My subculture is not one that I chose, it is one that I was born into. It is not a sorority or a club; I am part of the female subculture. Similarly to how Michael A. Messner described the male culture revolving greatly around sports, female culture has its own expectations. Those who are born female are generally brought up in a way that encourages a softer, more submissive demeanor. It teaches girls to be caretakers, as opposed to athletes. While I grew up in a household that was conducive to being whoever or whatever I wanted, when I started daycare and school it quickly became obvious that there were standards I had to adhere to. The girls in my class were expected sit a certain way, be polite, not get messy, and definitely not play with the boys. Messner (1990) comments that when activities were presented as “sex-segregated” or “gender [was] marked by…adults”, children became less comfortable participating in the opposite sexes’ activities, thus creating gender roles and standards.

The female subculture is assigned a more “feminine” dress code. For example, at my Catholic elementary school girls had to wear dresses while boys wore pants and at formal functions dresses or skirts were mandatory for girls. Besides dresses and skirts, girls are assigned the colors pink or purple whereas boys have a choice of all colors except pink or purple. Men tend to be portrayed as professionals such as lawyers and doctors instead of stay-at-home fathers; women, however, are more likely to be “soccer moms” or part of the PTA. People like Donald Trump only further this stereotyping and segregation by tweeting offensive things about women,“Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?” Gender becomes a forced subculture that in many ways creates limitations for both genders, especially females/those who identify as females. Males will never fully understand the subculture of females, but when they are exposed to the blatant difference there can be a form of culture shock.

As someone who has been lucky enough to travel internationally, I have learned just how dramatic culture shock can be. When I visited Rome, I found that their whole way of life was different; they drove differently, they ate at later times, time itself was construed as less important; and of course, they spoke a different language. Those are just a few of the many changes that I experienced while there. Although it is a first-world country like the United States, the standard of living was simpler, they drove smaller cars or mopeds, the attire was more casual in daily life, places opened and closed at the leisure of owners instead of strict times. The first night when my family and I went out to dinner, we got lost so we were about a half an hour late for our reservation, something that tends to be frowned on in the United States, but the restaurant seemed to consider the reservation as more of a suggestion and was not at all bothered by our tardiness.

Similarly to experiencing other gender subcultures, experiencing other countries' cultures is known to create a form of culture shock. Each subculture, whether forced or chosen, is built on basic standards or traditions which are unlike other subcultures so an adjustment period is an expected side effect. Subcultures can cause things to become “natural” to people so much so that adapting to other standards can be difficult. It is important that people are able to see outside perspectives to expand their understanding of others. While subcultures can segregate certain groups of people, culture shock can help people grow and learn.