Historically, party culture has improved in times of uncertainty. Bars, nightclubs and house parties become places of artistic creation, political action and sometimes, most importantly, hope for a better future when things get tough.
In the 1960s and early ‘70s, in the shadow of the Vietnam War, legendary bars like Max’s Kansas City served as places for musical and artistic invention.
In the late ‘70s, discos glittered and gleamed. The upbeat, danceable music was a way that marginalized communities carved out joy and community when rejected by the mainstream.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, when the threat of AIDS haunted New York City, the party scene raged with “a sense of urgency,” according to James St. James, a Club Kid who reigned over the party scene of the time.
The last partying boom happened right after the 2008 recession, when the hot-pink, post-9/11 aesthetics of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie made a shift to the post 2008-recession indie sleaze movement, which spawned indie acts like The Strokes, platformed Ke$ha and inspired many of Pitbull’s club hits.
People were willing to “fight for their right to party,” as memorialized by the Beastie Boys.
Parties have been a place to find community all the way back to medieval Europe and through indigenous cultures around the world. In increasingly isolating times — as the climate crisis, the increased cost of living and anxiety about the current political climate loom over Gen Z — there is all the more reason to reinvent party culture and find solace within one another.
The New York Times thinks parties are disappearing because of economic, social, political and technological reasons.
These factors have led social scenes to dwindle and the places where people once socialized to disappear. Even though this is the case throughout the United States, it’s also present on Lehigh’s campus.
Since 2016, Lehigh has fallen from the No. 4 party school in the U.S. to No. 61. The shift away from a “work hard, play hard” campus culture has followed the nationwide trend of young people becoming increasingly isolated.
Dazed discussed how conversations about “wellness” online correlates with the increasing number of young people giving up going out in return for a healthier lifestyle.
This isn’t to say health and wellness isn’t important, nor that the rise in health and wellness values among young people is negative. In fact, studies have shown as young adults have begun to party less, they’ve also been consuming less alcohol over the course of two decades, which has immense health benefits.
Even though switching to a healthier lifestyle can have substantial benefits, this consumable self care and wellness being sold to young people is making them lonelier. While “self care” was a term originating from activist circles, like the Black Panthers, to describe caring for your community and yourself when the government is neglecting you, it now means $50 face masks and “protecting your peace” by self-isolating.
When a consumerist culture is telling you you’ll find fulfillment and “peace” through consumerist, me-first “self care,” it’s hard to imagine this same self-actualization can be achieved through going to a social event.
No matter the explanation, in 2022, current 18 to 25 year olds were deemed the loneliest generation, with 61% reporting they experienced “profound loneliness.” Only 36% of other generations reported the same.
Brian Primark thinks at least part of this loneliness epidemic is increased smartphone usage among young people. In a study, he discovered that people who visit social media platforms frequently, more than 58 times per week, had more than three times the odds of perceived social isolation.
It’s unclear if social media makes people lonely or if people use social media as a crutch to get out of having to confront loneliness. However, the dwindling attendance at bars and nightclubs means not only are young people socializing in a group setting less, but they are not going out to do so. This means that fundamental gathering spaces, like bars, are closing at an increasing rate due to a lack of attendance.
Unsurprisingly, after the COVID pandemic, 110,000 bars and restaurants in the U.S. shut down. However, in 2023 the amount of bars continued to decline by 0.6%.
This is no different in Bethlehem, where bars have been closing since before the pandemic. In 2018, Broadway Social, a popular going out destination for Lehigh students, shuttered its doors following a trend of bars shutting down.
Leon’s Bar and Restaurant and J.P. MacGrady’s Pub also permanently closed their doors in 2017.
As the going out scene continues to decline, we are losing our spaces to dance, to meet each other and to share the human experience. In times of uncertainty, much like young people did over the course of several decades in the past, we need to go out, laugh, dance and find community among one another.
Young people need to listen to Pitbull talk-sing over an electronic beat, cry to a random girl in a dingy bar bathroom and laugh with a stranger just as much as they need to do their skincare or spend 30 minutes working out everyday.
Building these communities and shaking off anxiety — even if just for a couple hours — is a way to find the buzzing neon light on the darkest of nights.
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