Subcultural identity practices

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any unsourced material that has been or is likely to be challenged may be removed at any time.
This article has been tagged since February 2007.

Subcultural identity practices are the practices by which a subculture in particular, or subcultures in general, define, mark and police the boundaries between their members and the larger culture.

These practices may include, but are not limited to: adopting particular styles of dress, hair, makeup, or accessories; actively sharing an enjoyment of particular styles of music, sexual practices, or drugs; or adhering to particular social norms, values or standards of acceptable behavior not shared by the larger culture.

Identity practices are distinguished from commonalities between members by the importance that the subculture expressly places on them. Many subcultures draw most of their members from specific socioeconomic strata. Some subcultures explicitly place value on this fact (such as skinheads), while others don't particularly care about it (such as hackers).