OMg.... Im so sick of stupid clicks. Emos, Chavs, Gangsta, Indie kids, punks etc, Its all annoying. Why are people so intent on labeling themselves? is it all just populatity? Or fear of rejection for people being themselves? I have nothing against people being in these clicks, But i think people should be themselves... Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. — Oscar Wilde
couple "reasons": safety in numbers; seeking out those with your "values" (typical sub culture behaviour), and younger folks and those rediscovering themselves, often gravitate to a group to bask in that vibe. Also, when the dominator culture dismisses those with a few of a sub group's tendencies, people allow that "herding" into the particular sub group. One kid with a mohawk might invite ridicule or even violence, but with eight or nine friend that look similar, not so much. It'd mostly be words at that point. Cliques serve to give a sense of belonging. Eventually, the personality inside is strong enough to not depend on the physical group, even if the person's world view remains that of the majority of the group.
I love Oscar Wilde. Yeah, I'm gonna go with the safety in numbers. Though, there are a lot of reasons, that one seems to be the most prominent with the people I know.
Aren't hippies in a way, a clique as well? Just pointing that out... though I do feel it's more of a state of mind than a group... which I'm sure people will attest to in groups like punks or others...
Every group/clique involves a "state of mind" just as "hippies" do. The issue is when the state of mind isn't quite there yet but people identify with it because they want to develop into that state of mind. For example, drumminmama, who has been here for years, and (as far as I've seen) doesn't constantly talk about hippies, or what defines a hippie, is probably more hip than many of the youngsters that come in here and talk about nothing else. I don't know if I'm making much sense but I hope I'm getting the point across. It's just that, as easy as it is to define an emo/punk/prep/hippie by clothing/music/style/activities, you really can't, and this goes back to the "state of mind" bit. Sure, someone can be a hippie and not look the part, in fact, they can be a hippie and look the complete opposite, but the identification isn't there, and while many "hippies" may present themselves as accepting and inviting, you still see many threads around here about what's wrong with emos and punks, even though that judgement is made on appearance because you never know what someone's "state of mind" is. (wow, run-on much?)..... And to the OP, are you implying that people cannot just be themselves if they identify with a specific group of people? Are you implying that many of the beatniks and hippies of the past and today aren't "being themselves" because they are attracted to the lifestyle and beliefs of a group? Sorry for a long, and probably confusing post. I find this topic fascinating and I could go on and on and on, but unfortunately, vocally and in print, I tend to lack coherence
You're making sense to me, and I do fully agree with what you're saying here. Persons who add themselves to the hippie label are doing the same thing as an emo, punk or gangsta kid. Only the behaviour and mindset of the subcultures itself is different. About people should be themselves: Everyone's more then his label anyway. Are you as a hippie more yourself then a metalhead or emo is? What if you happen to like the style of a subculture? You should not conform to it because you wouldn't be yourself anymore? I'm of course not clean of prejudice neither, and am sometimes annoyed by the stereotypical way someone presents himself as well.. but yeah, I pretty much accepted now some people like different styles I don't understand what's to like about it. That's how the world is. Just keep in mind hippies are no better then the average label. Very fascinating topic indeed and yeah, seems most people have a hard time not getting vague in these matters
Haha, maybe so, but if we didn't adapt the label he wouldn't sell a lot. Most labels just come out of society itself.
It's like a two way street with labels, I think. We need to label things and people we ecounter in everyday life, as if we didn't and we took everybody as an individual it would involve too much thought and time to figure everone out. So we put things into broad categories that we regognise, usually visual patterns. At the same time we also create the labels ourselves by becomming them. For others to understand us we must give off the right impression, so wearing the 'right' clothes, holding the 'right' beliefs we fit ourselves into the category we think will best explain ourselves to others... just my 2c (or p since in British)
I hope one day humanity will realise that there are much more interesting things to do with yourself than limiting who you are with a label.
I hope one day humanity realise that a label is never the whole person, and that lots of times people who look like they belong with some kind of label aren't necessarily limiting theirselves at all.
That's great. But even at that, the best things come without labels. (How many moonshine jars have you seen with a label?) lol
do some people have a choice to go into stuff like this? and do some people not have a choice but to go into stuff like this?
its the need to be independant.. and for some reason expressed through the music you like... lol thats always been the case though.. singling people out and away from your 'norm'
People use labels because of their need to be independant? I don't think I get that.. What do you mean? I think most people have a choice to avoid labels.
We use labels to know who we are. We seek those who look, feel and/or think as we do. No labels and there is no way to identify with other. The label is not the problem. It's what we do with them. I love them, I hate them. It is us againt them that is the problem. Fill in what ever label you want. We all need to be tolerant of each other, and understand we are all one. Love bring happyness, hate bring misery. I do not want to be miserable. How about you? <(^_^)>
[/quote]Tolerance is for people who can't accept others and their differences. We all need to be accepting of each other. Sorry...I just have an issue with the usage of that word from time to time.[/quote] Can you describe the deference acceptance and tolerance. It seem to me that no one is going to accept any one that they are intolerant of. I would love it if we would all accept each other for who we are. But, before acceptant can happen, we need to at lest tolerant each other. Being up tight, struck up and hateful of other get us nowhere but unhappy. Also, remember this. We can not change others, we can only change ourselves. It's a personal commitment that we can only make to ourselves. "Can't we all just get alone!" -Rodny King I believe that we can. It's up to each of us to make the effort. <(^o^)>
