Subcultures in the Anglo-phone world
To provide theoretical background on the topic of subcultures it is important to understand the difference between mainstream society and subcultures. The dominant or mainstream culture is the one practiced by the majority of people within a society. Their practices and ways of living become what is considered ‘normal’. When people live outside of the mainstream culture and do not adapt to the generally accepted rules they are often considered part of subcultures. Subcultures exist alongside the dominant culture and can be either positive or negative responses. The negative responses can take the form of delinquents, hooligans or extremists who are often on the far right or left of mainstream politics. As a result of these groups, subcultures are stereotyped as deviant and viewed with fear. However, this is a very narrow and destructive way of describing subcultures.
On the positive side, subcultures are a form of expression and allow groups of people to gain an identity and a sense of belonging. Many people do not fit into mainstream society and trying to force them to fit in can be like fitting a square peg into a round hole. Many people in subcultures feel that they connect with others with similar ideas, attitudes or beliefs or simply with people with similar tastes in music, clothing, food or style. Once these groups get together and start to assimilate, a subculture is born.
The negative stereotype of subcultures ignores the subtleties and innuendo of many culturally rich elements of society. Subcultures are so diverse and complex, that painting all subcultures with the same brush, misses the beauty in the detail. Therefore, this blog site has been developed to display many but not nearly all of the subcultures within the Anglo-phone world. By Anglo-phone (or often spelt Anglophone) we are referring to countries whose common and official language is English. Initially we will be discussing subcultures which thrive in the UK such as Hipsters, Bohemians, Scallies, Moshers and Skaters. Then we will branch out to the USA. I hope you enjoy the site...
