Скачать или смотреть Alternative Subcultures: Freedom of Safe Self-Expression and Social Connection in an Otherwise Ju...

Alternative Subcultures: Freedom of Safe Self-Expression and Social Connection in an Otherwise Judgmental Society

Presented by: Angie Louie, UC Riverside/Cal State LA

This presentation examines the intersections of subcultures and activism through a combined exploration of undergraduate and graduate research on the perceptions, sense of community, and mental health of alternative subculture members. Drawing on data collected from young adults in Southern California’s alternative scenes—including goth, punk, emo, grunge, and heavy metal—the research challenges long-standing stereotypes that have blamed alternative subcultures for delinquent or suicidal behaviors. Instead, it highlights the ways these communities foster connection, expression, and resilience.

Findings indicate that alternative subculture members may report higher depressive symptoms and negative affect compared to their peers; however, these outcomes are interpreted not as consequences of subcultural affiliation but as evidence of the need for supportive spaces that validate marginalized identities and experiences. In this spirit, the presentation considers strategies for community building and activism within subcultural contexts.

One example is the founding of Alt’s Not Dead, a student organization at UC Riverside created to provide alternative subculture members with a safe, expressive community. Through events such as an “Emo Prom for Mental Health Awareness,” the organization has combined research dissemination with creative expression—zines, pins, patches—and public dialogue about how emo and related subcultures have historically facilitated conversations around mental health, gender expression, sexuality, and resistance to mainstream norms.

By situating these initiatives alongside ongoing thesis research, this presentation demonstrates how alternative subcultures function as sites of empowerment, cultural resistance, and mental health advocacy, while also contributing to broader understandings of well-being, social connection, and self-perception within marginalized communities.

📍 Recorded live at the Cal State LA University Library
📅 October 22, 2025
⏱ 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Sounds of the Underground brings together researchers, artists, archivists, and community historians to share work on grassroots sound-making. Presentation themes include diasporic kinships and sonic resistance; community archiving and memory-making; queer and trans nightlife, safety, and belonging; transcultural identity formation across diasporas; student-led education, mental health, and safe-space building; and the geographies of LA’s underground scenes.

Learn more about Sounds of the Underground from the Cal State LA University Library at: https://libguides.calstatela.edu/sounds