Goth

                                                                             Goth

        Goth is the one co-culture that most parents dread their teenagers ever becoming involved with. Why? What is gothic? How can one co-culture be any worse than any other? Stereotypes are one reason, and misconceptions of what the true gothic subculture is, is another reason. The true definition for gothic doesn’t even have anything to do with its subculture we have grown to know it by. The true definition pertained to a literary style of fiction that was around in the 18 and 19 centuries. We disregard this definition and look to Marilyn Manson, the sole product of the media, to provide us with the real definition. I would like to explain in this paper the gothic scene and why looking at it from another angel might shed light on a dark subject.

        The gothic co-culture is full of ambiguity and misconceptions. Marilyn Manson and vampires may be gothic looking but are in fact not gothic at all. Bands like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and Alice Copper are actually in the heavy metal shock rock category while Industrial and classical are the music of choice for those practicing true gothic living. The same goes for vampires they may look very gothic and dark but movies like the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which is funny and upbeat are sooner watched than “Interview with the Vampire”. Like any true co-culture, the real definition of who is truly gothic is subject to change all the time depending on the person. The Gothic co-culture is more about being an individual than being part of a specific definition.

        The date of origin has been placed back to 1979 when “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” was released by the Bauhaus band. Due to its eerie sound, it inspired a co-culture later defined as gothic. Many are not sure if it was the band or the media that coined the term gothic but whichever it may be it has sucked for over twenty years. The United Kingdom is where the first generation of gothic followers originated around the early eighties with the release of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. The gothic co-culture also originated as a stem off of the punk subculture. By the mid-eighties, the first generation of gothic children started to subside but by the early nineties, a new group of children revived it with bands like The Shroud, Rosetta Stone, and London After Midnight. The early nineties was also when the gothic co-culture gained ground in the United States, pushing as many limits as it could on its way. The third generation of gothic children then came out in the late nineties, making enemies with the first and second generation Goths. Most of the older generation Goths wanted to be unassociated with the younger generation Goths due to the attention from the media brought on by bands like Marilyn Manson, Pantera, and Prodigy. The older generation was not into the exposure that this brought to the co-culture they established and were proud of. This was becoming a movement from the underground to the sound stage. It was hard after that for the older generation to respect the younger generation, and to not question their authenticity and wonder what was going to happen to the quiet co-culture they had established twenty years prior as it moved through the 21st century.

        Fashion is one of the biggest parts of this co-culture. It explains visually the mood of the culture and the attitude of the individual. Just by the symbols they wear and the clothes in which they choose to display, they are able to let whoever crosses their path know that they are not without feeling. Their fashions are also a reflection of their actions and motivations for those actions. Even if they wear no symbols and only black in the simplest form it says something very loud about that person’s character. Though not everyone who is in this co-culture is in it for what it truly stands for, and many consequently do not know why they are wearing what they are wearing besides the reason, “it looks cool”. Most dress to express. Fashions include anything black, deep blue or deep red in color; silver jewelry instead of gold, maybe a spike collar or a ribbon around the neck. Black and stark white make-up is worn with black lipstick and black eye-liner for both men and women to display paleness and pureness. Some like to look stark white for an authentic Victorian nobility look or because they are protesting in their own way to skin cancer-causing tanning. Dying of the hair is also a way to display ones self, many choose black, others may choose red, purple, or whitish/blond. Anything leather, patent leather, latex, plastic, velvet, rubber, vinyl, P.V.C., or with a corset can be worn as everyday clothing. Lingerie and cloaks are also acceptable to be worn under or over one's everyday clothing. The list actually goes on and on for the possibilities that are out there for one to wear as acceptable in this co-culture. One thing remains throughout all of it and that is that you are showing how you want to be seen, that it is dark, and that it is comfortable to fit your mood. The theme in the gothic co-culture is not really what you wear but how you wear it, why and what does it explain about your specific personality.

        This co-culture is different because of its likes and dislikes, its views on society and the world as a whole. The true gothic co-culture is not destructive or to cause specific chaos but to be as one with each other and be different than the typical sports team cliques known to be in every high school across the whole world. Gothic interests include anything artistic and creative, literature, history, and philosophy and going to plays. Going out for a cup of coffee in the middle of the night or sitting in a graveyard discussing anything that interest them are other things Goths typically like to do. This co-culture is one with dimension; it has three major components to it and many sub-components that makeup why Goths are the way that they are. One way is their social scene; Goths are not unlike other co-cultures in the sense that they provide a sense of belonging for the members of the group. However, they establish hierarchies between the members and conduct themselves a certain way when out in public that is unlike that of most other co-cultures. Second would be the gothic personality, much like other groups, to be gothic is to be unlike any other. There is a main focus on anything intellectually stimulating and controversially dark. Things most people would not dare to discuss they do with bluntness and assertiveness. They believe in who they are and are not about to hide their inner hurt, disgust, pain, or angst just to please someone else. Third is gothic music, just like those of the techno co-culture or the hip-hop co-culture, the gothic co-culture has a form of music all their own. It can be easily said that the group is driven and bound together by its music. After all, it was started and centered on music.

        On a personal level, I choose this co-culture to report on not because I didn’t know anything about it but because I do know something about it. I myself do not dress the typical part nor do I listen to their kind of music alone but I do enjoy the quiet aspects of life. I enjoy the part of life that not many people talk about, the part where you look deep within and see the inner demons, face them, and conquer them. It makes me happy when others show pain, it shows me that they too are human and go through the trials and tribulations in life that make us all different and worth the space we take upon this earth. I appreciate this co-culture because of their views on society and their close-knit relationships with their members. I also admire them for their guts to dress the way that they do and speak the way that they speak and act the way that they act. In my communication skills class, we have learned that in most instances we have terministic screens up and can’t or won’t look beyond the very obvious right in front of us. I hope that after reading this paper my reader will be more open to the possibilities of the world around him/her and realize that to be a part of all society you do not have to change outer appearances but inner outlooks on the world.

        In short, the gothic culture may seem more depressed than the rest of society but if you look at it in another light maybe the gothic culture is expressing outwardly the depressed feeling that societies feel inwardly. No matter what the case is, know that it is okay to feel dark and gloomy sometimes. Just like the weather can’t always be sunny everyone in the world can’t always look happy. Nothing could ever be that perfect and while it may be a fact that the members of the gothic co-culture are capable of feeling immense sadness they are also able to feel incredible happiness as well. There are no rules or guidelines to this co-culture stating so. Goth is all about the beauty that lies under every rock. I hope that I have shed a new light on this gloomy subject for all those reading this.