Gang Subculture - Essay Example for Students

A community is made up of people with different traditions and beliefs. These traditions and beliefs define the way of life of that specific group. They also have their way of doing things like, how they conduct themselves in public, how they relate with people of opposite sex what kind of food they esteem, the language they use and their source of income among others. These attributes are considered to be essential, and they are transmitted from one generation to the other. Apart from their way of life, they also have values and norms which define what is right or wrong in their society. As we will see later, these norms and values may or may not be acceptable in the society where these people live. For this reason, the group may be considered as an outcast by the community due to their behaviors. One of such societies is the gang subculture, famously known for its violent nature - conducting criminal actions and mainly stemming from lower-class society.

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The main reason why I have chosen this topic is due to its intriguing nature seen in the fact that despite being associated with lower class society, it continues to wreak havoc to the well-established more significant segments of the society coupled with a well-established unity with their counterparts across the globe. One characteristic of such group is that they are very united in whatever they do. Though they have very strange norms and moral standards, they still have something good that the larger society can copy, and that is their unity. They seem to be reading from the same script, and there are no instances where they have gotten mentioned as going against one another (Sunstein and Chiseri 2011).They are also known for being violent and drug traffickers. These types of groups are mostly found in dark streets and large cities. One way to identify places with such groups is the drawings on the streets. Gang subcultures are known for drawing weird pictures like people smoking, guns, drugs, hip-hop celebrities, among others. The gang subculture may exist to either cause chaos in the society as seen above, to convey a certain message or as a way of rebellion to the society's norms and values. Their conventional weapons used in implementing their sinister motives are guns, mostly the ones fitted with silencers. Their primary objectives get clued on mistreating and physically harassing people while torturing and killing others. That is what they like doing. Thus, my emphasis still lies in the fact they are detrimental to the society despite their seeming smaller number (Candy, 2017). My position it is a menace to the society makes me take them as unfriendly hence the need to be on the look any time they are around me.

My thought on this issue is that the fact that they are accepted in the society does not mean that their actions are accepted. Also, they have some hidden form of communication that makes them contact their counterparts all over the world. My big question is what is the main cause of the rise of these groups and is there something that can be done to stop them (Sunstein and Chiseri2011)? Also, since there are those gang subcultures which are not violent but their norms and values are not accepted in the society, is it possible to change our views on them and accept them in the society? One such subculture is the Drag King subculture.

Drag king subculture

The drag king subculture has been in existence for a long time in different cultures and places. However, its existence can be traced between 19th to 20th centuries, when males started wearing women's clothing during theatre performances (Candy, 2017). As time passes, the society's view of this subculture is changing, and many have come to accept it in their societies though there are still some few myths about the subculture. The subculture was first noted when an American reality TV show captured queens competing to be the next America's drag superstar. Many Americans subscribed to the show as they marveled at contestants being changed into beauty queens. The exposure of this culture gave way to the LGBT people, and the drag subculture increased in its popularity. Though the drag culture is more often associated with gay culture, it consists of various varieties of actors of all sexuality and gender identities. Because of its extensive inclusion of artist who was associated with all forms of gender sexualities, there have been a lot of misconceptions about it. However, the writer here tries to show us this is just an art and it doesn't have anything with gay.

Drag king has the same culture as other gang subcultures, but they are distinct because of having a king. In this context, a king is a robust stout woman performer who emulates a man using her dressing and makeups. They act through lip-syncing and skipping, and they can be a solo artist or a group. In short, drag king is a subculture that is trying to revolutionize the performing art industry through gender norms and performance.

From what they say, drag king is more than acting; it is about a person's place in the society. This is to mean, how the society values you. The aim of developing this form of the art was to open the society eyes by coming up with the form of the art which will try to push all the restrictions on performance, and gender values. Again, as a way of coming up with the highest quality products to their audiences (Candy, 2017). What I want readers to understand that; a dragon king is a performing group which aims at educating the society about the gender values and promoting comedy culture. As we know in our society, women are weak vessels who are ruled by men, and they rely on men to provide for their needs. As seen in the drag king, it is women who are in power and controls everything. In one way or the other, this culture has shaped our society. Nowadays, women have taken the role of men of being the providers.

Though drag kings are just a play, it has much influence in our society. By including homosexuals in their play, drag kings communicates a message to the society that it is okay to be gay and be accepted in the society. As seen earlier, it only after the capturing of drag king in a television shows that the LGBT movement was formed (Sunstein and Chiseri 2011). The real question, do the media have anything to do with shaping our community? Is our community a product of different cultures that we have accepted through the years?

In conclusion, gang subculture can range from violent groups to radical groups that are trying to shape our society. As seen earlier, some of these groups exist to challenge the status quo of our society like the drag king. This subculture believes that a person is not defined by their sex, but their ability to perform in a particular gender. Much of what we see in our society is as a result of borrowed cultures that we have collected and joined together.

References

Candy. E (2017). AFROPUNK: Drag Kings Subculture under the Radar. Retrieved from http://afropunk.com/2017/02/drag-kings-subculture-under-the-radar-interview-with-the-pretty-boi-drag-producers/

Sunstein, B. S., & Chiseri-Strater, E. (2011). Fieldworking: Reading and writing research. Macmillan.