Author: MiraCostan

My core POINT for the paragraph:____________________________________________

My core POINT for the paragraph: Young people join subcultures to feel respected.

Example 1: mom/kid crossing street
“With pride and amusement, Goths tell stories about people recoiling when they see them, pulling their children away, crossing to the other side of the street.” -Wilkins

Youth in the Goth community pride themselves on their ability to make members of the mainstream society uncomfortable and even afraid.

Because Goths do not feel like insiders in the mainstream society, they experience a sense of power by using their freakiness as a means of gaining respect from those who alienate them.

This is important to understand, as it make me think about the different ways certain groups of people are negatively viewed in society, and how one way to fight this is to actually embrace it as a powerful tool against those who stereotype you.

Negative attention can be a source of power for individuals who otherwise feel powerless in mainstream society. This power, in turn, helps young people who feel rejected by the mainstream society to gain a sense of respect
through fear.

Being respected is a core human need.. Members of subcultures will seek alternative means of gaining respect from those in the mainstream culture.

My core POINT for the paragraph: Young people join subcultures to feel respected.

Example 2: Friend joined gang
“They get there respect from putting in work the more they go to a rival gang and fight or hurt the other person they get known and there friends respect them more because the more dangerous you are the more power you get from your gang but there’s always consequences”.

Many people who affiliate with gangs gain respect through threatening their rivals. Like the Goths, gang members earn this respect through their ability to make others fear them.

Due to a number of factors, the young people who join gangs often seek a feeling of respect and power that they are deprived of in the mainstream society.

This helps us understand how people react to feeling not only disrespected but rejected by others, particularly those in the dominant group. To battle these negative labels, people might join subcultures that make them feel empowered.

Like the Goths, gang members gain power from making others fear them.

Whereas ultimately Goths seek respect from the mainstream, gangs seek respect from within the group and among other gangs. In both cases, these subcultures provide a way for those who feel powerless to gain power and respect.