I encourage you to watch the movie that shows 10 most popular subcultures:
As you can see, the most popular subcultures connect people who listen to similar music. Fans of a particular genre of music are inspired by their idols, and through their imitation in some way resemble them. Thanks to the external appearance we can recognize the representatives of a given group.
Each of you, even if you did not belong to any subculture, had contact with them. In my surroundings, the most popular were: Metals, Punks and Emo. But there were also groups that were focused on other interest distributions. Football fans, Geeks, Nature Defenders. Regardless of what connected them, they were people who always stayed together and supported each other.
Being a part of subculture gives primarily a possibility of self-realization, full expression of yourself, your feelings and emotions, without the risk of misunderstanding and lack of acceptance from other members. It is also a way to spend free time in the company of people who have the same views, passions, value system and life philosophy.
However, there is also the other side of the coin, which we should not ignore. Many subcultures propose an aggressive way of being, fostering the involvement of deviant vacillation, spreading a sense of hatred to various social groups, and instigating the violation of law. Subcultures are mainly focused on people who are socially maladjusted, have problems with inheritance, among peers, in and outside of school. This leads to a situation when a young person feels lost and does not know whom to address to reveal her or his problems.
Did you belong to a subculture in your youth? How did this affected your life? I belonged to the Metal subculture for several years of my life. Amazingly, they were exceptionally calm people. 😉
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Yes, I was kind of a metal person. I was wearing black clothes and had have quite long hairs, the longest reached my shoulders. I also listened different kinds of metal, but beside it I listened classical music, piano, chillout etc. too. I don't think belonging to some subculture affected me much, rather my life affected me to become a member of a subculture. Nevertheless the most influential aspect of subculture which affected me was music, because clothing was rather my expression than opposite. That time I wasn't feeling to belong to my age-mates groups, I was a hermit and later discovered that I don't belong to metal subculture either. I bounced from one group to another trying to belong somewhere to this point that I decided I am my own group, my own subculture and I don't need any.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think everybody grows up from subcultures sooner or later at some level. I started to appreciate and respect almost every group of individuality. But it was some time ago already. Now I think subcultures are a domain of youth, of people who don't know well the world and the civilization we living in, of people who can't slot in, can't conform because they are lack of strenght, knowledge or other things, so they try to run from the world and go the easy way. Subcultures' members often think that if somebody looks normal, they must be boring, have no deep thoughts and experience and that is a big illusion. In every social structure there are different people. There can be f.ex. awesome punk person and a bad one, as well awesome casual mainstrem person and aslo some bad one.
When I think of subcultures I sometimes also think about them going by. Something what in the past was a subculture today can be normal, popular, fashionable or even casual (look hipster subculture). Subcultures was even before XX century. What was normal and what was different was changing and still changes through time. What was normal before, now often is outdated, and what is normal today, won't be someday.
Among all of this I think I have so much wealth in my inside that I do not need to express it in form of clothing or hair, because there woudn't be enough of them to express all of what is in my mind. So I rather to stay casual at the external look, and focus about my abundant interior and bring it to the external world in another, some constructive, creative and useful way. I would like to advise these to every young man and woman who nowadays are strugling with own belongingness.
I have never belonged to any subculture, so I don’t know how it looks like from inside. However in my opinion those kind of groups are a way to find your identity. From everywhere we can hear that we can become whoever we want or, as you wrote, self-realize, full express ourselves. Does anybody know what does it mean and how to do it? I don’t and I believe subcultures don’t know either. If it is a group of people seeking their own way, they just know that they are seeking, but haven’t found solution yet. It may be helpful in some period of time, but most of people who I know didn’t find themselves in subculture. At the end they realised that only music and being against were in common.
ReplyDeleteIt is easier when you are in one. I mean we can give big words for it but in the end it all goes to being true with yourself. It also matters a lot to be with people that you enjoy spending time with and ideally have similar hobbies to you. Maybe you will find it someday :)
DeleteI have people to spend enjoyable time, although we aren’t a subculture. What I mean in my comment it is just you don’t need subculture to find yourself. I believe we all need people, who accept us as we are, but subculture is not for all. Not for me, I'm sure.
DeleteI can see your point of view Magłorzata, but everyone is different and what works for you, might not work for me, and opposite. I guess whole idea of life is exploring world and in my opinion subcultures really give you opportunity for this! Being around with people that are crazy about something give you unique possibilities to find out about stuff that you won't ever know by yourself. They can easly guid you through the field of your interest. I've been also in two subcultures by myself and I really appriciate the impact of society especially at the beggining of my membership. Also as you mentiont before as fast as I create my own "taste" in that field I lost the impact that subculture made on me.
DeleteI've never belonged to any subculture, but I think it's great that you meet people who are interested in the same things as you. In this way, you can find many friends through common interests.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I started to think about it, are cyclical meetings with friends for board games also count as a subculture? We see each other at least once a month and play the whole evening. On December 1, I am going to Planszówki na Narodowym. This is a unique event that takes place every year. One day, PGE Narodowy turns into a large hall designed for board games, where everyone, regardless of age, can collectively participate and have fun.
I think boards games could be the subculture or even a sport. I went few times to those meeting and really enjoyed time spent there.
DeleteI had no idea that something like this was organized! I really like playing board games with friends.
DeleteI think it's a perfect example of an ideal subculture! There is no negative factor like ideology here.
Is a group of people playing regularly board games even a subculture? Isn't it just an activity, like a regular hobby?
DeleteI didn't play in many board games, but I need to say that I truly recommend you "The Settlers of Catan". It looks easy and boring at the first sigh but I've spent really many evenings playing for few hours each with my fiends. Highly recommended!
DeleteI wasn't directly in any subculture but I was dressing like some of them. In my teen years I used to dress like an emo. Black tight clothes, side fringe and sometimes colors in hair, black eyeliner heavily applied and all that stuff. Of course music taste followed as well. Then as I grow I migrated to more darker side, punk is the closest I would describe it. At some point in life I even had crazy blue hair.
ReplyDeleteSubcultures are really fun way of connecting similar people together. It really helps to find yourself and who you are. I really love how people can express themselves through their clothes, decisions and common things they enjoy doing together.
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ReplyDeleteI consider myself lucky for not to belong to any subculture in any point of my life. I've always thought of them as a danger for individuality and independent thinking. When you join the subculture you are not only adopting the looks of its members but also their ideology which in many cases can be harmful for developing youth. Thus, if you want to be accepted by the community you have to blend in and conform to group's way of being and drop your own mindset and replace it with ideas and values of the collective.
ReplyDeleteI agree to some extent. Imposed ideology can have a disastrous effect on young people. Fortunately, my group was not very radical. We were really focused on music. Besides, we were only connected by black clothes. ;)
DeleteI don't think I ever identified myself with any subculture. Of course there was a time in my life where I had a long hair becouse I was fascinated with classic rock.
ReplyDeleteFor me every subculture was jut not "stable". They focused on some ideaology and forgot about anything else. It was just a lack of balance and common sense.
Another aspect is that many subcultures push anti-rules life style that can drive young people into many problems and in the end can couse missed life opportunuties.
I never felt specific affinity for any subculture. It is not because I am biased against subcultures (I would tell that belonging to the subculture that it may play an important role in shaping the personality of a young person), but I simply do not have a need to express myself in such an explicit way.
ReplyDeleteI believe that being a part of some subculture may have a great influence on young people with the pressures and identity crisis they suffered during adolescence, helps them to bond with each other and also be integrated successfully into society. This of course doesn't apply to racists Skinheads or Hippies who use drugs, this kind of influence is defienietly not a good one. I've never been a part of any subculture in my life and I feel fine with it.
ReplyDeleteI think that such behaviors as racism and drug abuse do not have to depend on the type of subculture. It's more about people who belong to this group. What is their character or In what environment they live.
DeleteThank you for the discussion. Perhaps I actually rushed to say that I belonged to a subculture. The more I read your comments, the more I think that we were just a group of friends who listened to one kind of music.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity I looked at the definition of subculture on Wikipedia and I think that I've never belonged to any of them. There were stages where I liked the music or clothing associated with a given ideological movement, but I was not interested in the message itself. I did not belong to groups that develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, political and sexual matters. Guess I was too mainstream for that :)
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ReplyDeleteYou are right in your statement that being part of a subculture leads to better understanding of group, shows a disagreement to general rules. But we should listen more to those subculture members because I think it's mostly a sign of being lost in some way. I used to be a true metalhead back in the days, I had trv leather motorcycle jacket, the same model as Ramones used to wear, I wore skinny jeans and white sneakers (because mostly I was into thrash metal f.e Anthrax, Exodus, Kreator, Sodom and so on... :)) Also I had a very nice katana (it's a jeans vest that I used to wear on that leather jacket with many band emblems stitched to it). All of that stuff is with me until now, I never disposed it. Actually I wear that leather jacket since then.
ReplyDeleteSumming it up, as Johnny Cash was singing:
`"And the lonely voice of youth cries "What is truth?"`
I think you belong to the subculture to find out, what is truth
It is good to have a group of people who have the same values. Being a part of the community helps to build the character. However it is very important to have own opinion and don't believe in every word they said.
ReplyDeleteYes!I remember the times of youth very well, it was a beginning of 2000 and these were the last years on skate fashion. That time I dressed baggy jeans, hoodie and baseball cap and it made me very happy. It let me express myself on a specific way and I can say it was the best time of my life. I almost forgot, the most important thing was skateboarding! Me and my friends spent all days on skateboarding and listening hip hop. I would love to back to the past :)
ReplyDeleteIn today's world we can (at least we're being told that) go anywhere, do anything, watch and feel whatever we want. That way, with everyone having virtually the same options we often struggle to find out who we are. What makes us us?. Subculture as any other group gives the feeling of inclusion, which is without a doubt important. Also it often makes life easier. With set of trends, rules regarding dress code, music taste etc. you can be less overwhelmed with what the globalized world is offering. And maybe for young people especially its good to have a bit less choices on their mind.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, you could call me a skater boy, I spent a lot of time with skateboard, listening to hip-hop/rap and punk rock. Playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater at my home when there was a terrible weather outside. Having all baggy clothes etc. I think that it helped me to understand that in your life nothing comes easy. You have to sacrifice your time, health or money to achieve something and it works for all aspects of life, trying to master some kind of trick on your skateboard is similar to stepping up your career.
ReplyDeleteI've totally get your point! At some point of my life I've been rollerblaiding quite heavly and I can surly agree with you that the imapct of self discipline and pushing yourself even over your limit is noticeable in adult life. Thats why many sportsman who succeed in sport are also great bussinesmen.
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