Beatnik — This is a stereotype of dark clothing, striped shirts, and berets based in the beat generation of the 1950s and 1960s. It’s a bit inaccurate to the actual culture it’s supposed to represent, but it has since influenced many other subcultures, from hipsters to goths.
Cybergoth — This is a subculture based in rave and club electronic music and cyberpunk and cyberdelic technological influences with a darker aesthetic. PVC is a commonly seen material, as is fishnet. Dreadlocks and dreadfalls are common, as are goggles and gas masks. The color scheme most often seen is black with a neon accent, which is typically only one or two colors at a time.
Cyberpunk — These were adherents to the cyberdelic subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, who attempted to blend cyberpunk as a genre, modern technology, psychodelic aesthetics of the 1960s, and hallucinogenic drugs. Modern cyberpunk is a derivative of cybergoth, which is, in turn, a derivative of the cyberdelic culture. Modern cyberpunks reject the raver and goth influences of the cybergoth subculture.
Emo — In reality, emo is one of the music-based subcultures, originating in hardcore punk, pop punk, and indie rock. The musical genre is known as “emotive hardcore,” and there is a subgenre known as “screamo,” which also incorporates elements from metal music. There are also distinctive influences from mods and hipsters. Despite the common perception of a connection between the subculture and self-harm and suicide, the vast majority of adherents to the style are not any more depressed than those of any other subculture.
Ganguro — This is a Japanese subculture that features blonde or red hair, tanned skin, and white makeup on the lips and around the eyes, with black eyeliner inside a patch of white. The outfits are typically very bright in color and may include plastic elements. Multiple bracelets are often worn. Substyles called Yamanba and Manba exist. They featured even darker tans, leis, and face gems. Yamanba features white makeup only above the eye, while Manba features makeup below the eye as well. Face gems and leis have largely faded, but hairstyles have become more extreme over time, often with neon-colored synthetic extensions on top of the bleached blond hair. The male equivalent is known as a “Center Guy.” The style contradicts the mainstream Japanese beauty norm of pale skin and dark hair and is influenced by the depiction of ghosts and demons in the kabuki and noh theater traditions.
Goth — The term originated in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Gothic Literature showed up in the Victorian era. Goth should not be confused with the Vampire subculture, nor should it be confused with mental illness or self-harm. As with the emo subculture, the vast majority of adherents to the style are not any more depressed than those of any other subculture. The music scene now commonly referred to as goth showed up in the 1980s. There are many subtypes of goth and many people who mix gothic aesthetics with those of at least one other subculture. The subculture is heavily influenced by the Renaissance and Victorian aesthetics and focuses on the darker, more morbid side of life.
Greaser — This was a subculture similar to rockabilly that emerged in the 1950s. These were typically youths who enjoyed pop music acts like Elvis, wore leather jackets, tight tee shirts, jeans, and boots or creepers, and greased their hair into a pompadour, Folsom style (made popular by Johnny Cash), or duck tail using pomade. This subculture is very much tied into the rockabilly subculture and classic hotrod cars.
Grunge — This style was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s and influenced industrial and punk music, among other modern rock styles. The aesthetic was unkempt with long hair, ripped and baggy pants, oversized tee shirts, and loose flannel button-up shirts.
Hardliner — This subculture derives from the environmentally friendly and human rights-oriented beliefs of hippies and the self-deprivation beliefs of the straight edge subculture. They do not use tobacco, alcohol, or drugs, including both recreational drugs and modern medicines. They are required to be vegans and shun cash crops, including sugar, coffee, and chocolate. They oppose contraception, abortion, pornography, and homosexuality, and they believe that sex is purely for procreation.
Hippie — Hippies emerged as the counterculture of the 1960s. They have influenced many other subcultures, and there are frequent revivals, especially in some localized areas where the subculture never really faded away. By and large, hippies have a belief in love and respect for people and the environment. Many are very accepting of other races and sexualities. Drug use, particularly the use of marijuana and LSD, is very much associated with the original movement, though some modern hippies do not participate in recreational drug use. The psychedelic aesthetic in art, acid rock, natural clothing, and long hair are common themes.
Hipster — This subculture specializes in bringing back trends of the past, including the beatniks of the 1950s, the hippies of the 1960s, and the indie rock music of the 1990s. Many shop in thrift stores, ride bicycles, and eat vegetarian or vegan food, traits inherited from DIY punk and the hippies. Many like independent music and film as well.
Kogal — This Japanese subculture featured school uniforms, often sexualized, as a fashion, with loose knee-high socks, scarves, blazers, sailor dresses, short skirts, hair dyed lighter than its natural color, black shoes, and platform boots. These are often actual schoolgirls wearing their skirts pinned shorter, but these are sometimes adults aged up into their late twenties or even early thirties dressed in a very young, sexualized manner. The term originated among bouncers to differentiate high school girls from adults, but they typically call themselves “gyaru,” which is the Japanese pronunciation of the English word “gal.” The style has faded since the mid-1990s but is often also associated with ganguro. A male kogal is a “ikemen.” Kogals have their own speech pattern which uses English words, literal translations of English phrase without using Japanese syntax, abbreviations of Japanese words, ane the suffixes “-ingu” and “-ra,” which means “like,” similar to the American Valley-Girl stereotype.
Lolita — Though named after Nabokov’s book, lolita as a subculture is focused on a youthful, elegant aesthetic, with many different subtypes, some mixing with other subcultures like steampunk, punk, and goth, and some unique to the lolita aesthetic, including sailor lolita and sweet lolita. There is a boystyle version and a male equivalent similar to the teddy boys. There is also another, more mature, related, Victorian-esque style called aristo, short for aristocrat, which is quickly becoming a fashion-based subculture of its own.
Metalhead — This subculture features a dark aesthetic, often including skulls, dragons, etc., spiked or studded clothing, and a shared taste in heavy metal music. As with other music-based subcultures, not all fans of the music are members of the subculture. Though most metalheads fall into a specific gender, sexuality, and socio-economic group and have a tough appearance, they are generally accepting of others joining their subculture, provided that the social codes are followed.
Mod — This subculture was based around jazz music and tailor-made suits. It first appeared in the 1950s and experienced a revival in the 1970s and 1980s. It influenced many other, later subcultures.
Punk — This subculture originates in the loud, hardcore music of the 1970s, with the purpose of being distinctly anti-materialistic and anti-disco. Plaid patterns, ripped clothing, patches, and brightly colored hair have been elements of this subculture and the music genre upon which it was founded since the beginning. It has created a lot of offshoot genres of music, such as Ska, Oi!, and Pop-Punk. Early-on, there was a tendency to wear second-hand clothing with do-it-yourself patches, sometimes held on by safety pins. Early in the movement, clothing dye and jello were used to color hair, as brightly-colored hair dyes were not commercially available.
Raver — This aesthetic often features baggy pants, neon colors, and glowsticks. It is based in generally upbeat electronic dance music, parties, and, in many cases, recreational drug use, though awareness of drug abuse and overdoses within the subculture has resulted in advocacy groups dedicated to drug-free raving. The raver subculture takes inspiration from both the hippy and new wave subcultures.
Riot Grrrl — This is a movement within the punk subculture with ideals based in feminism and activism and music and aesthetic based in the do-it-yourself punk culture.
Rivethead — This aesthetic is based in militaristic and industrial styles, often including protective gear and bolts worn as accessories. It focuses around industrial music.
Rockabilly — This is a portmanteau of “rock and roll” and “hillbilly.” It is a subculture focused around a retro aesthetic, based in the fashion of the late 1940s-early 1960s and the music of artists like Johnny Cash and Elvis.
Skinhead — This subculture features a tough aesthetic, often with boots and blue jeans. Some skinheads shave their heads completely bald, others crop their hair short. Female skinheads often leave a fringe at the front of an otherwise shaven head. Although the word is often applied to racist and fascist groups, the actual, legal form of the subculture is not based in politics, sexuality, or race in any way.
Steampunk — Steampunk, as a subculture, bases itself in the genre of fiction. The aesthetic includes lots of brown, black, and copper hues, leather, wood, goggles, corsets, and cogwheels. Like the literary genre, it takes influence from the late Victorian era and the machines that could have been if steam power were developed further. Common themes include airships, steam-powered vehicles and robots, clockwork weapons and prosthesis, and analog computers.
Straight Edge — This subculture started as a reaction to gratuitous drug and alcohol use in the larger punk culture. Generally, straight edge punks do not use alcohol, tobacco, or recreational drugs. Some also refuse to eat meat, consume caffeine, take prescription drugs, or engage in promiscuous sex. There is a perception of straight edge youths as being violent, but, as with many other subcultures, only a small minority are.
Surfer — The surfer culture, in many ways, is inspired by hippies as well as the traditionally Polynesian sport of surfing and beach culture in general. It is typically geographically limited to waterfront areas with significant wave heights and is often associated with southern California and Hawaii.
Teddy Boy — This is a subculture from the UK from the 1950s which featured boys dressing in Edwardian-style suits. The female equivalent typically wore skirt suits or formal jackets with hobble skirts, though some wore the same suits as the boys. This has seen a recent revival.
Vampire — This is a subculture with vague ties to the gothic subculture, but it is, in fact, very much separate, though there may be some aesthetic connections between the vampire subculture and other subcultures. They identify themselves as Otherkin, non-humans living in human bodies. Some engage in sadomasochistic behavior. Most fall into two categories: sanguinarian and psychic. Sanguinarian vampires consume the blood of humans, while psychic vampires believe that they draw energy from a person’s aura. There are also hybrids between the two types. Due to the issue of disease related to the consumption of human blood, most sanguinarian vampires find willing blood donors. Many do not bite or use knives to draw blood and will not drink directly from a person’s skin, instead using syringes for sanitation purposes. The vampire subculture does not promote violence or associate itself with murderers who engage in the drinking the blood of their victims or cannibalistic activity.
(Source: lunaescence.com)
