What is Subculture? Simply put, a derivative from the “norm”. A subculture is a group made up of individuals who share a social, religious, or ethical belief system with one another that is often vastly different from the larger culture around them. They have or create a culture of their own because they couldn’t identify with the one already around them.

Sociologist Dick Hebdige, the author of Subculture: The Meaning of Style, wrote, “Subcultures can be perceived as negative due to their nature of criticism to the dominant societal standard”. He went on to say that, “subcultures bring together like-minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of identity.”

This desire to find their own sense of identity is what often leads some subculture’s appearances to stands out drastically from mainstream society. In some cases, where the feelings of neglect are more prevalent it becomes more rebellious in nature. The Punk Rock Movement, or subculture for example, is the embodiment of the “I will not be ignored” attitude.

They wear similar clothing, almost like a uniform that advertises what their music and behavior standards are. There are sometimes dramatic changes in appearance whether it’s hair color, tattoos, or piercing. These are all forms of symbolism for what this subculture identifies with, how they recognize and gain acceptance with each other.

Dylan Clark wrote that, “the punk subculture emerged to fight even the normalization of subculture itself, with brilliant new forms of social critique and style.”

One could conclude that death to social-based subcultures comes in the form of acceptance from others. Once their differences become the norm, they are now a part of mainstream society. We can see this happening in present day with the ever-growing “Hipster” subculture.

With ethnic subcultures, it’s their heritage that makes them different from the larger culture they have integrated into. They can’t relate to what the larger culture does because it’s so unfamiliar to them. They band together by keeping their customs, food, clothing, religious practices and language. They maintain their roots while still living in a society very different from that in which they were raised.

Subcultures shouldn’t be confused with the concept of counterculture. Counterculture is a group of people in direct opposition with societal norms. Their ways have nothing to do with finding their own identity within society they reject society and want to change it to match their beliefs; as seen with hippies and protest groups. Subcultures however, while they may differ from the norm within a society and perhaps rebel a little, they still remain in that environment and accept much of the larger culture’s ways. As seen in ethical subcultures, the main priority is to mold their own little section of the world.