LETTITOR

The other day I was out with some of my OP buddies, and over dinner our conversation turned to the subject of subcultures. A subculture, basically, is any group of people who all share some common cause—be it a job, hobby, or interest—which prompts them to start to act, talk, and generally live in a similar manner.

Thanks to the information revolution and the internet, there are now more thriving subcultural communities than ever before. Strange passions, obsessions, and fetishes that were once relegated to the dark corners of society now have loud and proud online presences, carving out sizeable cyber- refuges of solidarity and acceptance. This kind of thing can be wonderful in some contexts; forgotten TV shows are revived, obscure video games are celebrated, and eccentric fashion is applauded. But more often than not the results can be downright creepy as well. Witness, for example, the grotesque spectacle of the burgeoning neo-bestiality “furry” community, the staunch defensiveness of the “pro-ana”—that is, pro-anorexia— movement, or the horrifying perversion of message boards established solely for the sick-minded to share photos of burn victims or in-progress autopsies.

Of course, subcultures are not just for freaks; they’ re everywhere you look. This very newspaper is part of a subculture, a subculture of student journalism. We have our own lingo, our own in-jokes, our own stereotypes, and our own myths and legends. Hell, when you go to a student journalism conference you quickly learn that we even all start to look the same after a while, with our stained t-shirts and unshaven jowls.

Another incredibly fascinating subculture I’ve come to learn

a lot about recently is student unions. As a student reporter, I’ve had to study the groups a fair bit in recent years, and I continue to be astonished at their complexity. Far from being mere goody-goody Reese Witherspoon-types, student politicians

are sophisticated, professional bureaucrats in charge of big budgets and vast programs. They speak to each other in their own language, referencing issues you’ve never heard of, but are considered life-or-death crises within their subculture. And they tend to resent you if you don’t get it. That, in turn, is what turns people off of student politics. Indeed, I went to a “public” DSU meeting the other day at which I was the only non-politician in attendance—sadly not a rare occurrence.

But it’s not fair to single out student unions, it happens to all subcultures. The problem with any cloistered, protective group is that they often make their members a little too comfortable. People begin to assume “community” means “isolation” and they develop little patience for people on the outside of their narrow confines. Instead of viewing each other as potential enemies, subcultures should be able to compliment and learn from each other. The world is such a rich and colourful place, why not open the doors of your community and let other people learn about the weird little world that consumes your life?

Just... not the furries. I think we’ve learned enough from them already.

J.J. McCullough, Editor-in-Chief of the Other Press