Apologies for the extended absence--it's been a crazy week.
And I don't really have any particular issue to comment upon at the moment, so I thought I would ask a question.
I am taking a class in cultural studies and I have to write a paper in about a week or so about subcultures. I have to find a subculture and analyze it--any version of a subculture that I see. I of course want to manipulate the assignment, as I have been doing all semester, to be ale to talk about sports. But are there subcultures in sports? This is what I need help in locating. I don't mean people who are very subtly or not-so-subtly pushed out of mainstream sports but groups who choose to be different from mainstream sport--on purpose. They define themselves in opposition and develop their own rules, ways of being, etc. A friend of mine suggested rugby--at least the way Americans play it. But I know very little about rugby.
Please comment if you have any ideas.
4 comments:
how about the steroid using underbelly of professional baseball?
Pro-wrestlers come to mind here too.. (yes it is an act, but trust me they are also athletes!)
I tried it a few years ago, never got past the entry level feeder school in West Palm Beach..
(TOO much work!)
Another sub culture.. Russian or Swedish or (name another cold place) NHL players..
Hmmm...interesting suggestions.
The thing about steroid users is that they aren't publicly renouncing anything mainstream. In fact they are hiding (for the most part) and attempting to become even more involved in a mainstream sport--baseball by trying to get better at.
I also think that any of the "foreign" NHLers aren't really a subculture. Though it would be interesting to do a study on them based on how they deal with such an Americanized/westernized and commodified version of sport as the NHL and if they see themselves as outsiders or insiders.
But this pro wrestling thing is very interesting. I may be able to do something with that. Thanks! (Of course this means I may actually have to watch it!)
What about snowboarders? Are they a subculture? Sort of the ante-ski culture. I don't know if you'd have to analyze recreational versus competitive snowboarders to make the subculture angle work.
-EBuz
If you choose wrestling, just ask your dad. He's always been a fan. jen
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