Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Sugary Spicey Subculture

According to wikipedia(my research guru) a Subculture is a set of people with a distinct set of behaviour and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. Since I have been reading up on blogs by Maggie and her friends, I stumbled onto this subculture phenomenon. As I read up more about the subject some I found out answers to my questions about my contemporaries. At the same time it gave rise to many new questions.
When I took the subculture test, I was awarded the tag of 'Prep'. Now that got me to thinking how social phenomenons have vastly different attributes and even definitions across geographical locations. Prep and other subculture group discussed in that test are more or less applicable to USA, Canada or at most some western European countries. In my country, Bangladesh, the categories and their attributes are much much different.
As with any theory or concept, there are contradictions regarding the definition of subculture.
Not delving further into that debate, I will just share some of the subculture I have spotted in my society. I must warn you though the observe and write approach to subculture is superficial, as most of the time the classification of subculture is usually done on the basis of a person's appearance, clothing and external attitudes.
The population for my survey was my fellow college students plus my fellow schoolmates. It is not a generalized commentary as the social strata I am referring to is urban, young, well-to-do,
and educated.
On the top of my head the subcultures I have noticed around me are wannabes, nerds, all-rounders, posh, easygoers, regulars, repressed, recluse.
First of all nerds: you know all about them; they exist everywhere in the world, and most of us secretly envy them. They are the smart ones in class, the teacher's pet, the presidents of nerdy clubs, preoccupied with careers, often calculative in their plans. They usually check their emotions, and although they have friends, they do not grow overfriendly towards them. Outlookwise, contrary to what teen movies propagate, they will not always wear thick glasses and baggy clothes. In fact, most of the nerds I know blend really well with regulars, and it is only when they start discussing the positronic disposition of sub-atomic particles (okay I stole ot from Friends) that you realise Gee These Are The Nerds!
All-rounders: Yes, I see heads nodding, you know them too. They are the future Rhodes Scholars alrite. Sometimes Nerds can overlap between All-rounders and Nerd subculture. These are the over-acievers. Typically they are dashing and dynamic in terms of brain and braun. They are engaged in extra-curricular activites, they play sports, they make plays, they sing, they debate, they study, they hang out with friends and they spend time with their families. They are the future CEOs, politicians, rich and famous. I will admit once again I am jeaslous of them as well.
Posh: Easiest to spot. They are clad in the most trendy clothes (often shocking ) ; they sport the latest hairstyles and they can chat for hours about celebrities and fashion. They also carry the coolest gadgets and the funkiest accessories. They are also most of the time too preoccupied with themselves to notice a fire breakout near them. Sheepishly I will add this subculture has more females than males.
Wannabes: hmm...well they are the ones who are a shade lesser than the posh. You know them right? Their intention was to make it into posh, they missed and fell into wannabe category. They try to hang around with the posh, but they dont get much attention. Nevertheless their satisfaction is they believe they are better off ( read better dressed ) than the nerds and regulars.
Easygoers:Yes these are happiest folks around. They are casually surfing through life with no worries about studies or anything else. You will see them hanging out with their friends at foodjoints or clubhouses. They are the ones with the gossip and the news; they start verbal threads and they are the first ones to take part in a protest. They are also active member sof several clubs.
Regulars: Now these are the usual people you meet and say hello to. They are the non-ugly, non-posh, non-nerd, non-wannabe....you get the picture. They are biggest subculture and they are the mediocres. Mediocre in studies, in sports, in clubs, in social life...they have aims and they may pursure those aims but they do not make a big deal out of anything. They are chilled and fairly level-headed.
Repressed and Recluse: I put them together because it's hard to distinguish most of the time. Repressed are the ones who have lots and lots of ideas and theories in their heads, but they are not too eager to share or express themselves. Recluse are the ones who well, deliberately shy away from public life and become invisible.

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