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lou1978
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jul 03, 2008
Posts: 54
Location: uk
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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject: Spectrum and sub-culture???? |
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heres an observation that has been the cause of much discussion with my friends.
we have noticed that a lot of people on the spectrum also belong to various subcultures, such as goths, bikers, metallers etc. this began with myself and my first husband, then noticed once i started a service for families with asd, that usually at least one parent either still is or was active in a sub-culture.
kinda thinking this could be a defense mechanism for different things.
1. protection with like minded people
2. easier to make friends/have social encounters
3. moody goths arent expected to be sociable
4. you are unusual through choice, not because you are just werid, it covers the unease we feel that people are judging us, if we choose to stand out and be different.
would love to hear any thoughts. |
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Michael_Stuart
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jul 05, 2008
Age: 13
Posts: 50
Location: Europe
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I've always found the whole sub-culture thing rather silly.
I mean, if wearing black clothes makes you happy (I'm rather fond of them myself) that's fine, but if you do it just to be part of a group I don't really see its point.
I'm not part of any identifiable sub-culture, I think I'm really a sub-culture in my own right.
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poopylungstuffing
Bohemian Cave dweller
Joined: Mar 09, 2007
Age: 33
Posts: 3904
Location: not otherwise specified
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pakled
"Bless his Heart"
Joined: Nov 13, 2007
Age: 50
Posts: 2768
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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this is as close to a subculture as I've ever been... |
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lou1978
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jul 03, 2008
Posts: 54
Location: uk
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| i didnt mean to imply that people made a concious decision to join a subculture just to fit in, more that peopke who have issues may naturally gravitate towards that lifestyle. |
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The_Cucumber
Velociraptor
Joined: May 05, 2007
Posts: 447
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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Well I think almost everyone goes through a phase where they just want to be accepted. I suppose that's why I joined marching band. I don't regret it, had the stress of marching band not brought my meltdowns to the surface I would never have been diagnosed with AS and probably wouldn't be the person I am today and I really like the person I am today.
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The improbable goal: Fear nothing, hate nothing, and let nothing anger you. |
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liloleme
Velociraptor
Joined: Jun 09, 2008
Age: 41
Posts: 402
Location: California
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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| I was a part of a sub culture....cant mention details because we are not in the adult forum. I can say that I found it a way to engage in something that I was not able to before. I was able to be social with these types of people because my behavior was somewhat "normal" in certain situations. |
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lou1978
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jul 03, 2008
Posts: 54
Location: uk
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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| my point exactly! thank you! |
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Willard
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 586
Location: Confederate States of America
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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I've never gravitated toward a specific subculture intentionally (he says with the ponytail and the nose stud and the five ear piercings and the sleeved tattoos), because it seemed to akin to the mainstream notion of "keeping up with the Joneses", whatever group you choose, you're consciously attempting to be like 'everybody else' and there's something that smacks of hypocrisy in that to me. I did say intentionally, right?
I have however, found myself intentionally seeking out career opportunities that allowed me to mingle with other highly creative minds, who are much more tolerant of differences in general, so maybe that's nearly the same thing. If I had to work on an assembly line or in a corporate office, the mentality of the herd would send me amok in no time.
I have had jobs that required me to briefly pass through environments like that, and nothing against the average Joe Sixpack, but if I had to listen to shallow cubicle dwellers gab all day, every day about Nascar and American Idol and hair products and children's sporting events and last weekend at the lake with the ATVs, and what's wrong with that Britney anyway and you know Doris from HR, she's got such an attitude...something awful would happen before I got through the first pay period. The misuse of grammar alone would give me a headache.
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Hodor
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 18, 2008
Age: 19
Posts: 834
Location: On a dumb island
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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There were no subcultures in my school, and there are still none in my miserable, rainy town. The whole town is full of chavs; people who want to drink their lives away and stay in the cesspit that is my town for their whole lives, growing old and set in their ways, just like their parents and their parents' parents.
Even if there were subcultures, I wouldn't fit into any of them. If I was to join the Outcasts' Society, I would be an outcast of that.
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WC
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jul 04, 2008
Age: 38
Posts: 74
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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I belonged to a subculture of the freakiest of the freaks, or so I thought, for a number of years. Until I was "too much" for them (whatever that means, never got a straight answer about too much of what?) and they turned their backs on me. This after spending a lot of time, communal sharing of resources, and happily helping some of them financially.
Tried it again in a new city, but then same thing happened, only much much quicker.
So even subcultures have their standards of acceptance. Trust me, nothing makes you feel worse then being tossed out of a subculture for no good reason other than your poor communication skills. Everything else I played by their rules to the T. But since I speak another language, I get tossed. |
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kip
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 688
Location: Las Vegas NV USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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I'm a hippie, according to mum.
Cept I cut my hair, and I'm allergic to pot, and my car is only one colour.
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Macbeth
Thane of Bar and Cellar
Joined: May 28, 2007
Posts: 1380
Location: UK Doncaster
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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Some subcultures are certainly more accepting of "difference", even if some people in those cultures have to manufacture a difference to "fit in".
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Fogman
Econo-class Iconoclast
Joined: Jun 20, 2005
Age: 41
Posts: 2004
Location: SC, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Macbeth wrote: | | Some subcultures are certainly more accepting of "difference", even if some people in those cultures have to manufacture a difference to "fit in". |
In the case of the Punk Scene in the 70's-80's, and the Hippie scene in the 60's, it was a matter of all the non-conformists, (be they willing non-conformists, or non conformists by default in the case of HFA/Aspies) collectivising as a means of survival in the face of the adversity of societal rejection and persecution for not conforming to the narrow/shallow standards of 'society at large'. Basically all the original Punks/Hippies were societal outcasts.
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Sophist
Professor of Pedantry
Joined: Apr 24, 2005
Posts: 6170
Location: St. Louie
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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I am my own subculture. I'm one of the original trendsetters, baby, yeah.
 j/k
I haven't felt especially connected with any one subculture, but over the years I've floated back and forth between the nerds and the artistic types. Although I do somewhat still feel out of place in either of those groups. I love art and poetry and languages and whatnot too much for the usual math/computer nerdy types but am too OCD and logical for many of the artists, so... I figure I just need to meet more artistic scientists to feel at home.
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