• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.36
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• pp.324-347
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• 2006

`Youthism` is pushing the youth research field into a trap of binarism fallacy. It tends to divide the whole population into the young and the old, and further gives an acceleration toward moving the division into the discursive realm of generation gap. The discursive transference is not taking place without any reasonable grounds. The series of discourse is based on two significant phenomena: changes in media background and longer schooling than ever before. Media environment overriding youth culture binds the young in a group and makes them enjoy homogeneous cultural genres. And schooling also seems to play an important role for the youth to have same cultural menus regardless of region, social strata, cultural background. But we need to recognize that after getting into the adulthood, they are not existing in the form of alliance. The youth are not in a homogeneous group. Neither are their culture. The youth are consisted of a variety of groups along such variables as gender, class of their parents. They tend to make distinction not only from the older generation but from the other peer groups. Unless avoiding the trap of youthism, we are blamed for closing eyes to the youth's desire to be distinctive among themselves. Youthism seems to be an active myth even in our academic society.