The Experience Of Belonging To A Subculture

A subculture is a part of society that has different ways of doing things that stray from the dominant or mainstream culture. It can sometimes be described as a stereotype. Its members have little commitment to the category. A subculture is different from the dominant culture, but is not necessarily seen as bad, and is generally seen as "okay" with the rest of the dominant culture. It's members still function as a part of

Traditionally, men are viewed as strong, dominant and logical, while women are regarded as the weak sex, thus being dependent on the males to make decisions and to protect them as well as their children. These roles go far back in time when males in fact had to protect their families from other tribes, wild animals etc. Even today the same values are applied both in real life and in media. In general a woman is depicted as wife, mother or a sex object. (Sex, Gender, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation”, Year unknown).

Subcultures are around us everywhere. It’s a group within a larger culture, who have something in common. An example of this would be in ‘Body Ritual among the Nacirema’ which is a story filled with weird perspectives and traditions. Including the charm-box of the household shrine and the medicine men that have an imposing temple, or latispo. Culture is such a strong aspect in people as it determines how a person behaves and does things, which is shown in this book. The Nacirema people are not so far off from us modern day Americans.

Perhaps the most culturally diverse nation on the globe, the United States is home to a dominant Anglo-American Protestant culture intermixed and alongside a host of sub-cultures that live and thrive on US soil. Among these cultures exists an array of distinct form of living all who boast an identity specific to only that select group. These subcultures exist in a couple different forms; convergent subcultures and persistent subcultures. First, convergent subcultures intend toward assimilation with the dominant society through various tactics to include: residential clustering, adherence to the language, dress, and cultural norms of their native land (Parrillo, 42). Contrarily, some cultures simply do not assimilate. In these cases, persistent subcultures adhere as much as possible to their own way of life and resist absorption into the dominant culture (Parrillo, 43). Among these persistent subcultures within the US are the Amish. The Amish are a sect of the Christian faith whose members have roots in twenty-two states across the

As a country, we have come a long way to reaching equality between women and males. During the 19 centuries women fought for their right to vote. When talking about gender, there are a lot issues that continue to be present until this day. Women had to fight for equality during the 19 century which lead up women in today’s society to have a voice. Despite of all the improvement close to gender equality, society still expect particular things from females and males.

College students can be considered members of a subculture, “a group united by sets of concepts, values, traits, and/or behavioral patterns that distinguish it from others within the same culture or society”

Subculture is a branch off of culture that explains a person view. According to Chapter Three, Culture, and the Culture-Learning Process, authors Cushner, McClelland, and Safford (2009), states “Subculture refers to a social group with shared characteristics that distinguished it in some way for the larger group in which it is embedded” (p. 62). A subculture talks about a group of people that have a different view on culture than the one they grew up with. In “My Life in a Bag” activity during class, I had a rosary bead in there to represent my religion. I grew up in a strong Catholic family that always went to church every Sunday. As I grew up, I realized that religion is important to me, but I didn’t think it was necessary for me to go to church every Sunday when I could talk and pray to God in my own home. I also had a bad experience with the church itself and not my religion. My grandpa was very ill and his one last wish was to go back to his church before his time was up. However, he was divorced and his church did not believe in divorce and considered it to be a sin. They would not let my grandpa back in the church and he was devastated. That changed the way I looked at my religion and realized that I could

Tannen (1994) suggests that the two sexes have very different modes of communication, and she suggests that in fact, communication between man and woman should be viewed as inter-cultural communication. She also has given set of differentiations: (1) Men live in a world of hierarchy; women live in a world of connection. (2) Men require individuality and freedom; women require intimacy and familiarity. (3) Men live in a world of action; women live in a world of feeling.(p,67) The issue Tannen tries to address is that sometimes women and men don’t understand each other because they come from different cultures. These findings on gender stereotypes offer a great help to them for understanding each other and thus enhance their relationship. Women

To begin with, we have to distinguish the important values and attitude of different two communities. One stereotype is that power and status are important in the male-community, but cooperation and networks are significant in the female-community. For instance, in childhood, boys often fight with their peers and try to win in order to show stronger power and higher status than others. Otherwise, girls rarely quarrel with friends; rather they make a community and cooperate with one another for certain purposes. Also, men are living in hierarchical life and continuously struggle to defend their status in society, whereas women like to show intimacy and similarity. Moreover, men value independence and create distance, while women tend to make close relationships

There is something about the ideology of a subculture that sparks an interest in me. Maybe it is intriguing due to its members’ originality, courage to stand up for beliefs, or freely expressing their own self- identity. A subculture forms by individuals taking a risk, separating themselves from the mainstream, and forming their own distinctive norms, not caring what the “normal” members of the mainstream society think of them. Or do they care? Maybe that is the exact statement a subculture is making. Maybe these individuals are forming these groups so that people will care. Maybe their rebellious attitude is a final, somewhat desperate approach to getting that response. The images being portrayed in most subcultures are

Another characteristic of a subculture is the language/jargon used by its members. Language can refer to the way its members walk, talk, carry themselves, the slang words used, etc. Within my gymnastics team there was a lot of language we used that set us apart from other subcultures. The technical terms used in the sport of gymnastics is one of the obvious language barriers because only those who are familiar with the sport understand the terms and their meanings. The way gymnasts carry themselves also sets them apart from others. An example of this is when I was on the track team, a coach pointed out that I ran like a gymnast. Although I was not with my teammates or talking about gymnastics, the way I ran was an indicator of the subculture I was associated with.

When discussing subcultures it’s important to establish what a subculture is to be able to correctly identify a specific subculture and differentiate it from a main culture. An example of a main culture or parent culture could be the most prominent culture of Great Britain, which would be its development from an island to a civilized prospering democratic country. The main culture that is associated with Britain that separates it from other cultures is that it is seen as a liberal democracy. The main religion associated with British culture would be Christianity, and most people would generalise British culture to be drinking tea, eating scones and having a particular “posh” accent. These small characteristics are what cultures are made of

Subculture refers to a minority of individuals who adhere to different rules, dress codes and lifestyle choices from mainstream culture. Throughout this essay the traditional definitions of subcultures, that mainly concentrate on class and style as their main features, will be looked at and explained. It will then be demonstrated how these ways of thinking are no longer relevant to the 21st century therefore the term 'subculture ' needs to be rethought for it to be an applicable category in the 21st century.

Looking at the big picture, subcultures and countercultures are both cultures that have their own values and norms. They are both capable of being a culture within a culture. A subculture is a smaller culture that exists within a larger culture but fit within the dominant culture, where as a counterculture is an opposition to the norms of society and contradict the dominant culture and norms. Both cultures dress and behave in different ways than average citizens of a society and are usually identifiable by their different appearances. A subculture can have its own beliefs, norms and values, but they are usually able to exist

The term “subculture” refers to a group of people who have similarities between them, and these similarities distinguish them significantly from other social groups. The similarities do not mean religious or political affiliation. These groups have different beliefs than the main culture and are youth oriented. These subcultures have their own styles of music, ideology,