How Did The Bodgies Movement Become A Youth Subculture?

Bodgies and Widgies
The Past Made Present Show Script

Good afternoon/morning and welcome to the Past Made Present Show. My name is Patrick Robinson your host. Today I will discuss a youth subculture from the 1950s called the Bodgies and Widgies. During the post war period, many different youth sub cultures emerged. These sub cultures were influenced by foreign music, movies and media. In this program one specific sub culture that will be discussed are the Bodgies and Widgies. This subculture will be discussed through this hypothesis, because of the influences from foreign media and the merge of other subcultures. The Bodgies and Widgies movement became a popular subculture in Australia during the post war period. (Various Authors , 2016)

The Bodgies and Widgies were a youth subculture that existed in Australia and New Zealand in the 1950s. The Bodgies and Widgies subculture was very similar, a combination of the Rockers movement in the UK and the Greasers in the US. The first bodgies existed in the post war period and were World War 2 Australian Seamen. The sub culture began in the late 1940s, around the time of 1948. The first 200 bodgies would regularly hang out at Kings Cross milk bars in Sydney. (Various Authors , 2016) Soon after that, gangs were formed around Inner Sydney locations. The word "bodgie" arose around the Darlinghurst area. Most Bodgies rode motorbikes, but some had cars and most of these cars were hotted up. Bodgies were the males in the gangs and the females were called widgies. They were also known for their delinquency and violent nature and caused a moral panic in Australian society. There was concern in the second half of the 1950s that the nation’s teenagers, especially working class, were turning delinquent. (Moore, 2004) (Bellanta, 2012)There was fear in society due to their violent behaviour. In 1951, the Melbourne Herald stated that the St Kilda Police had made a Declaration

So what was a Rocker? Rockers were members of a biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. (Varioua Authors , 2016) Like the Bodgies and Widgies, they were also heavily influenced by rock music and heavy metal music. They had similar morals as the Bodgies and were also perceived as dangerous rebellious teens. So what were the Greasers? The Greasers were a working-class youth subculture that was popularized in the late 1940s and 1950s, by middle and lower class teenagers in the United States. (Moore, 2004)Rock and roll music, and rockabilly, were major parts of the culture, and styles were influenced by singers like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Chuck Berry, etc. The two main figures of the look were Marlon Brando and James Dean. So as you can see, the Bodgies and Widgies are very similar and somewhat a combination of these two sub cultures. (Various Authors , 2016) Around this time, the Rockers and Greasers came around at a similar time, influencing the Bodgies and Widgies sub culture. So linking with the hypothesis, this popular subculture came about, not only because of foreign media, but the merge and influences of other sub