Subculture Evolution: Exploring Its Relevance In Contemporary Culture
We are facing the degeneration of youth counter-culture, some say. Is this phenomenon something we expected in these days and age, or does it indicate a deeper transformation that we are blind to see?
Cover art by me
Entering teenage years, where we are on the journey to cultivate our identity through different customs and information which unfold the opportunity to practise our ever-developing potential, an unbounded self-discovery. Teenagers and I included would come to spend days and days on the massive interconnected sphere, the internet, rearing myself from site to site that were peeking my interests. So, I naturally would come to discover pictures of subculture hay-day that were seeping through the media and everyone's mood boards. After enjoying an uncountable amount of these pictures and scanning through articles, I get caught in its vibrancy, dynamic identities, young and fresh appeal, in its own right so authentic. I came to comprehend its significance and then a question arises; judging by the impact it once had, why is it ever so less common to encounter these classic subcultures that were once ever so alive and why is it even rarer that a new one would emerge?
In The Name Of Subculture
In Mariam Webster's definition, subculture is defined as “an ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behaviour sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or society.” Their beliefs and behaviours are different from the perimeter of the culture or society. Different backgrounds and classes play a major role contributing to where a person would find themself in a bracket. Subculture is created and formed in the midst of what is relevant within the culture and political sphere. Those that are non-conformist and have different values, ideas would come to make smaller segments in high culture which are then relegated to subculture. Their goal is to communicate their voice in spite of the larger existing power there to determine how culture should be. People describe it as a place where people can find their interest, community, and a sense of belonging in terms of their shared identity. These motives then manifested itself in how they participated in fashion, lifestyle, music, etc. Though still, coming back around, you can't separate subcultures from dominance culture because it is a pivotal source for their inspiration and identity journey. On the contrast side, there are groups that substantially differ in their behaviour and aspiration in how they wanted to shape the mainstream and the function of society. But looking at it in a positive light, oftenly people's uniqueness is encouraged in their tribe alike, ideally a creative and expressive space that goes beyond capitalism, a place to be and for them.
The terms associated with subculture have been since the period of Fin-de-siècle (Turned of the century). For example, during the late 19th century when flocks of intellectuals across parts of Europe aspired to break the boundaries of art and culture rule, expanding the connotation of the term during the industrialization. The roaring 1920s; the young bright things, 40s; zoot-suiter, Teddy boys, rock ‘n’ rollers and beatniks of the 50s, 1960s is the year of hippie and mods, 1970s; Punk, New Romantics, Glam Rock, Rude Bwoy, 80s; Goth, Hip-Hop, Skate Punk, 90s; Riot Grrrls, Grunge and Emo, the Scene Kids of the 2000s and amongst so many more.
Commodities Of Culture Industry
Even a culture that was made to co-exist in the bigger culture will then likely be consumed depending on the credibility of its capital commodities. How companies make pre-packaged consumer products ripped away in all of its substance, easily digestible enough yet still having the edge to it so people can still recognize. Selling you a cheap dream, devaluing sub-group commitment because all you need to do is to pick out your preferred aesthetic off the rack and now you too can become a part of something that you are not. This discourse has always been in the media since style has been invented, the commercialization always been something people leeched and decried on.
Looking at our contemporary culture, the internet has sped up our consumption habits even further reaching where it is possible to access the vast majority in the world. Democratisation of information impacts cultural shifts in a bigger way. In the early pre internet when it was harder to access. Sources for inspiration and ideas related to culture have to actively scour through the web or they would just turn to traditional media (magazine, newspaper, TV etc) which run at a slower pace. But this process has become less of the tassel when algorithms work in an individual's interests as everyone feeds now are different from the others. When a person is exposed to the same movies, songs, videos etc, this is their taste community (aka. their mainstream). These communities are decentralised to the mainstream and don't have the opposition quality when we come to associate with subculture. As the community grows wider and wider, it is virtually impossible to differentiate and identify what is truly “the mainstream”. Thus youth didn't feel the necessity in the rebellion attitude associated with sub cultural identity as. it didn't hold the same currency as it once was for millennials. “Gen Z is better able to treat culture as a playground with less self-conscious dissonance because it's not as central to their identity formation as it was for [millennials]. For them, digital is the mainstream. And it's disposable. Being 'alternative' doesn't have the same currency since it's an identity accessible to anyone.” wrote Ayesha A. Siddiqui, in a substack, Memento Millennial.
Audience tastes in nostalgia allow new trends to exist yet oftenly, they are by-products from trends recycled from past trends or aesthetic. Internet creators, influencers, and editors are on their all time alert mode hunting for the new fresh things. When especially in the recent year, core or aesthetic have been popping off everyone feeds. One thing that proves this effect so well is how you are able to be somewhere around the world, yet you are still able to encounter fashion trends that are totally different from the location you are in. This effect play on how you chose to express yourselves but now via plethora of informations available to you with just a swipe of search, one of the example is just like how you are in Paris or London yet you came to see individuals with niche fashion or lifestyle choices (aka if you know you know kinda type) you only able to see in small community in New York before.
The rapidity in information sharing means that culture lovers and enthusiasts get to meet and express their curiosity but on the flip side of the coin, it is amenable for head corporations and the mainstream to exploit this to their advantage. Surprise and shock value contrive from subculture only will soon become the norm, deviation from the norm soon turns into a useful tool for status quo. Once a place for genuine connection and creativity soon will be consumed and integrated to mainstream, harbouring consumerism.
Subcultural Spirit; Gen-Z on Democracy
They are the generation that is penetrated by the internet, as it is easily an open source to read and learn through what is happening in the world. They understand the importances in their notion of citizenship in a healthy democratic climate. Everyone has been given equal platforms to share and communicate one’s information. Compared to the generation before, more than ever, youth today is amongst one of the curious generations who have their desire to learn and understand information more in depth . Simultaneously through these aspirations, their shared interest in learning manifests deeply in how they express their message through non verbal (fashion, hairstyle art, literary etc.) and verbal communication(discussion expressing their opinions through various activities that are carried out in the media etc.). This means allowing them to also make conscious decisions on what contents are righteous to consume and produce (not to discredit how much some affluence with individuals and media in power still hold) that is beneficial to them like never have seen before in history. Through this passive toward impacting the world positively, it presents itself on a bigger scale, their voice becomes a powerful tool for change. ''These two generations (Gen-Z and millennial) travel together in terms of their political values, and the way in which they view the world government. Both generations care about the same issues. They believe in a robust government to solve some of the systemic issues facing this nation. The biggest difference is Gen Z has an urgency about their approach that Millennials lack. Millennials seem more comfortable working outside of the traditional systems, in nonprofits, and in their communities, to tackle the issues they care about. Whereas Gen Z seems committed to using all the tools in their civic toolbox — voting, running for office, as well as everything else that Millennials were doing. There’s an urgency, almost a desperation in some cases, I’d say, when you talk to some of the more active members of Gen Z.” said Della Volpe in a conversation for The Harvard Gazette. And the other time, we see how youth feel the need to rebel via their actions and their activities, and rise up the system when they feel like their basic human right is being compromised or alienated. On a new insight reported by seven experts on over 3000 youth, ranging from 16-24 years old for Dazed “In a time where the ‘mainstream’ ceases to exist and being alternative is the aspirations, subcultures are thriving in new ways and multiplying by minute. [...] Right now, young people around the world couldn't be more dissatisfied with ‘the status quo’. They are voting less, rejecting party membership, and telling researchers that their country's leaders aren't working in their interests.”
Redefined The Cliché
Defining what it is and the existence of subculture is a hard task and based on different sides of how you define it. But it's unfairly cruel to deem that everything that exists and so its influence within subculture are dead, when the only judgement is based on our classical archetype understanding of subculture. I was in fact so blind by its beauty and art that my pleasure only served to rear me away from what it is to be a part of a sub-group and to recognize its purpose, it is in my power and this moment to recognize it beyond the stereotypes. Uproaring the media, the act of decentralising and revolting, invincibly poses themselves in a click of a button. How it is carried out now is different though its core spirit and essence are still very much alive, and intrinsically is in accordance with changes in time and Identity. Our mourning for how subculture used to be in the past is justifiable, but yet in fact, it will still continue to be alive and thrive, it just goes through a silent change that can ever be so hidden, we pronounced it to be dead, without us noticing; its is ever so natural that part of our humanity's behaviour still holds its main principles into shaping the present and future of cultural narratives.