Alternative lifestyle: Encyclopedia - Alternative lifestyle

Alternative lifestyle

An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle (a mode or style of conducting one's life) which in addition, carries the implication that it is not within the generally perceived cultural norm. Usually (but not always) it implies an affinity or identification within some matching subculture (examples include Gay culture and punk). Traditionally not all unusual lifestyles are held to be 'alternate', the term tends to imply newer forms of lifestyle, often based upon enlarged freedoms (especially in the sphere of social and personal relationship styles) or a decision to substitute another approach or not enter the usual expected path in most societies.

The following may be examples which are considered by some to be examples of alternate lifestyles:

• Unusual relationships or community, such as polyamory, communes, or communal living (Whilst homosexuality is a lifestyle, and was an alternate lifestyle for a time, it is not clear that it would be categorized any more in the West as an alternate lifestyle unless done to an unusual degree, on the basis that simple homosexuality has since become more accepted as a variant within the mainstream instead and the lifestyle does not in fact differ significantly any more)
• Unusual sexual lifestyle, such as BDSM or swinging
• Unusual cultural focus, such as furry
• Avoidance of traditional path, such as people who might be said to become lifestyle travellers, artists or poets in preference to the norm.

Alternative lifestyles are sometimes thought be an expression of social rebellion. Some psychologists today, however, believe that alternative lifestyles are not rebellious in nature but only serve to help the individual find balance, or social or personal identity, in what they characterize as a confusing and often brutal world, especially one that seems harmful or wrong and which they lack power individually to change. This is considered by some to be nothing more than an excuse for deviant behavior.

See also :

• counterculture

Category: Subcultures

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Alternative lifestyle", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki