A teenybopper is an early teenage girl who follows adolescent trends in music, fashion, and culture. The term may have been coined by marketing professionals and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

s, later becoming a

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

of its own. The term was introduced in the 1950s to refer to teenagers who mainly listened to popular music and/or rock and roll and not much else. ''Teenybopper'' became widely used again in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following an increase in the marketing of pop music, teen idols and fashions aimed specifically at younger girls, generally 10–15 years old.

Subcultural aspects

The subculture is exclusive to early adolescent girls. As a subculture, it is a retreat, allowing girls to relate to their peers and have "girl culture" without male mockery. While the subculture allows girls to have a space of their own with their peers, the subculture magazines also offer idealized teen idols, allowing girls to fantasize about future marriage. The narrative fantasies elaborated around teenyboppers serve as distractions for aspects of life felt to be unrewarding, such as school or work. When shared with other teenyboppers, it allows for defensive solidarity. It allows its members to define themselves apart from younger and older girls. It has a commercial origin and is "an almost packaged cultural commodity", emerging from the pop business and relying on commercial magazines and TV. As a result, it has fewer creative elements than other subcultures. Membership has very few restrictions, does not require elaborate spending, and requires much less expertise and money than certain school activities. The subculture is suited to being followed at school or home, and girls can hold a party with just a bedroom, a music player, and permission to invite friends.

Musical preferences

In the 1960s, a new type of music appeared, different from the Tin Pan Alley music school, but molded by it. It was no longer written by the old established songwriters of Tin Pan Alley, but by young people. They helped to establish the new teen idols and wrote the so-called "teeny bopper songs", which "blend

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

with pop ballad". The difference that the 70s' "Teeny Bopper syndrome" had with prior idol phenomena was that these new teen idols were directed at even younger girls, down to 15 years old, who were too young to have heard The Beatles and were not attracted to the new

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

music of the time that their elder siblings listened to. This new market has a quick turnover potential and it boosted the benefits of many broadcasting companies. The teenybopper idol image is that of the young boy next door, with "girlish" looks and singing about longing for romance. Their music is consumed by young girls, who collect posters and pin ups.

Subcultural aspects

Musical preferences

See also

References

Further reading