many kinds of people's characteristics in the world.. just study from it.

2. After today…
• You should be able to tell the difference
between subcultures & countercultures
• You should be able to identify the purpose
of subcultures within dominant society
• You should be able to identify the qualities
of sub/countercultures

3. What is a subculture?
• Any group that exists within dominant,
mainstream culture…a world within a
world
– Shared ideology…values, norms, beliefs
– Shared aesthetic…dress, pastimes, music,
blogs, etc
– Shared vernacular…specialized language

4. • Vocational subcultures
• Recreational subcultures
• Ethnic subcultures
Types of Subcultures

5. Job Jargon: Truck Driving
• "Reefer" ... refrigerated trailer
• "Big Road" .... Highway
• "Flip Flop" ... return trip
• "Chicken Coup" ... truck scales
• "Bear" ... Police
• "Back Door" ... Behind

7. Purpose of both sub and
countercultures
• Gives people a place where they are
empowered
• Connects likeminded people
• Makes invisible people visible
• Allows people to escape the identity
they are born into
• Gives people a place to construct
identity

8. Furries

9. Otherkin
• Subculture of people, primarily Internet-
based, who identify in some way as other
than human
• Believe themselves to be mythological or
legendary creatures, explaining their beliefs
through reincarnation, having a nonhuman
soul
– Angels, demons, dragons, elves, extra-
terrestrials, fairies, kitsune, lycanthropes, and
vampires

11. B s zokuō ō
• “Violent running gang”; a Japanese subculture
associated with motorcycle clubs and gangs.
– First seen in the 1950s as the Japanese automobile
industry expanded rapidly.
• Engage in dangerous or reckless driving, such as
weaving in traffic, not wearing motorcycle
helmets, and running red lights
– composed of people under the legal adult age, (20 yrs
old)
– Weapons of choice: wooden swords, metal pipes and
Molotov cocktails.

13. Sukeban
• Sukeban --"suke" means female, while
"ban" means boss in Japan; girl gangs
• Wear sailor uniforms; pleated skirts that
went down to their feet, and custom
embroidery
• Know for glue sniffing, stimulant use,
shoplifting, theft, prostitution and violence

15. Girls dress like their
favorite manga, anime, or
video-game character.
Harajuku
district of
Japan
Wamona, cyber,
decora , or
cosplay

16. Steampunk
• Based on science fiction literature blended
with Victorian Era culture…
– Think H.G. Wells and Jules Verne
– Clothing: gowns, corsets, petticoats and bustles;
suits with vests, coats and spats; or military-
inspired garments.
• Example: Panic at the Disco’s “The Ballad of
Mona Lisa”
• Music – industrial dance/synthpunk

18. Hipsters

20. LARPers
• Participants physically act out their characters'
actions as decided by the game master
– May last hours or days
– May be in public or private
– Most characters dress up and have alternative
personas
– Horror, zombie, fantasy, post apocalyptic,
assassin, etc.

22. Trekkies

23. What is a counterculture?
• A group who’s values and norms deviate
from or are at odds with those of dominant
culture:
– Usually viewed as negative/dangerous, but not
always (e.g. women’s lib groups in the 70s or the
Civil Rights movement of the 60s)
– Hippies, KKK, early punk, Satanists, Hells
Angels/Pagans, Anarchists, Cults

24. Why do people join
countercultures?
• Members of countercultural groups are…
– Usually outsiders
– Alienated
– Freaks, geeks, nerds and losers
– Marginalized people with little power over their
status in the world
– Don’t fit the mold of what cultures says is
“normal”

25. Punk Subculture
• Emerges in London and NYC in the 1970s
– Max’s Kansas City & CBGBs
• Backlash against the hippy counterculture
• Values: nihilistic, rejected materialism,
anti-establishment
• Music: Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Blondie,
Television, Talking Heads, Patti Smith

28. Hippies

31. What is a “cult”?
• A group whose beliefs seem bizarre or
abnormal
• Can be religious or secular:
• Modern cults include large group-awareness
training, psychotherapy, business (pyramid
schemes), political (militia), and "New Age"
groups:
– Westboro Baptist Church?
– Scientology?

32. • Independent Baptist church in Topeka,
Kansas
• Headed by Fred Phelps; 71 members
• Stage anti-gay protests at military funerals,
celebrity funerals, Catholic & Episcopalian
churches, deaths of 9 Mennonite children
who died in a fire…the list goes on!

33. Cults in American Society
• Some estimates suggest there are over 5000
cults in the U.S. (including militia groups,
extremist religions, and new age sects)
• The turn of the century rekindled interest
and membership in cults.
– Some estimates suggest upwards of
185,000 converts per year to various
cults

34. Problem with Defining “Cults”
• One person’s cult is another’s religion
• What is the difference between a “cult” and
a “social movement”?
• What is the difference between an
“extremist group” and a “club”?

35. Cults: 8 Commonalities
1. Authoritarian: central leadership in one person or small
group of individuals.
2. Oppositional: values, beliefs or practices at odds with
dominant culture.
3. Exclusivistic: only the group has ''the truth,'' usually
based on new insights or revelation.
4. Legalistic: a tightly structured framework which governs
spirituality and the smallest details of daily life.
5. Subjective: undue emphasis on experience and emotions
often resulting in anti-intellectualism.
6. Persecution-Conscious: the belief that their group is
singled out for persecution.
7. Sanction-Oriented: stern sanctions issued for anything
less than total obedience.
8. Esoteric: an emphasis on secret, hidden or inner truth.

36. Characteristics of People Who Join Cults
• A desire to belong
• Unassertiveness
• Gullibility (impaired capacity to question critically)
• Low tolerance for ambiguity
• Cultural disillusionment or alienation
• Idealism
• A lack of self-confidence
• A desire for spiritual meaning

37. Heaven’s Gate Cult
• Founded by Marshall Applewhite AKA “Do”, and
Bonnie Lu Truesdale AKA”Ti”
• Mid 1970’s – West Coast
• Beliefs
– Aliens a “ Level Above” humans
– Earth was a “ Garden for Souls”
– Jesus was part of this. Applewhite was the same as Jesus
– Earth was being “Recycled”
– Comet Hale-Bopp was signal to leave

38. All wearing the following:
•Identical blue shirts and sweatpants
•Nike Widerunners
•Armbands reading “Heaven’s Gate Away Team”
•Each had a $5 bill and 3 quarters in their pocket
Star Trek reference

39. Marshall
Applewhite &
Bonnie Lu Nettles
Trusdale

41. Jim Jones: The People’s Temple
• Founded in 1955 by Jim Jones
• By 1959 = over 900 members (mid-70s
3,000)
• Preached imminent end of the world in a
nuclear war and that the survivors would
create a “new socialist Eden” on earth
• Would travel around the country
performing fake healings and fund
raising
• San Francisco - police suspicion
• Jones leases 4,000 acres of land in
Guyana

42. Jonestown Massacre
• November 17, 1978: Congressman Leo
Ryan goes to Guyana to investigate
• November 18, 1978: Ryan attempts to help
potential defectors
– Temple guards open fire, kill Ryan, 3
journalists and one defector
– Jones orders mass execution
– Cyanide-laced, grape flavored Kool-Aid

43. Aftermath
• 918 dead
• 270 children
• Greatest single loss of
American civilian life
before 9/11
• Only Congressman to
ever be assassinated

46. Youth Subcultures Task
• In your groups make a list of 5 youth subcultures
we have here at the high school:
– Identify what shared values/ideology the group
embraces
– Identify what shared aesthetic the group embraces
(music, dress, hairstyles, body modifications, pastimes,
etc.)
– Identify what shared vernacular the group uses (slang
terms or specialized language)
– Create a poster to visualized that subcultures