What does "goth" mean to me?
My two dear friends and I consider ourselves "peri-goths". In other words, we're virtually gothic but we don't *look* like goths. Someone recently asked me to describe what "goth" is, and why I consider myself to have that kind of mindset... and I had a very hard time describing it!
Tonight I did some reading about it... And here are some of my thoughts.
Many goths come from hard backgrounds. We are misunderstood by society, ridiculed for being free thinkers and not conforming to societal standards. Because of the pain (from childhood or whatever), usually we suffer or have suffered from anxiety or depression and are acutely aware of the darker side of life. As such, to an extent, we try to find beauty in the darkness, because what else is there to do? We discuss society's ills, the condition of the world in general, and celebrate life and darkness. Part of that is finding beauty in death and in suffering - so sometimes the music and literature tends to be fairly dark.
From some websites, various characteristics of goth culture:
*Its unique music, art and literature.
*A fascination with medieval, Victorian and Edwardian history.
*Goths tend to be non-violent, pacifistic, passive, and tolerant. Many in the media have mistakenly associated Goth with extreme violence and hatred of minorities, white supremacy, etc.
*Goth music often deals with thought-provoking topics, concentrating on societal evils, like racism, war, hatred of groups, etc. They tend to concentrate on the very "nasty, unhappy" topics that "North American culture" wants to "ignore and forget."
*Some Goths enjoy playing role playing games. However, RPGs are not an integral component of Goth culture. It is just that those intellectual and creative challenges that draw them to the Goth scene make them more likely to enjoy RPGs as well.
*Other interests: writings by authors like Dante, Byron, Tolstoy; German Expressionist silent films; writing music; painting, etc.
From gothnet.com
*Most goths become goths because they have been spurned by 'normal' society because the way they want to live their lives does not fit in with how most people are told to live theirs. Goths are free thinkers, people who do not accept the moral rules of society because they're told 'This is just how it is' or 'This is what God says!'. Rather goths tend to listen to what you have to say, and make up their own mind. This kind of free thinking and rejection of dogma earns only rejection in todays society.
*However because of this rejection from 'normal' society, goths have banded together to associate with other free thinkers. This has a beneficial effect on both the individual and society as a whole. For the individual they have a sense of belonging, and friends they can associate with. For society it removes one more misfit filled with rage from society's streets.
*Ah, but this is the beauty of goths. Most subjects that are taboo in 'normal' society are freely discussed and debated about. Death, religion, magick, mysticism, and many other topics that are only roached carefully outside of the gothic community. Most goths have realised that fear is only a reaction instilled in us by dogmatic propaganda, and once you realise there is nothing to fear from the topic, whats to stop you discussing it?
Anyway, some random thoughts on gothness...
Back to Evanescence.
Tonight I did some reading about it... And here are some of my thoughts.
Many goths come from hard backgrounds. We are misunderstood by society, ridiculed for being free thinkers and not conforming to societal standards. Because of the pain (from childhood or whatever), usually we suffer or have suffered from anxiety or depression and are acutely aware of the darker side of life. As such, to an extent, we try to find beauty in the darkness, because what else is there to do? We discuss society's ills, the condition of the world in general, and celebrate life and darkness. Part of that is finding beauty in death and in suffering - so sometimes the music and literature tends to be fairly dark.
From some websites, various characteristics of goth culture:
*Its unique music, art and literature.
*A fascination with medieval, Victorian and Edwardian history.
*Goths tend to be non-violent, pacifistic, passive, and tolerant. Many in the media have mistakenly associated Goth with extreme violence and hatred of minorities, white supremacy, etc.
*Goth music often deals with thought-provoking topics, concentrating on societal evils, like racism, war, hatred of groups, etc. They tend to concentrate on the very "nasty, unhappy" topics that "North American culture" wants to "ignore and forget."
*Some Goths enjoy playing role playing games. However, RPGs are not an integral component of Goth culture. It is just that those intellectual and creative challenges that draw them to the Goth scene make them more likely to enjoy RPGs as well.
*Other interests: writings by authors like Dante, Byron, Tolstoy; German Expressionist silent films; writing music; painting, etc.
From gothnet.com
*Most goths become goths because they have been spurned by 'normal' society because the way they want to live their lives does not fit in with how most people are told to live theirs. Goths are free thinkers, people who do not accept the moral rules of society because they're told 'This is just how it is' or 'This is what God says!'. Rather goths tend to listen to what you have to say, and make up their own mind. This kind of free thinking and rejection of dogma earns only rejection in todays society.
*However because of this rejection from 'normal' society, goths have banded together to associate with other free thinkers. This has a beneficial effect on both the individual and society as a whole. For the individual they have a sense of belonging, and friends they can associate with. For society it removes one more misfit filled with rage from society's streets.
*Ah, but this is the beauty of goths. Most subjects that are taboo in 'normal' society are freely discussed and debated about. Death, religion, magick, mysticism, and many other topics that are only roached carefully outside of the gothic community. Most goths have realised that fear is only a reaction instilled in us by dogmatic propaganda, and once you realise there is nothing to fear from the topic, whats to stop you discussing it?
Anyway, some random thoughts on gothness...
Back to Evanescence.