Sunday, March 27, 2011

Growing Up in the 90's - A Subculture Without borders






Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute just sit right there
And tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air

Anyone who's a 90's kid knew those words by heart when they were kids. People who grow up in a similar decade have their own subculture. They share similar interests, have certain phrases and things that only they understand. This is most true for people who've grown up in the 90's, anywhere in the world. I myself grew up in the 90's and whenever I've talked to someone else who grew up at the same time, no matter where they're from, we share the same childhood, for the most part. This is interesting since it shows that this subculture is one that goes beyond borders.


The internet is filled with nostalgic videos and sites where people recall the 90's with the unlimited amounts of boybands, family sitcoms, feel good saturday morning cartoons or cheesy dances. Yes, while today's children may have The Soulja Boy or something called a Hoedown Throwdown , we had something called The Macarena and The Carlton, and yes I realize I've mentioned the Prince of Bel Air 3 times already.


Every subculture has certain phrases that have significant meanings to them, the same goes for 90's kids, anyone who grew up in the 90's will know phrases such as "Talk to the Hand", "so is your face," "...NOT", "Psych!" and the ever popular "Then why don't you marry it?" Furthermore, ask anyone about their favorite toy in the 90's the answers will vary from Polly Pocket , Furby, or Tamagotchi.

These similarities between practically every member of this group makes this a subculture. The fact that they also have a mutual respect for one another, at least in these videos and websites where one person put it "If you were born in 1993 or later, beat it." These memories that this subculture has is very precious to them and they are very selective of who qualifies as a 90's kid as evident by all the quizzes that exist to separate the real 90's kids from the fakes.

In conclusion, if you remember: hanging by the television with a tape recorder to record your favorite song, calling the radio to request your favorite song, and never getting through, if you have pondered why Smurfette was the only female Smurf in the village, if when playing power rangers with friends you fought over who got to be who............and still all ended up being Tommy, if you got injured in a slip 'n' slide, a time when caller ID was the new cool thing to have then you belong in this subculture.