GOTH OVERVIEW

(Download this overview as a PDF)

 

 

 The subculture of teenagers is also made up of various subcultures of its own. These teen subcultures are also know as teen `cliques'. These teen subcultures or "cliques" often are created around common interests, hobbies, music, or activities. The Goth subculture is generally depicted as devious and dangerous. However, a number of individuals who associated themselves with the Goth, teen subcultures would classify themselves as peaceful and gentle people. There are however subcultures within the Goth that are attracted to violence, satanic, death and other cultic trends. It is these individuals who are very vocal and attract attention from both the mainstream world and the press. They have very graphic web sites, and are were majority of the stereotypes generate from these individuals. The question should be raised about how much these "sinister" Goth individuals influence the trends and progression of the gentle counter part of the Goth following.

 

 

 

WHAT IS GOTH?

"Goth unashamedly celebrates the dark recesses of the human psyche. Put the back of your hand on your forehead, and you're there: dark sensuality, sweeping sadness, morbid fascination, forbidden love, the beauty of enduring pain, you get the picture. Many people lead unhappy, unachieved lives. And that's sad. Goth makes depression and angst a lifestyle choice, and that's art."5

 

 

 

WHY GOTH – Why are people attracted to Goth

"Many people lead unhappy; unachieved lives. And that's sad. Goth makes depression and angst a lifestyle choice, and that's art."s

 

 

HISTORY OF GOTH 

 

During the late 60s the hippie counter-culture saw the world sucked and promised to change it. The punk teen subculture emerged in the late 70s and realized that hippies of the 60s were not able to changed the world and took a very "f***" you approach to the mainline culture and to life itself. It was within the Punk subculture that Goth had its beginnings, where Goth was considered a subculture of Punk. By the mid 80s it emerged as an independent subculture with its own image. As the teen subculture, Goth continued to grow, smaller Goth subcultures began to emerge. There is now so much diversity within Gothic World that those in the subculture try to resist any attempts to define or label the different subcultures of Goth. It was only through the negative press and stereo types from one of the more violent subcultures, that the www.sfgoth.corn web site emerged. This site is the attempt to give a complete description of the various subcultures that make us the teen subculture, Goth.

 

 

 

 

TYPES OF GOTH MUSIC:

"Gothic music is not a single style of music. It draws from the dark corners of a small family of styles, each of which is loosely related by a sense of tragedy, doom, mystery, or other-worldlyness."

 

 

 Ambient Delerium, Metamorphosis

 

 

Classical – Vivaldi, Pax Hominibus

 

 

Dark Wave2 - Diary of Dreams, Drop Dead

 

 

Death Rock - Christian Death Heresy

 

 

Folk - Modern, Celtic -  Loreena McKennitt. Mummer's Dance

 

 

Medieval  - EBM4 Covenant , Go Film

 

 

Ethereal - Lycia , Pray

 

 

Industrial - Skinny Puppy , Assimilate

 

 

New Wave - The Cure , Charlotte Sometimes

 

 

Punk - X-Mal Deutschland , Incubus Succubus

 

 

Rock - Nosferatu Sisters of Mercy, Black Planet

 

 

Synth Pop - SwitchBlade Symphony Wallflower

 

 

OTHERS - "Lestat", "Nosferatu", "Mephisto Waltz" and "London After Midnight"

 

 

 

GOTH STEREOTYPES:

 

 

 

AGE – Any age

 

 

BEHAVIOUR - broody, dramatic, sensual, given to excessive romanticism CLIMATE - cool, damp, and dark.

 

 

DIET - hors d'oeuvres, cigarettes

 

 

INTELLIGENCE - strangely above average

 

 

FAVORITE COLOR – Black

 

 

LITERATURE -19th century romance and horror, Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman MAJOR - Humanities: art,. literature, psychology, etc.

 

 

NATURAL HABITATS cemeteries, cafes, bookstores, libraries, laboratories, the Internet, and-the incredibly dark and evil gothic nightclub (spooky spooky) OCCUPATION - artist, computer-related, literature-related, student, clerk

 

 

 

GOTH TYPES / CLASSIFICATION

 

 

Most of the individuals who associate themselves with the teen subculture "Goth" would say that the idea of "Goth type" does not exist. They would not tend to align themselves across any one "type" but would tend-to see themselves as a polarization of more than one "Goth type". This list, is a collection of themes that do occur in the various Goth subculture with their attitude and cloths.

 

 

 

 

 

Romantic Goth

 

 

Attitude: My capacity for love is certainly greater than this mortal

 

 

coil can bear.

 

 

Clothes: Anything with lace and frills: Edwardian, Victorian, renaissance. Mopey Goth

 

 

Attitude: Gentle people always perish in an unkind world.

 

 

Clothes: romantic, modern.

 

 

Fetish Goth

 

 

Attitude: Gentle people are excellent for spanking.

 

 

Clothes: leather, PVC, fishnet, chains.

 

 

Perky Goth

 

 

Attitude: Woohoo!

 

 

Clothes: modern, fetish, cyber

 

 

Raver Goth

 

 

Attitude: If it don't glow, it don't show.

 

 

Clothes: phat pants, t-shirts, tank tops, flourescent thingies

 

 

Goth Geek

 

 

Attitude: It's better than being a plain geek.

 

 

Clothes: modern

 

 

Vampire Goth

 

 

Attitude: Vampires are cool.

 

 

Clothes: formal, jetset, romantic.

 

 

Pagan Goth

 

 

Attitude: The occult and/or celtic religions are cool.

 

 

Clothes: Ren Faire Goth

 

 

Attitude: The Renaissance Faire and role-playing games are cool.

 

 

Clothes: medieval, renaissance, Scottish.

 

 

Other dark people

 

 

Deathrockers, rivetheads, metalheads, weekenders

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

 

 

CAN A CHRISTIAN BE GOTHIC?

Quote by Pastor Ed Carter of Sanctuary

 

 

 

"Life from a'gothic' point of view is one that is bleak and somber, thus the dark appearance and style of dress. The world is dark to me, because it's so far from God's holy plan and design, that it saddens me greatly. I express my somberness to the world by my style of dress and demeanor. I relate to the prophet Jeremiah regarded by most as the Weeping Prophet.

 

 

 

Being gothic to me is also being- real with myself, real with others, and real with God. I do not hide behind a mask to hide who I am and how I truly feel. When I am happy I express it fully, and when I am sad I express that as well. Most Goths express their bleak sadness openly and I see that as an honesty of humanity."

 

 

 

Quote by Joseph J. Kopnick - Killingtheoldman

 

 

 

"Centerpiece of many a gothic tale is an eternal creature who has eluded the claws of death and exists outside the realm of the natural, haunting the land of the living in search of people willing to partake in that death in order to live on in eternity. The entire idea of receiving eternal life through partaking in the death of another is about as gothic as one can get. Christ, the undead, fulfills for those who seek him, their dreams of eternal paradise through partaking in his death, drinking from his cup the blood of the crucifixion."

 

 

 

ARE THE GOTH CLUBS SAFE OR DANGEREOUS?

 

 

"Goth clubs are dark, peaceful, and respectful places. There's no heavy drinking, there's no shouting or scrambling around. Clubs that let frat boys in don't have these recommendations. Some club regulars are actually normal girls seeking relief from the meat-market atmosphere of normal clubs! i5

 

 

 

"Goths don't pursue social interactions with `normals' - they can go anywhere else to do that. The result is that visitors have difficulty getting involve- with this particular class of weirdo."5

 

 

 

'That said, in some cities, there aren't enough Goths to support a uniquely goth club night, in which case, other elements of the underground scene share space. These environments are very idiosyncratic and this site can't say anything about them. However, not much effort is required for a parent to put on black shirt and slacks and see for him/herself.5

 

 

 

WILL THE GOTH SUBCULTURE LEAD TO SATANIC WORSHIP

"No. Interest in Satanism is noticeable but rare in the Goth community. If your child its a/ready interested in Satanism, is he/she likely to turn Goth? Yes. Goths are indifferent to religious preferences in a way that `normals' only claim to be. Therefore, people with socially unacceptable religions often feel more comfortable with Goths than mainstream people. 

 

 

 

WHY DO SOME GOTH MALE TEENS WEAR SKIRTS?

1.           He might-be wearing a type of skirt that is routinely worn by male Goths, like some male Scots  wear kilts. It's not related to sexual orientation. 

 

 

 

2.           He might simply look better in women's clothing. Most Goth girls go nuts for this. It's not a bad mating strategy if he's small and fine-boned.

 

 

3.           He might actually be a transvestite 

 

 

 

IS THERE 'BDSM' IN GOTH?

"There are fetish goths who participate in the BDSM world. BDSMers will show up to Goth clubs, especially if they're advertised as "Goth/industrial." Participants in the BDSM community are unusually respectful for the obvious reason: things can otherwise go badly quickly. New people "learn the ropes" at house parties designed for that purpose. They are taught "safe words" to end a session and how to avoid actual injury. Because of this overhead, BDSMers tend to avoid the uninitiated at club. Fetish fashion has influenced Goth fashion. Goths who are completely ignorant of the BDSM scene often wear leather collars and other fetish

paraphernalia." 5

 

 

GOTH AND VAMPIRES – WHAT'S THE CONNECTION

Many Goths admire the vampires, while others think the vampire concept is weird just like many of us. The press tends to depict Goth and vampire followers as one in the same. The fringe subcultures tend to always draw attention whether it is the cults of Christianity or the terrorist of Muslim. These fringe subcultures of the Goth have resulted in a misunderstanding of a subculture with various dimensions and images.

 

 

 

ARE GOTH RELIGIOUS?

Some are, some aren't. All Goths are in love with religious imagery, though, because of its power, darkness, and intangibility.

 

 

 

IMPLICATIONS

 

 

Blessing – Because many teens are struggling with personal identity and learning to relate to the larger mainline culture, this subculture provides a vehicle to vent frustrations with life and the world around us, which may seem very overwhelming and depressing to them.

 

 

Curse – Because this subculture exposes teens to the darker side of life and connects them into a more: personal account with death; I am concerned that teens prone to depression and suicide may be drawn deeper into their negative feelings. They may also isolate themselves from family and friends buy hiding in this subculture.

 

 

 

Some people drop into Goth culture during dark times in their lives and drop out later on. It can be an important resource for venting the darker times in life.

 

cCYS