# Is there a such thing as a person not belonging to any subculture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999 "2012-09-17T19:42:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/1 "2012-09-17T19:42:58Z")
There are people I have known for years, and I can’t figure out what kind of subculture they belong to. It makes me wonder are they surpressing certain things about themselves or is it truly possible that they don’t fit into ANY subculture. Furthermore, could these people be a subculture in itself? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/2 "2012-09-17T19:50:09Z")
Why do you use the term subculture so much? Why is it so important to you? Those who wear the uniform of a particular subculture tend to be either very insecure or followers. I just live. I don’t try to fit in with any sub-anything. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/3 "2012-09-17T19:57:08Z")
If you believe that everyone belongs to a socioeconomic class, that seems to be if not the same thing as subculture, at least a related concept. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/4 "2012-09-17T20:23:53Z")
Me? I ride motorcycles, but am not a “biker”. I ski, but am not defined by it. I like my college football (Damn you, Stanford! :mad: ) and Formula One, but don’t really know of any “subculture” around those things. Maybe I’m just boring. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/5 "2012-09-17T20:36:40Z")
I would go so far as to say that not a single person who is close to me, friend or family, belongs to a subculture. Anyone else with me? I’m sure there are people who I’ve encountered in my life who have a sub-culture but I can`t think of any. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/6 "2012-09-17T20:42:02Z")
There’s a term for this… Normal. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/7 "2012-09-17T23:33:59Z")
I believe the principle espoused in [this XKCD](http://xkcd.com/1095/) strip (that human subcultures are nested fractally) also means there’s no top-- you can keep subdividing people into subcultures no matter how normal they get. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/8 "2012-09-17T23:42:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Why do you use the term subculture so much? Why is it so important to you? Those who wear the uniform of a particular subculture tend to be either very insecure or followers. I just live. I don’t try to fit in with any sub-anything. The push for individualism is in and of itself a cultural trait, in the US being individualistic is a very effective way to imply you are doing what others expect of you (being deemed weak and insecure enough to need a group is looked down on). In east asian societies being socially conformist is how they do it. Personally, I have found most of the people I’ve usually been closest to have been intelligent, well educated people who were also various degrees of anti-social, mentally ill and psychologically troubled. I don’t know the name of the subculture for that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/9 "2012-09-17T23:45:36Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > There’s a term for this… Normal. Yeah. What’s a subculture: Mods? Rockers? Punks? Never gave it any thought or attention. I was that guy in high school who got good marks, was moderately successful in gym class, sometimes smoked pot at lunch, always had a girlfriend, wore dress shirts and jeans, had long hair, and liked to party on weekends. Oh, and liked Kiss, The Beatles, The Cars and Supertramp. I wonder what subculture I belonged to? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/10 "2012-09-18T00:40:56Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yeah. What’s a subculture: Mods? Rockers? Mockers? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/11 "2012-09-18T02:05:48Z")
The people who do not belong to any subculture belong to the subculture of people who don’t belong to a subculture. Paging Kurt Gödel… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/12 "2012-09-18T02:48:01Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > There are people I have known for years, and I can’t figure out what kind of subculture they belong to. It makes me wonder are they surpressing certain things about themselves or is it truly possible that they don’t fit into ANY subculture. Furthermore, could these people be a subculture in itself? I have no idea what you are talking about. I keep reading it, but I don’t get it. Just…regular people who are regular people? That’s…regular. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/13 "2012-09-18T04:12:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Me? I ride motorcycles, but am not a “biker”. I ski, but am not defined by it. I like my college football (Damn you, Stanford! :mad: ) and Formula One, but don’t really know of any “subculture” around those things. > > Maybe I’m just boring. You seem to fit into the “bloke” sub culture… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/14 "2012-09-18T04:38:10Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > There are people I have known for years, and I can’t figure out what kind of subculture they belong to. It makes me wonder are they surpressing certain things about themselves or is it truly possible that they don’t fit into ANY subculture. Furthermore, could these people be a subculture in itself? They belong to a subculture called “grownups.” You probably haven’t heard of them, though. It’s a pretty underground scene. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/15 "2012-09-18T04:54:23Z")
If there are people who aren’t part of any subculture, what do all subcultures have in common that allows you to identify yourself outside them? Of course a lot of people don’t consider themselves to have a subculture, but that could just be like how a lot of people don’t consider themselves to have an accent: from the perspective of an outsider, they do. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/16 "2012-09-19T05:17:10Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > You seem to fit into the “bloke” sub culture… Buy a bloke a pint? 😉 Or two? ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/17 "2012-09-19T06:51:22Z")
For some reason this reminds me of the salesperson in a store’s video game department who, when I asked him to get me a copy of _Red Dead Redemption_, made the mistake of asking me what other games my son would be interested in :mad:. Boy, was he sorry! Maybe **Diamonds02** just assumes people belong to certain subcultures based on her own misconceptions rather than any actual data. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/18 "2012-09-19T14:44:20Z")
I am a subculture of one. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/19 "2012-09-19T15:00:59Z")
The ‘cost’ of categorizing everyone, is a constant feeling of being categorized. (Judged!) Life’s funny that way. It is, however, definitely a juvenile trait that I’m pretty sure creative you can find a way to magnify into an attention seeking and amusing annoyance to others, if you just put your mind to it. Few things are as rewarding as finding a new negative trait to pursue and embrace, well done! Keep up the good work! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-person-not-belonging-to-any-subculture/634999/20 "2012-09-19T15:01:30Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I would go so far as to say that not a single person who is close to me, friend or family, belongs to a subculture. Anyone else with me? Sure, I’m with y… Hey, wait a minute!