Subculture Research Paper

Throughout my research, the question that I wanted to answer is, Has the breaking subculture has been absorbed into mainstream culture? I thought about this question when considering if the fact that hip hop’s popularity might have affected this subset of the subculture. I also thought this question was very important for the continuation as well as the preservation of the b-boy subculture. That’s why I found fieldwork to be so imperative to my study of such a hidden subculture. I felt that I needed to know how does one get into this culture? where does one go to participate? does this subculture still have events? what type of people usually are successful at b-boying, do the members know the history of their subculture? has the subculture $$#Break#$$ This event was designed to pass down the b-boy practice to the next generation. In addition to passing down the practice, they also improve the skills of the skills of other beginners. I thought this would be the perfect event to attend because I could see what they considered fundamentals and what values they hold the highest regard for in the subculture. I would also get to see how the boys would treat the up and coming generation. I wanted to know if they would be kind and patient or more strict because of the passion they have. What I first noticed was at the event was that there were a lot of Asian youth. There were also more white women than men there. This shows that while the subculture was started by Black and Puerto Rican youth it has been expanding to all races and genders. I found this event very beneficial because it made me understand the culture in a way that reading about it could not. I got to see the dedication on every person 's face even when they were exhausted. I got to see the history passed down to the next generation of breakdancers. A moment that really stood out to me was the more experienced dancers taking the time to help and re-explain move to the beginners in the program. I felt like that moment really summed up the overall mentality and culture within the break dancing community. The instructor who’s nickname was “metal” wanted to teach but also make it …show more content…
I met them all at the temple b-boy event they were all excited to help me with my interview. Both of the women were white and middle class. I interviewed one white, Asian and black male and they were all in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties. One was in women was thirty and the other was in her mid to late twenties. They had all been in the breakdancing scene for at least three years so I felt as though they knew a great deal about the subculture at this point.
When I asked the participants "how did you get into the b-boy subculture?" I got a lot of similar answers. They all consisted of having seen the subculture and being captivated by it. The Asian male said that he saw a music video in 1999 and he remembers saying to himself “I don’t know what that is but I need to do, I want to do it.” I wasn’t till he came to Temple University that he really got into the culture fully.The thirty-year-old white female also recalled seeing on tv when she was growing up in the 90’s and eventually finding an inlet into the culture when she came to