Are youth subcultures genuine signs of revolt or simply the manifestation of style?

Phil Cohen suggested youth subcultures as a “compromise solution between two contradictory needs: the need to create and express autonomy and difference from parents… and the need to maintain the parental identifications (Phil Cohen, 1972). In relation to this idea of expressing autonomy, we can see the signs of revolt. Many youths will rebel against what is seen as the norm purely because they don’t want to conform to society. However, in doing so they are in fact conforming to another social norm, just one that is not as predominant as the others, for example the Goth subculture. Eventually though this subculture does become a manifestation of style. For example, what I might have thought to be a ‘chav’ when I was at school may be perceived completely differently now and could now be the complete opposite. I believe that a lot of the time youth subcultures start out as a genuine sign of revolt, but do end up as simply the manifestation of style.