I do not contest that some folk do it for the attention.
But do disagree with every heavily pierced or tattooed person being lumped into the 'look at me' category.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 13:48, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

I didn't for a moment suggest that this applied to everyone.
I said 'a lot of body-modifying types' - and I'm afraid from the sample I've known - and I really have known more than just one or two - the folks more often than not looked like they lived an alternative lifestyle (and frequently had chosen a 'striking' look precisely to give this impression), but in fact really did not.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 13:53, Reply)

What constitutes an alternative lifestyle?
How many practitioners of a defining activity would it take before that activity ceased being alternative?
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 13:55, Reply)

That's a fascinating and difficult question to answer
I would define an alternative lifestyle by a combination of the following

* sexual so-called 'deviancy'
* 'alternative' living arrangements (squatting, communes, travelling etc.)
* use of MASSIVE DRUGS or alcohol to excess
* refusal to work for a living in the traditional way inc being a criminal

Thinking about it, in somewhere like Camden the regular 9-5 straight looking dudes are the ones living an alternative lifestyle...
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 14:07, Reply)

It would have to be alternative to what's considered your local/societal norm
People that live 24/7 BDSM lifestyles would definitely be considered alternative, as would the total recluse/outcast who lives in a hut in the countryside living off the land.

You could argue that any alcohol use in the UK would not be considered alternative, no matter the quantities, and that being tee-total is more alternative.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 14:12, Reply)

In a sense that's true
I was thinking about homeless drunks really, rather than 'liking a drink or two'.

But it's very much a term wide open to massively different interpretations, for sure.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 16 Aug 2010, 14:18, Reply)