The comment section isn't working for Peshe's Post...

So here's my response:
Thinking about Poneiwozik's article, I believe that just as the mainstream has changed, so has its perception in the eyes of those in subcultures.
With Hip-Hop, it was White upper-class oppression; with the Z-Boys and Parkour it was the definition of sport and of the acceptable use of public spaces; with Punk, it was with fashion, banality and political deception. The list goes on. The point is what is "mainstream" depends on who you ask. It is all about your subjective experience of everyday life that people who do not see themselves as part of a subculture lead.
I have enjoyed this class because not only did I gain a new perspective on some subcultures I either had never heard of, or knew very little about, but I also got to ask myself the big questions about why I started calling myself a "Metalhead" in the first place. It was because I saw something in Heavy Metal music that was not anywhere else I looked. The emotions that heavy metal expresses are conveyed in a way that kind of spoke to me as a person and to my experiences in life.
In this class we have noticed that a lot of subcultures have been segregated by race or class or gender and we cannot seem to figure out why. I would say it is because people who break off from the mainstream form a group of likeminded people to help them start their revolution. They look for those who are like them; hence you see a racial 'barrier' in Rap or Punk and you see challenging of gender roles in Riot Grrrl. Each of these movements formed around people who felt the same sort of sentiments towards the mainstream, so it is not a surprise that those sentiments coincided with their demographics.
Finally, the debate that resurfaced: "arrested development". I cannot stand it, mostly because I see counter-examples constantly as I go about my daily life. Not wanting to be Mr./Mrs. Suburbs and wanting your kids to listen to Black Sabbath instead of Barney does not make you immature. It makes you different. This class is called youth cultures, but that title has always referred to who joins them, not who LEAVES them. There is no data on longevity in subculture because of this assumption of immaturity. People can do a lot with their lives and they will never truly throw away something they see as part of their identity.

Post-Presentation Post

I missed/didn't adequately talk about some things in my presentation.
Someone's card said they still weren't sure about the difference between Parkour and Free Running. The thing is people in the culture have trouble articulating themselves. The generally accepted thing is that in Parkour every movement you do needs to be efficient and help you get from point A to point B.
I think there might have been some confusion when I said that acrobatic moves are Free Running since some people might consider the Parkour moves acrobatic. But I am referring to things like flips and moves you would find in Tricking (Another similar type culture/activity). Jumping onto a wall and doing a flip off of it is not the most efficient way to get over the wall. Of course some people argue that these sorts of moves improve your proprioception and coordination so there is nothing wrong with them, but then the other side argues back that that doesn't make it Parkour. You can do those things, but don't call it Parkour. But then the people more liberal with their definitions say that Parkour is any kind of attempt to move through a space. That is why these discussions span many pages and many topics at the forums. Some argue that Parkour is the ideology and not the actual movements, and those are the ones who even more liberal. The guy who organized the meet-up probably fit in that category.
One thing I forgot to mention was the commercialization. The main thing I noticed was shoes. Given the types of things the traceurs have to do, it is important that they have shoes that make this as easy/safe as possible (running up or along walls). There is a market for shoes that have very good grip. When I was at the meet I heard a lot of talk about shoes. Style wise there isn't much I noticed, except sweatpants. Most people were wearing sweatpants. But like the shoes this was functional, as they were looking for clothes that gave them a large range of motion. One guy was wearing a t-shirt that said "Parkour" on it though if that counts as commercialization.
Anti-competition wise I found that MTV actually has a show called Ultimate Parkour Challenge, and the forums were pretty opposed to it being presented as a competition. Also on the site I see they have lots of links to videos of acrobatic moves which doesn't help the confusion.

Looking back

As we finish our conversations and presentations, what have you learned about the nature of youth cultures and how they operate? Looking back to the course questions: how do subcultures interact with so-called mainstream culture? How and why do participants choose to affiliate? Why do subcultures seem to form around race, class and gender categories? At this point, you should be able to draw conclusions about these social movements within our broader culture and their function both in providing an outlet for young voices and changing society over time. What are you thinking?

Getting Answers

Throught this research project I've learned a lot about the religious aspects of Wicca and have done some research into media portrayals of Wiccan culture. The hardest part for me so far has been my fieldwork. I've been looking around on a lot of different forums and things and I've found a lot of discussions that are interesting. In an attempt to get some answers for my own questions, I posted a survey on a Wiccan facebook group. I've actually gotten some (not a huge amount, but some) answers. While it's not a large of sample to get any genuine demographic numbers, with open ended responses I'm starting to find out what really draws people to the culture. Hopefully people continue to respond and I get some really great information! Has anybody else had some similar issues with getting in contact with your subjects without actually being a part of it? I'm interested to hear about what others have thought about their fieldwork experiences!

Rave Ideology

I learned a lot about rave culture today. Thank you to those who presented. At first, I thought it was just a huge party with loud music and lots of drugs. This is the case, but there is a lot more to it. P.L.U.R is very interesting to me. That is a powerful message and I think it should be taken seriously. The rave culture represents acceptance, diversity, and respect. Another aspect of raves that I found interesting was the fantasy mentality. Raves are a way for people to escape reality.

I think the heavy drug use takes away from the culture's ability to get the P.L.U.R message out to the masses. Because of the drug-induced happiness, people tend to not take it seriously. Personally, I would take the ideology of the rave culture more seriously if it was filled with natural happiness and acceptance for all.

My DIY

After watching the documentary "DIY or Die" the first thing that came to mind as important was the last section of the movie where a variety of the artists encourage the viewing audience to "do it themselves"; to get out there and do what you love and make it yours. The first thing that I thought of in terms of DIY things I had done was my music. Back in high school I played in a metal band I found through a Myspace Ad I posted in the musicians' section ( in the days of yore when respectable human beings still used Myspace). The band was called "Havoc Theory". We played a lot of small shows, 'showcases' and battles, some of which were in clubs in the "trendy" area of Pittsburgh, and some were at little holes-in-the-wall with terrible sound and no stages, and we even played a party or two. We designed our own t-shirts and stickers, did our own promoting (even made our own flyers), and above all we recorded our own music. Here's a link (I'm not in that band anymore but I am on the audio because those are the only halfway decent recordings the band ever did): http://www.myspace.com/havoctheory
These days I'm in a new band doing the same thing. It's a great experience and even though I have yet to make any money that doesn't stop me from loving what I do. I think the people from the documentary would agree.

Comic Shop customers

Hey gang,

Doing some research on my project (I'm doing comic book fans), I ran across this site. It's primarily a humor site, but as someone who spent all of his teen years in a comic shop, I can tell you that there is no resource that paints a better picture of comic fans than these little strips. Thought I'd pass along the site just because it's fun, but it also works as a window into the sometimes dark and unsettling world of comic book fans.

Disclaimer: there is some rough language if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable.

http://ourvaluedcustomers.blogspot.com/