep it going. They became really obsessed with the show, and learned all the lines, and all the while thought characters like this


weren't parodies. They thought that the person was real and that they were amazingly cool.

The Lad culture of today is just a massive collection of those people. They don't really get that most 'Lad' culture posts were meant to be ironic, and really think that they're incredibly cool for acting like Keith Lemon (Who they won't know is another parody).





The examples I used were the last 3 posts on 'The Lad Bible', 'Uni Lad', and 'Lad Life'. Whether you like it or not, "Lad" clearly means something different to when you used it.

As I posted above. You're talking about something completely different, check out some of the sites I mentioned and you'll probably realise what we're discussing.

I'm starting to get the feeling that the people defending Lad culture aren't really all that familiar with what it is nowadays. I'm going to explain it - through the power of metaphor

Remember Ali G came out? At first a few people saw it and made jokes amongst themselves. Then everyone was talking about it. Then it got less funny and people stopped talking about it.

Apart from that one kid, who didn't get that it was just a joke and was determined to keep it going. They became really obsessed with the show, and learned all the lines, and all the while thought characters like this


weren't parodies. They thought that the person was real and that they were amazingly cool.

The Lad culture of today is just a massive collection of those people. They don't really get that most 'Lad' culture posts were meant to be ironic, and really think that they're incredibly cool for acting like Keith Lemon (Who they won't know is another parody).





The examples I used were the last 3 posts on 'The Lad Bible', 'Uni Lad', and 'Lad Life'. Whether you like it or not, "Lad" clearly means something different to when you used it.

Your simply taking the extremes of the genre and presenting it as the norm. Most "laddish" behaviour is focused around the importance of socialising with male friends and knowingly pushing at - but never breaking - the boundaries of social acceptability. This behaviour has been a feature of the behavioural patterns of young men for decades. Its not some new phenomenon.

Joking about slapping your missus is laddish and would make your mates laugh. Actually slapping her is not and would make your mates punch you.

Yes, in the same way that if People with grey hair and brown eyes started calling themselves "Dr's" that would then become the go-to dictionary definition of Dr.

Now you're just digging your own hole. I didn't realise there was a qualification for being a Lad

Just look at the websites you're defending, you're going to be a bit embarrassed.

For the record, terms change. Look at the word faggot for example. Look at the word *******. One of those was a medical term. Colloquial use isn't something new, and if you genuinely think that Lads is just another term for friends you're really out of touch.

You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

Then I guess we'll just go our seperate ways.
Thanks for the discussion on it anyway, was amazing to hear someone from your perspective.

Basically, this thread shows it's all about definition. Some people's arguments seem circular- "i define a lad as a dickhead, therefore if you're a lad, you're a dickhead".

The odd thing to me is that people see this as a new thing. I'm sure most of your are much more respectable than mine, but hearing my dad talk to his mates about their youth, they were more laddy than me and my mates!

For me, a lad is just a young guy who likes drinking, partying sex and piss taking. This is not a cultural phenomenon, this is what young men are like. And some of them are just like us, and some of them are dicks.

Personally I find the Lad AND Ladette culture rather repulsive.
I come from a very small campus, on which there is a concentrated population of rich, conservative, loud, private schooled people; the whole of this campus' social activities revolve around drinking "banter" and encouraging laddish behavior.
If you don't partake you are picked on, looked down on and generally shunned.

The campus culture is so extreme that the staff are also of this nature and join in too so it is very difficult to escape. If things go to far it is impossible to report incidents to the staff as they tell you to "take it as the banter it was intended to be" and not to be so "touchy". (my complaint was about a stage show the people from my course put on for both staff and students - including both staff and students in the writing and performing - in which very personal and sensitive issues from my life were made fun of on stage infront of ALL of the campus and my peers; and then revolting material including photoshopped pictures of me giving a guy head, scoring my ex out of 10 and comparing him to others - which I definately have never done- absolutely disgusting...) The staff laughed it off when I complained and told me to take it as the Banter it was supposed to be, then called up and congratulated the team who produced the disgusting material whilst I was in the same room. Its all an old boys club...