Thoughts on subcultures
I just got done attending a DragonCon panel called "Still Bleeding Into the Mainstream" that was ostensibly to discuss the ways that Goths are portrayed in mainstream culture. However, the last half of the panel devolved into a discussion of how Goths are perceived and treated in high school these days. Listening to what some of the high school kids there had to say made me realize just how fortunate I was in the high school that I attended.
I wasn't a Goth in high school (in fact, I don't consider myself to be a Goth now -- I just enjoy a lot of the music and fashion associated with that culture), so I'm really expanding my own thoughts to subcultures in general, rather than focusing on Goths specifically. I attended the Liberal Arts Academy, which was a public magnet program at that time situated inside an inner-city urban high school. It was, for me at least, one of the most inclusive environments I ever found myself in -- we were a group of students brought together by our intelligence and intellectual curiosity, and we respected each other for that. I don't think there was anyone in the LAA that I really considered to be "normal," but I also don't recall anyone who I really thought of as an "outcast" either. For example, there was one girl who was a member of the "popular" clique, and she often came across as your typical ditzy blonde. However, I sat next to her in a few classes, and over time I realized that she really was quite intelligent and that the ditzy blonde thing was an act. I'm not quite sure really why she felt compelled to hide her intelligence, but I respected her because I knew she WAS intelligent, rather than for the facade she presented. (Hrm...maybe this example is really making some other point, but I'm not quite sure what it is [not enough sleep last night -- I'm at a Con, so sue me!]. I'm going to leave it in here anyway, though.)
As another, hopefully better, example, I was also a member of the band, and I got to know several of the inner-city "hip-hop" culture kids as well through that medium. The point was made by someone on the panel (sorry, I have forgotten who already) that it is a lot easier to "get to know" a subculture if you can get to know individuals who are part of it, rather than trying to approach and infiltrate a large group of like folks when you are the outsider and likely to be rejected. By my senior year there were only 3 seniors left in the band, two of whom were me and another clarinetist. The other girl, who in addition to being a very good clarinet player, was also really into hip-hop culture. I ended up spending a fair amount of time with her as we had the same off period that year and went off campus together occasionally and the like (not to mention both playing clarinet and being the two best players). One-on-one we got along very well, but I never would have thought twice about her had we not had some common ground to get to know each other on a personal level, rather than just looking at the fact that she was part of a subculture that I had no interest in and didn't really know anything about, and in fact found a little scary.
I even knew and liked (and maybe even had a bit of a crush on) a hispanic gang-member who I got to know through participation in UIL Math of all things. I never did quite figure out if I'd have been afraid of him had I ever run into him outside of school functions, though. But as an individual I really liked him and thought him a great person.
I think the big thing I learned from my high school experience was that people are all individuals, and even those who identify with a particular culture or subculture are all different from each other and have their own likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, and fears. I learned to look at people as individuals rather than judging them by their outward appearance, an outlook that has served me well over time.
I wish I knew how to teach other people to think that way, rather than trying to suppress and belittle anything they don't understand and find scary or unusual. I'm glad there have been some recent positive portrayals of Goths in mainstream culture, but I think that needs to be extended to hip-hop, too, as well as other subcultures. I use hip-hop as my example because I don't care for their music and admit to being a bit scared/turned off when faced with large groups of such folks -- because of my perception of them as violence-prone. I feel that way in spite of knowing individual people who are part of that subculture of whom I would not be scared. However, I am aware of my own prejudices and I try very hard not to let them color the way I interact with members of a group -- I try to treat each person based on their own merits and try very hard not to write them off solely because of my preconceptions. That's hard sometimes -- I'll be the last person to tell you it's not -- but I sure wish more people out there in the world would at least try.
And as a final, somewhat irrelevant, note, Rogue (of the Cruxshadows) was on the panel and I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of what he had to say. Again -- didn't fit with my preconceptions of what a "rock star" is like. I'd love to hang out with him sometime and just talk about stuff like this -- unfortunately, I doubt that's likely to ever happen. ;)
I wasn't a Goth in high school (in fact, I don't consider myself to be a Goth now -- I just enjoy a lot of the music and fashion associated with that culture), so I'm really expanding my own thoughts to subcultures in general, rather than focusing on Goths specifically. I attended the Liberal Arts Academy, which was a public magnet program at that time situated inside an inner-city urban high school. It was, for me at least, one of the most inclusive environments I ever found myself in -- we were a group of students brought together by our intelligence and intellectual curiosity, and we respected each other for that. I don't think there was anyone in the LAA that I really considered to be "normal," but I also don't recall anyone who I really thought of as an "outcast" either. For example, there was one girl who was a member of the "popular" clique, and she often came across as your typical ditzy blonde. However, I sat next to her in a few classes, and over time I realized that she really was quite intelligent and that the ditzy blonde thing was an act. I'm not quite sure really why she felt compelled to hide her intelligence, but I respected her because I knew she WAS intelligent, rather than for the facade she presented. (Hrm...maybe this example is really making some other point, but I'm not quite sure what it is [not enough sleep last night -- I'm at a Con, so sue me!]. I'm going to leave it in here anyway, though.)
As another, hopefully better, example, I was also a member of the band, and I got to know several of the inner-city "hip-hop" culture kids as well through that medium. The point was made by someone on the panel (sorry, I have forgotten who already) that it is a lot easier to "get to know" a subculture if you can get to know individuals who are part of it, rather than trying to approach and infiltrate a large group of like folks when you are the outsider and likely to be rejected. By my senior year there were only 3 seniors left in the band, two of whom were me and another clarinetist. The other girl, who in addition to being a very good clarinet player, was also really into hip-hop culture. I ended up spending a fair amount of time with her as we had the same off period that year and went off campus together occasionally and the like (not to mention both playing clarinet and being the two best players). One-on-one we got along very well, but I never would have thought twice about her had we not had some common ground to get to know each other on a personal level, rather than just looking at the fact that she was part of a subculture that I had no interest in and didn't really know anything about, and in fact found a little scary.
I even knew and liked (and maybe even had a bit of a crush on) a hispanic gang-member who I got to know through participation in UIL Math of all things. I never did quite figure out if I'd have been afraid of him had I ever run into him outside of school functions, though. But as an individual I really liked him and thought him a great person.
I think the big thing I learned from my high school experience was that people are all individuals, and even those who identify with a particular culture or subculture are all different from each other and have their own likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, and fears. I learned to look at people as individuals rather than judging them by their outward appearance, an outlook that has served me well over time.
I wish I knew how to teach other people to think that way, rather than trying to suppress and belittle anything they don't understand and find scary or unusual. I'm glad there have been some recent positive portrayals of Goths in mainstream culture, but I think that needs to be extended to hip-hop, too, as well as other subcultures. I use hip-hop as my example because I don't care for their music and admit to being a bit scared/turned off when faced with large groups of such folks -- because of my perception of them as violence-prone. I feel that way in spite of knowing individual people who are part of that subculture of whom I would not be scared. However, I am aware of my own prejudices and I try very hard not to let them color the way I interact with members of a group -- I try to treat each person based on their own merits and try very hard not to write them off solely because of my preconceptions. That's hard sometimes -- I'll be the last person to tell you it's not -- but I sure wish more people out there in the world would at least try.
And as a final, somewhat irrelevant, note, Rogue (of the Cruxshadows) was on the panel and I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of what he had to say. Again -- didn't fit with my preconceptions of what a "rock star" is like. I'd love to hang out with him sometime and just talk about stuff like this -- unfortunately, I doubt that's likely to ever happen. ;)