Who am I? We've all been there.
Every person was once a teenager. With all the hormones and bullshit of high school, there is one thing on all of our minds, finding an identity. Finding a niche. Finding somewhere, somehow, where we belong.
Thus, cliques are born. Preps, Jocks, Nerds, Hipsters, and amongst them are the Alternative kids. I was largely grouped in with them.
Some find their place in being a jock and find their belonging on a sports field. Some find it by wearing name brand clothes. Others find it in academics. Most find it in the validation of others. Few had to craft their own validation because they couldn't find it anywhere else.
Alternative is a board name encompassing many different sub-cliques. Emo, Goth, Grunge, Punk, Scene, and Metal. Most of their differences are in petty semantics and largely individualistic. For simplistic sake, I'll define them as all one group.
What are some defining stereotypes?
Style? Usually a lot of blacks. Can be simple or elaborate. May have some bold pieces such as spikes, chains, or chokers. Tattoos, piercings, body modification, and bold hair color are generally common, if not mostly accepted. May have an emphasis on DIY. Definitely distinct and unique, usually off the beaten path. Or as many of us call it a stretch from "Basic Bitches". No offense to the mainstream lovers out there.
Hobbies? Art is typically celebrated, especially of the edgy or macabre type. Of course, this includes the iconic "Emo Poetry". Music, especially music that expresses less than pretty emotions. Emotions such as pain, anger, and depression. I'm talking Pierce the Veil, My Chemical Romance, Motionless in White, Twenty One Pilots, and countless others. Concerts is a fan favorite as it's a time for all of us to gather and just let go.
If I could describe this cliché in one word it'd be "edgy".
As someone who's delved deep into the alternative side of culture, it's very much about living life on the "edge" and letting go of other people's expectations.
It can manifest in a variety of ways. All unique to individual people. For me, it often manifests in romanticizing the darker side of life. As in finding beauty in the macabre, such as graveyards, abandoned places, and "creepy" creatures.
Why do people choose to go "Alternative"?
A lot of it has to do with the expression of the self, as do all cliques. People go alternative because they relate to the rebel, to the loner, to the freak, to the outcast, to the weirdo. And if they don't relate, they idolize.
Alternative people like anyone else crave validation. Especially at the beginning of the subculture being different wasn't a thing to be celebrated. Now, as the culture evolved, it changed. People celebrate their differences. Alternatives have successfully created a niche in a society where there wasn't one and it spread infectiously.
Something about the beaten path wasn't appealing or didn't suit them. So Alternatives created their own and continue to evolve it. Society as it is wasn't meant for all people and many Alternatives recognize that.
Being alternative is a socially acceptable way to rebel against the socially acceptable.
For some of us, utilizing these lessons from the subculture is what gave us the foundation of growing up and a solid basis for our self.
Still, our identity is so much bigger then a label a subculture gives us. Yet, it does give us a lens for seeing the world in an independent sense for the first time.
