When youth culture first emerged, it encouraged and supported the notion that being different made you alternative or superior to the majority. Being able to differentiate themselves from the parent or dominant subculture became appealing to many adolescents from all different backgrounds, both those that weren’t happy with their current lifestyle and those that simply wanted to try something new. As more and more teenagers in today’s society become accustomed to this latest and increasingly popular trend, it raises the question: where is the line drawn between alternative and mainstream?Alternative youth culture has come a long way since the days when there was only one way to dress or one main genre of music. Nowadays, the tastes of young people have begun to drive many important industries such as fashion, music, film and literature. This ability to drive industries also reflects on alternative youth culture’s capacity to drive and influence other subcultures, such as that of older generations. Things that once used to reflect on youth or adolescent culture such as tattoos, body piercings and unnatural hair colours have now slowly become more predominately evident in adults.
As individuals of all ages move or adopt into an alternative youth culture lifestyle, music is doing the complete opposite. The popularity of music by alternative artists has resulted in their music gradually shifting into the mainstream industry, whereby its debut has landed it into the Top 20. Take the band Snow Patrol for example; they were situated in what was considered the “alternative” music section of JB-Hi Fi and Sanity until their theme song “Chasing Cars” became the theme song for popular TV show Grey’s Anatomy. Suddenly, people that listened to Snow Patrol previous to their song becoming a number one hit were no longer alternative music listeners but simply blended in with the majority that classified them as mainstream.Drug use is also a practice that has not just become limited to youth culture and adolescents. While it is more commonly undertaken by teenagers at party’s or social gatherings, there has been a significant rise in adult drugs possession particularly individuals between the 20-30 age bracket. How many youths have we seen on TV convicted on drug possession or youth charges compared with famous faces such as sports players or models? This is not to suggest that people who are not in the youth culture bracket won’t ever participate in dangerous practices, however their adoption of “teenage” habits merely demonstrates youth culture’s ability to influence older subcultures as well as demonstrate adults’ incapacity to set a good example for youths that continue to engage in these harmful practices.
Activities that were once defined as alternative have now become so commonly and regularly engaged in, they are now considered to be of the mainstream nature. Whether it is for differentiation, change or attention, getting a tattoo, piercing your tongue or dying your hair bright pink is now considered to be the norm. Where does youth start and end? If being alternative gradually turns you mainstream, does this mean only one dominant subculture will ever exist? Being alternative may make you different, but how many individuals out there who take an “alternative” approach to life can say they don’t do it predominately for attention?
