An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle diverse in respect to mainstream ones, or generally perceived to be outside the cultural norm. Lifestyle is a media culture term derived from that of style in art.[1] Usually, but not always, it implies an affinity or identification within some matching subculture (examples include hippies, Gypsiess[disambiguation needed], goths and punks). Some people with alternative lifestyles mix certain elements of various subcultures (e.g., grunge musicians were often influenced by a mixture of the punk, hippie, emo and heavy metal subcultures). Not all minority lifestyles are held to be "alternative"; the term tends to imply newer forms of lifestyle, often based upon enlarged freedoms (especially in the sphere of social styles) or a decision to substitute another approach or not enter the usual expected path in most societies.
Alternative lifestyles and subcultures originated in the 1920s with the "flapper" movement, when women cut their hair and skirts short (as a symbol of freedom from oppression and the old way of living). Women in the flapper age were the first large group to practice pre-marital s*x, dancing, cursing, and driving in modern America without scandal following them. This was because this new flapper lifestyle was so popular that the flapper's brash behavior became more normal than previously thought.
