What is it with young males and skulls?

[raccoon]

It seems to be true cross-culturally. They love T-shirts with skulls on them, caps, skull stickies on their cars, etc. Why is that?

[ghostsofgiants]

1. I blame pirates and a lack of prayer in schools.

[democracyindanger]

3. You blame pirates for everything, piracist.

[Phillycat]

2. Skulls are particularly trendy right now b/c pirates are so popular. nt

[Zomby Woof]

4. It's a universal outlaw symbol

It has the aura of death around it. The danger of poison is marked by a skull on the label. The Jolly Roger of pirates, or the skulls on biker jackets, going back decades - serve as a warning of sorts, a romanticized mocking of death and its finality. In these dangerous days, it makes sense that a longstanding universal symbol of danger or death is making the rounds. For young males and their rites of passage, the outlaw mystique of the skull is undeniable and coveted.

[Zookeeper]

5. Skull images are popular with teenaged girls right now...

My daughter has any number of tees with skull designs. Mainstream department stores carry them. Also, Hello Kitty with unusual variations.

[KurtNYC]

6. They are confronting their own mortality

on something that alternates between a conscious and sub-conscious level. I think the popular conception that teenagers 'think they are invinceable' or 'will never die' is wrong. I think the teenage years are actually the first time in a person's life when they confront their own mortality. It is a weird psychological battle.

[VforVicarious]

7. Heh

I've liked skulls ever since I was a little kid. Almost robbed a grave one time so I could have a real one, but pussied out at the last second.

I wish I wouldn't have. Maybe I could've used that skull to help me get the part of Hamlet in the school play