Howard Becker’s ‘Outsiders’ is a straight, square, structured piece of writing which is exactly the problem with the book. Although I agree on his general description of sub-cultures and their functioning, I do not agree on the way he makes it seem like ‘deviant’ sub-cultures are not part of society as a whole. Sub-cultures have been flowing together for centuries and make up society. They make society as colourful and beautiful as it is.

I do not personally relate to his notion on careers and labelling because I tend to be conform into society, but I acknowledge that it does happen to individuals less fortunate than me. With this I mean, individuals who are not straight, white and (mostly) male.

What I recognize in my own life is that I am labelled deviant to a certain extent because of the music I listen to, the clothes I wear and the behaviour I carry out. Like I said earlier, I tend to conform into society generally, but am still part of a subculture. That subculture however, is hard to define. I consider myself part of more than one subculture which makes it hard to pinpoint. I think of myself as alternative, so in that case I would be part of that subculture but that culture is also divided into different other subcultures. I do consider this ‘alternative subculture’ as deviant (otherwise it wouldn’t be a subculture of course) because people in this culture tend to dress and behave other than the norm and have other interests than the norm.

I do not consider myself a novice but also not a master. I don’t think you can ever ‘master’ a certain subculture since you can always acquire more knowledge. You will always be floating inbetween. The best way to acquire knowledge is to keep up with trends in the alternative scene as much as possible by watching youtube videos, reading blogs and keep up with all social media.

Like I said before, I think what has changed is that subcultures are not as black and white as they are described in the book. They flow together, which makes society as a whole messy but beautiful.