SOC 100 - Subcultures

This is our second assignment in the Sociology 100 class. Our assignment was to define the characteristics of a subculture and to choose three subcultures that we are aware of and to justify why they are subcultures. This was a fun assignment but I only got a 39 out of 45 on this one. Our professor uses a writing rubric to grade these papers.

Back to CourseSmart. When reading the book online it doesn't highlight very well. I find it difficult to highlight on my laptop, it wants to highlight in another column or not at all. I'm finding it to be a real problem. Saving the book to read offline is a joke too. If I wanted to make things more difficult for students to read their e-book I don't think I could have planned it any better than CourseSmart did. What a joke!

Anyway, here's my paper on Subcultures.

Subcultures

Subcultures are groups of people that have different ways of looking at things. They can come together because of a common occupation or an activity they have in common. These subcultures develop their own talk. They have their own norms, values and gestures.

In Pierre I’m familiar with three subcultures, Alcoholics Anonymous, Bikers, and Ham Radio Operators.  In Alcoholics Anonymous it’s the devoted members who make up the subculture. They use sayings such as, “One Day at A Time”, “Live and Let Live” and “First Things First”.  Newcomers may not understand what they mean.  Also, AA members have their own common values. They value sobriety and freedom from alcohol. They also value honesty, service, humility and the coins they receive for their length of sobriety.  A norm in AA is their personal introduction. They do it by first name only and then say they are an alcoholic. A gesture in AA is for new comers to receive a beginners chip and for members to receive chips at significant anniversaries in their sobriety.

I’m a Ham Radio Operator and know the subculture well. They have abbreviations for phrases when they speak on the radio called “Q” signals. QTH is a person’s location, QRN is trouble with noise and QRT is to stop sending or speaking. Hams value their radios, antennas and the technical knowledge to use them effectively. They also value radio communications over other forms. In an emergency or disaster they know they can communicate with the outside.  One norm for Hams is to have radios and antennas on their vehicles. You may notice large antennas sticking above a vehicle on the highway. That could be a Ham. A gesture used in CW (Morse code) operation is for the last operator signing off to give a “dit dit” with the CW key. That just signifies that he or she heard the last transmission of the other operator.

I also happen to ride a motorcycle and have recognized the biker subculture for years. The clothes they wear are a good example of how they differ. Black leather jackets and chaps are used for riding, especially long distances. Bandannas, riding gloves and custom boots are the norm. They also have biker rallies to come together and have fun.  At a rally they break or bend the norms of mainstream culture.  It could be considered a moral holiday as with Mardi Gras.  Bikers value their motorcycles and riding. They also have a unique gesture they use when riding. As two bikers pass each other in opposite directions they stick their left hand out. It’s usually with the index finger sticking out and the other four fingers closed.

Each of the above subcultures is well known and people, like me, sometimes belong to more than one subculture at a time. We live in a pluralistic society, made up of many different groups.