An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle generally perceived to be outside the cultural norm. Usually, but not always, it implies an affinity or identification within some matching subculture (examples include hippies, yuppies, goths and punks). Some people with alternative lifestyles mix certain elements of various subcultures (i.e.-grunge musicians were often influenced by a mixture of the punk, hippie, emo and heavy metal subcultures). Not all minority lifestyles are held to be "alternative"; the term tends to imply newer forms of lifestyle, often based upon enlarged freedoms (especially in the sphere of social styles) or a decision to substitute another approach or not enter the usual expected path in most societies.
Alternative lifestyles and subcultures originated in the 1960s in urban centers and more liberal parts of the United States (most notably New York City, Chicago, California, the west coast and Florida), Canada (centered in Toronto) and Europe (esp. Western and Northern parts).
A Stanford University cooperative house, Synergy, was founded in 1972 with the theme of "exploring alternative lifestyles."
The following are examples which may be considered by some to be alternate lifestyles:
Same goes to the single parent movement, by the growing trend of children raised by one parent, which once was viewed as an alternative lifestyle. It is now mainly acceptable choice of lifestyle, in which the term "alternative" originated to stand for "not the norm, allowed" by social standards of the present time.