The young always have the same problem -- how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.

Crisp points to a central contradiction in adolescence: the desire to assert independence while still needing the safety of a group identity. “Rebel and conform at the same time” captures how youth subcultures can function as both protest and uniform. By “defying their parents,” young people mark a boundary against inherited authority; by “copying one another,” they replace that authority with peer norms, adopting shared styles, slang, and attitudes that feel self-chosen but are often socially enforced. The wit lies in exposing rebellion as a social performance: the content of the revolt may matter less than the communal act of belonging to a cohort that looks and behaves alike.