Stress by Clash in Subcultures

The overlap of several subcultures Jess existed in ultimately lead to stress and dishonesty in the film, Bend it Like Beckham.

Jess, the star of this film, is part of several subcultures including:
• Her orthodox Sikh family,
• Female friends that play soccer
• Several dimensions of the English culture

To Jess' distress, the cultures that she is a part of have widely different perspectives and standards. They overlap in several instances that are humorous to viewers and devastating to the teenage soccer star. One of the first instances of these cultures clashing is when Jess receives her soccer uniform. She has a scar on her leg from childhood that she has been told to hide. At first, she refuses to join the rest of her team, in her uniform but returns to practice after her coach empathizes with her. The stress Jess experiences here is distress. 

Halfway through the film, Jess is shown running (and sneaking) from practice to traditional cooking lessons with her mother, and repeat. Although she is exhausted from the workload and deception, I wold argue that this is eustress because she is making progress in both her soccer and family subcultures. It is interesting that her eustress happens at a time that her subcultures are not overlapping. 

An example of all three cultures overlapping occurs in the scene of Jess' sisters' wedding. Her teammate Jules and her mom show up at the end of the ceremony and Jess is called a lesbian by Jules' mother. It is interesting that Jess' extended family seems less taken aback by this assertion, than by Jess playing soccer. Again, as the subcultures she is a part of overlap, Jess experiences distress. 

Subcultures are difficult to avoid, and they do not always play well together. Think about some of the subcultures that you are a part of. Do they conflict? If so, is it healthy to maintain each of the subcultures in your life? Jess experiences the most positive stress when her subcultures are kept separate, but she is also lying to her parents to maintain this polarity. Is this justified?