Fandoms: Exploring Subcultures
- Apr 23, 2018
- 2 min read
Exploring subcultures
Subculture is defined as a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture. Hebdige states "Subcultures represent 'noise': interference in the orderly sequence which leads from real events and phenomena to their representation in the media." Often with the emergence of a new subculture there is a "wave of hysteria in the press"4, thus contributing to ridicule by the public. This creates a tighter bond between groups of fans within that subculture. This was seen through the punk revolution in the 1970's and in the gay community after the pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, which left 50 dead and another 58 injured.
In my personal experience, I noticed it after the murder of Sophie Lancaster in the goth subculture. Sophie and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were attacked in Stubbylee park in Lancashire on the 11th of August 2007, by a group of 5 teenaged boys. The injuries she sustained were too much and she passed away aged only 20 years old. Two of the boys were charged with murder and the other three with GBH. During the court case 'the prosecution told the hearing: "Sophie and Robert were singled out not for anything they had said or done, but because they looked and dressed differently"'.5 This caused an uproar in the gothic community as not only was it a tragic loss but it was an action which threatened our way of life for no reason. It also triggered a behaviour that it was 'okay' to attack people for the way they look, which became a common thing. Myself as well as many other people who dress the way I do began being insulted and assaulted on a daily basis for no reason other than being different, with no help as there are no actual laws against 'Lookism', targeting somebody based on their appearance, therefore I made a research project6 trying to raise awareness. However, instead of us cowering in fear, the community seemed to grow, and the Sophie Lancaster Foundation7 was formed. They began offering help and support to people being bullied for their clothing preference and reaching out to schools to stop said behaviour from a young age.
In reference to fandoms, the gothic subculture and metal head community are often linked through being fans of heavy metal music. On the one hand this makes the group larger and therefore more protected through strength in numbers, on the other it still doesn't come close in comparison to the rest of the public which still makes it a minority subculture.
In conclusion, subcultures have positives and negatives. They unite groups of people with similar interests and create support networks for said people when they are targeted. The negatives, however, are that it creates a divide between other subcultures and almost creates a rivalry which is dangerous, as seen in the Sophie Lancaster example.
4 Dick Hebdige Subculture chapter 29 pg 356
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sophie_Lancaster#Trial_and_aftermath
6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMToO6kW3k
7 https://sophielancasterfoundation.com/index.php/support-us
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