on the subcultural
i wanted to tie this into my last post on fashion and style, but it got too messy (not to mention long), so this is its own tangent. recently, electrolicious said:
In many ways, subcultures are like church: an existing community that you can come into, be nurtured by, and find comfort in. Cultural decisions get easier because on a certain level your choices are narrower. Your fashion? It’s something like this. The music you like? Here’s your genre — pick your favorites. The movies you enjoy? The events you go to every weekend? It’s laid out for you like a map.
– from a private post, with permission. she goes on to talk about how this can be a GOOD thing for many people, at least for a while, and how some level of conformity is not always negative, especially for (young) people looking for community or connection. and i don’t disagree.
this is particularly pertinent to me right now as a) i’m headed to the pinnacle of my sub-subculture this weekend and b) someone who left one of my subcultures a couple of years ago has now decided to come back after some time off alone figuring out who he was without the group context/structure/calendar/fashion/taste to define him, and he said it was a necessary experience after having those things determined for him by the subculture for many years. this caused me to wonder if i also need to take a conscious break (not going to burning man this year is definitely part of that), or at least intentionally give myself a lot more space.
i go back and forth on a huge arc with how i feel about the “i know where to go/what to do/what to wear/what to listen to” in my own subculture, between the comfort she describes (and also in a city like SF, having a subcultural filter for events/happenings is kind of nice – otherwise, the amount of possibilities can be kind of overwhelming!), and also feeling extremely creeped out and jaded. i’m even more creeped out by the people who don’t ever get creeped out by their own non-conformist conformity, or who don’t ever even look at it humorously and get offended when you make jokes about it. a while ago i said something dissident about the subculture, and one of my friends (lovingly) joked “Sometimes don’t you think Amy’s just pretending to be part of our crew?” sometimes, i wonder if i am. i wonder if i let myself be more of a “joiner” than i naturally am because of the positive benefits, but then still always push back against it.
whether this tribal type self-branding is an intrinsic part of human nature, or a response to culture (nurture), especially modern consumer culture, or whether are they so intertwined it’s indistinguishable has been the subject of many books and dissertations. i know people are tempted to recommend books in response to this post (such as “urban tribes“). i’m interested i hearing more about personal thoughts/experience (anonymously or not. if you’re reading this on facebook, you can also click through and respond anonymously on my blog). is the reason you conform to YOUR subculture (however or whatever that means to you) because of what she describes there, the comfort level, which does sometimes ironically result in you “finding yourself”? does the subculture choice you’ve made FEEL like it’s responding to something that comes from the inside (it fits your spirit/personality), or like a response to things from the outside (rebellion or assimilation)?
Filed in culture and random linkage, me myself and i | Comments (3)3 Responses to “on the subcultural”
Leave a Reply
hi, I’ve been reading your blog off and on for a couple of years but I don’t know you.
I’m at the tail-end of a 4.5 month trip trough southern africa and southeast asia so naturally I’ve been thinking about culture a lot, and also specifically the many various san francisco subcultures and how they fit into the world.
if anything I think traveling has validated the idea of subculture to me more than ever. I have been jaded about burners/ravers/hipsters/*insertgrouphere* but I don’t see how our attempts at creating communities with specific ideologies, music, and style preferences should be considered somehow less valid than culture that is based around religion or family. should it not be considered truly “real” because we are white (hmm… guilt)? if anything, the main real criticism I could see is that there is a lack of timelessness in western subcultures. they come and go in a decade for the most part, whereas the culture of a country or tribal group is constantly shifting (there is no such thing as pure culture), but at a much slower rate.
having a set of narrower choices to refer to for clothing, music, event preferences, rituals, beliefs, goals goes along with any culture, but I think we are uniquely uncomfortable with it because we have always been told to be Unique and Independent… lt’s so American really, nobody else in the world works so hard to be so different.
the longer I am in asia the more uncomfortable I feel with my own western clothes and attitudes. besides just being much larger physically, us whiteys also dress way sluttier (exception: thailand) and generally have a lot less tact and grace. I feel uncomfortable walking around in a tank top and mid-length skirt because it feels too revealing compared to what most of the women around here are wearing. in time 99% of people will probably start to meld to whatever it is their surroundings are and whatever is available to them economically. whenever my social groups shift my clothes shift as well. it’s hard to help really, you see what’s around you and pick what you like from that. and why should it matter? why is it so damn important for us to be entirely unique in this world of 6 billion people. the various tribes and cultures I have seen on this trip are all very different but also have a lot of commonalities, and I think western culture is the same way. culture never exists in a vacuum because humans don’t exist in a vacuum.
okay back to bali
read my blog for more..
also, I should say that even though I point out our (san francisco in general) obsession with being unique, individual, and independent- I am mostly just projecting since I am totally the same way. just rethinking why I think it’s so important.
excellent comments, lydia. thank you for your thoughts, and i will definitely check your blog (wanderlust!)
part of the reason i’m super excited to travel this fall is that i know being outside my own culture will give me a chance to really see my own life, and own self, from an entirely different perspective. while some Americans go abroad and end up comparatively loathing American culture (and end up ex-pats), most start to really appreciate it, which is something i think i really need (perspective shift).
it’s not that i don’t totally love and appreciate SF and my subculture. i do i do i do i do. it’s that it gets hard to see the forest for the trees after a while, and it’s so, so easy to be jaded, especially when being jaded is cool.