Goth Subculture
One could says that Goth is an artistic movement centered around music and fashion. That said, the Goth culture is so diverse that it defies definition. Though Goths are often (nearly always, in fact) stereotyped, Goth means different things to different Goths.
One observer of the Goth culture puts it like this:
I would like to make a quick point that Gothic is the same as goth, Gothdom, gothik etc. The only difference is noun or adjective use. Capitalization is often arbitrary. There is no general distinction between these terms. Any distinction made is often particular to a certain person or group who might use a different term to designate one of the different levels of involvement or divisions of gothics. For our purposes, we’ll say these words are all intended to mean the same thing.
Gothic: Of or pertaining to a literary style of fiction prevalent in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which emphasized the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate: a gothic novel. [This is the relevant definition in the dictionary. Think of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allen Poe.]
But what does gothic mean in regards to the group of people? Here’s where it gets confusing. There are things that many Goths like that are not gothic (Industrial or Classical music). There are things that are gothic that many Goths dislike (vampires, interest in death). There are things that some people think are gothic that are not gothic (bands like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails), and there are things that do not call themselves gothic even if they are considered gothic by most people (bands like Sisters of Mercy and Dead Can Dance). However, there’s no Grand Gothic Judge to decree what is truly Goth and what is not, although there are plenty of people who claim to be it. It’s an ambiguous label with many people using it that don’t understand what it means. The people who do understand it often have many different definitions.
– Source: Alicia Porter Smith, What is Gothic?– Article continues after this advertisement –
Following are a couple of quotes from news articles on Goth culture. See also the Religion News Blog archive of Goth-related news articles.
Media Often Gets It Wrong
Note that the media often – but certainly not always – portrays the Goth culture in a sensationalistic and/or negative way. After all, reports on Goth culture tend to appear in the news media in connection with someone’s criminal activity. See, for example, Murder case prompts discussion on teens’ fascination with `gothic’ lifestyle, written by The Mercury News in connection with the murder trial of teenager Scott Dyleski.
Fox News on Oct. 22, 2005, interviewed Goth musician Voltaire – author of the book, “What is Goth?” regarding the Dyleski case:
It should be clear that one can not form an accurate opinion of the Goth culture based solely on media reports. Hence we refer to our research resources on the subject.
You’ve seen them in the parks or at the mall, wearing black nail polish and lipstick or ripped tights and combat boots. Some have purple hair and strange tattoos. Others hang out at cemeteries or listen to music with lyrics about death.
These are Goth kids, teenagers who dress differently so they may appear mysterious to others or are secretly or openly obsessed with the [tag]occult[/tag], said Gordon A. Crews, associate dean of the School of Justice Studies at Roger Williams University in Bristol.
“Why all the black? What most of them will tell you is, ‘We don’t exist to you anyway.’ The black is a way of being on the other side. It is a way of separating,” he said.
Crews, who has written books and articles about the occult, [tag]satanic[/tag] involvement, gangs and school violence, presented pieces of his research on Goth behavior during a seminar for law enforcement officials Wednesday at the university’s conference center on Anthony Road. About 30 officers from around Rhode Island and as far away as Boston attended the program.
Crews, a former police investigator, became interested in studying the Gothic movement in 1987 after he discovered an unusual mural inside an abandoned house while he was leading a pack of bloodhounds through the woods in the South. The mural depicted Satan grabbing baby Jesus from his mother. The following day, he returned to the house to find it had been burned down.
Since then, he has researched Gothic activity and interviewed people who follow it, including a man who claims to be a 450-year-old vampire and sleeps in a coffin. The Goth movement grew out of the 1970s punk trend and became popular in the late 1990s, at about the time school shootings were becoming more frequent. Some school shooters, like Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 13 people before committing suicide at Columbine High Schoolin Colorado in 1999, have been described as Gothic.
Most Goths are young, white and intelligent, and many teens use the behavior as a protection mechanism, Crews said. They may feel ostracized by other social groups, so they dress and act mysteriously in an effort to be feared by others.
“What they will tell you is they would rather be left alone than be bullied or attacked,” he said. “It is up to the individual to define what Goth is for themselves … The mentality is, ‘I want to be left alone but I want to be seen. I want to see the shock on other peoples’ faces,” he said.
But others take the movement to the extreme. For them, it is a belief system rather than a trend. They are into witchcraft or believe they are vampires. Some practice Satanism, drink blood or mutilate their own bodies, he said.
– Source: ‘Goth’ defined: Seminar sheds light on what is behind mysterious teenage trend, The Newport Daily News, USA,
Oct. 30, 2003
On Thursday nights, David Hart dons a black trench coat, black shirt, pants and boots and heads for a club called The Soil, where heavily pierced patrons emulate Count Dracula and Morticia Addams.
The clothing is clerical garb for Hart, a fiftyish, Christian youth minister from San Diego. He’s one of the few ministers who specialize in reaching out to the music-centered, underground youth subcultures.
[…]In fashion and philosophy, goths style themselves after horror literature. Dabblers content themselves with Anne Rice. Devotees delve into Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allen Poe.
“These kids romanticize death. They romanticize the blade, the blood that trickles down. They write very, very sad introspective, self-absorbed poetry,” Hart said.
Hart’s Web site, “The Sanctuary,” promotes itself as “a fellowship of Christian misfits — a spiritual alternative for the disenfranchised … We are here for anyone seeking sanctuary and looking for answers in a big, dark universe.”
[…]Hart began his work 15 years ago as a promoter for the Christian metal band Stryper. A former Navy drug counselor who was raised Presbyterian and graduated from the more Baptist-oriented Talbot Theological Seminary, Hart saw teens with profound emotional needs who wouldn’t fit into any church youth group.
Hart started home groups for the goths, who dislike crowds. He urges them to give up drugs, promiscuity, cutting themselves and other self-destructive habits, but he urges their parents not to condemn the whole lifestyle.
[…]Unlike some youth subcultures that believe in God but reject organized religion, goths often reject God but keep religious trappings, Hart said. Most religious goths are self-styled practitioners of Wicca, an ancient Celtic nature religion, he said, while others dabble in spiritualism, a religion that tries to communicate with the dead through seances. Few are Satanists, Hart said.
They can relate to the Jesus whose own friends failed to understand him, Hart said. He tells them that vampirism is a counterfeit of the life given them through the blood of Jesus, that his crucifixion was the piercing to end all piercing.
– Source: Goths: Morose outcasts in dire need of acceptance, Post-Gazette, USA, Apr. 27, 1999
Research resources on Goth subculture below this graphic
The BBC described Goths as “refined and sensitive, keen on poetry and books, not big on drugs or anti-social behaviour. “
Goth — Research Resources
About Our Research Resources 
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Articles
Being Christian and Being Goth Posted at the website of St Edward King and Martyr, the Cambridge, UK church that originated The Goth Eucharist.
The divide that has emerged between the goth culture and the Christian faith is not an unbridgeable one. The Christian faith has, historically, included a strongly dualistic element in which the reality of evil and despair is acknowledged. Christianity readily acknowledges a darker side to our existence in a fallen world. This engagement with the nighttime of the soul runs throughout the Bible and the development of Christian thought. The Old Testament contains numerous stories with which modern day goths would resonate with. In King’s the tragic story of King Saul raising from the dead the soul of Samuel, only to learn of his own death, resembles the imagery employed by writers of gothic horror. The Psalms, in particular Psalm 88, in which there is no happy ending, reflect the suffering and sense of loss which the human condition experiences. The Book of Ecclesiastes reflects a sense of despair and futility towards life. In Ecclesiastes life is full of vanity which can only lead to destruction.
In the New Testament the gothic outlook on life pervades the ministry of Christ, culminating, in its most dramatic form with Christ’s words on the cross;” My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken me?’ An engagement with the darkness and despair that attacks human existence is an underlying theme throughout the Gospels. The presentation of this faith by contemporary Christians, however, often places its greater emphasis on the Resurrection of Christ, whilst, largely, glossing over the extent of his suffering. This is perhaps particularly true of the Anglican approach, although even modern day Roman Catholicism has reacted against dwelling upon the Passion of Christ. Certainly, from the viewpoint of a modern day goth suffering in life is glossed over and not taken seriously enough.
The goth church in cyberspace BBC, May 27, 2008
How can a Christian be a Goth? by David Dellman, at GothicChristianity.com
Reaching the Edges by Blayne Greiner with Gail Welborn, Leadership Journal, Summer 2001. Evangelizing the unchurched.
The Revolution The roots and status of the Christian Goth movement.
What is Goth? Collection of quotes showing various perspective on Goth.
The World According to Goth Indepth article by Marcia Montenegro. First written in 2005; adapted and modified from author’s article in The Christian Research Journal, Vol. 29, Issue No. 1, 2006
Books
The Goth Bible by Nancy Kilpatrick
From their historical origins as a Germanic tribe in the sixth century who fought along side the Romans against the Huns to their current incarnation as creatures of the night, The goth Bible presents the most complete and broad perspective of this society, culled from hundreds of interviews with bands, artist, designers, and goths from all walks of life.
Goth Chic: A Connoisseur’s Guide to Dark Culture by Gavin Baddeley.
Goth Chic is the first book properly to explore Gothic culture in the modern world. Gavin Baddeley examines all facets of the culture, unearthing hidden gems from the underground alongside better known manifestations, including horror comics, fetish clubs, Goth rock superstars and cultists.
Goth : Identity, Style and Subculture by Paul Hodkinson
The most scholarly of the books devoted to gothic subculture to date is Paul Hodkinson’s Goth: Identity, Style, and Subculture, and as such, it is the first of a number of academic books slated to be published in the next academic year (St. Martin’s Press and Duke University Press also have gothic books in the works). Unlike most of the work written about goths for broad audiences, Hodkinson’s take on the gothic subculture is careful, clear, and well argued. At the center of his analysis is a key theoretical assumption of subcultural scholarship: subcultures are posed against a consumerist mainstream (e.g., the culture industries) and thus are primarily resistant in nature. To the contrary, through interviews, surveys, and participant observation, Hodkinson beautifully demonstrates on empirical grounds how the gothic scene is premised on a familial logic and “has been thoroughly reliant upon media and commerce in a variety of forms.” It is not so much resistance as much as it is a sense of belonging that motivates people to freely associate with the gothic scene. To be sure, Hodkinson’s status as an “insider” in the UK goth scene poses some limitations; for example, his celebration of the skinny, feminine body-ideal as liberating to some “skinny” goths fails to explore the misogynistic norms that also structure this element of gothic style (48-56). Nevertheless, Hodkinson’s erudite, empirical study of the subculture is detailed and thorough, and serves not only as an excellent resource for popular culture scholars, but also as a model exemplar for students writing dissertations and theses. And regardless of what he has to say about goths, Hodkinson’s excellent literature review of subcultural scholarship in the second chapter is well worth the publisher’s retail price. – Source: Oh My Goth! by Joshua Gunn, Journal of Popular Culture. Volume: 37, Issue: 1. 2003. Page: 136ff.
What is Goth? by Voltaire
What Is Goth? is a humorous, self-deprecating look at Goth culture from the inside out. Imagine The Preppy Handbook colliding with Charles Addams. Then add a lot more melancholy and a lot more spooky. What Is Goth? dispels the false stereotypes and reinforces the true ones surrounding Goths and Goth culture. “To the mundane,” Voltaire writes, “Goths are weird, black-clad freaks who are obsessed with death; they are sad all of the time. Take a closer look at the Goth scene, however, and you will find a rich tapestry of ideas and practices and a menagerie of colorful characters.
Discuss
Xnethgoth “[A] discussion list that provides a platform for Christian Goths to discuss issues pertaining to Gothic culture.”
News and News Archive
Web Sites
ChristianGoth.com “Serving the Christian Gothic Community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ A friendly site with a good collection of resources, including commentaries, encouragement from the Bible, eCards, and other goodies.
The Goth Eucharist
The service is candlelit with a specially written liturgy and uses a variety of modern rock and as well as classical music. The structure of the service revolves around the baptismal candle and reflects a serious engagement with the depressing and darker sides of our lives before moving towards a position of hope and happiness found in the empathy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Goths for Jesus “A light shining in the darkness”
Goths for Jesus is an alliance of Christians involved in the underground alternative music subcultures, like Goth, Punk, New-Wave, Indie, Industrial, etc.
We exist for two primary reasons: To spread the love and the message of Christ to others in this culture, and to provide a gathering place for like-minded Christians to edify, encourage, and fellowship with one another.
Our Mission
To join together in showing the love of Christ to a lost and rejected generation, eliminate stereotypes and view all as valued individuals, as well as provide a place of refuge and hope for those who refuse to conform to the mainstream.
A Study of Gothic Subculture: An inside look for outsiders A well-presented wealth of information, including faqs, news- and other articles, definitions, and a message board.
Article details
Related topic(s): Goth
First published (or major update) on Monday, February 20, 2006.
Last updated on February 10, 2018. Original content is © Copyright Apologetics Index. All Rights Reserved. For usage guidelines see link at the bottom.
I am a Christian Goth and I would like to thank you for this site. I like Goth especially for the clothes, but also for the music and because my Goth friends are the most real people I know.
My parents became very concerned when I got more into the Goth culture. So I looked for information that I could give them and I found this site via Google. The research information you list is great and helped convince my parents that I am normal(!) and that there is nothing to worry about.
Thanks!
Xandra
Well… my mother is a conservative Cathoic that does not understand monden culture. Born and raised with out a choice in the fact of going to mass every sunday, i fell into the “goth” persona. It works well for my life, with all the other “stuff” it comes with. I found this site fairly accurate with what I found out though other reasourses. My mother on the other hand does not believe that this information can be true. To bad for a closed mind eh?
I am a Goth. I was not always a goth. I was a punk, a new wave fanatic and finally a goth the final culmination of my search for self.. I was a founding member of the western new york goth list that died as the scene evaporated in Buffalo, a long time Convergence attendee and a traveler to the Withby Gothic Weekend in the UK. I was raised Catholic but realize the errors of the Roman catholic religion. I beleive in a creator but not a religion.. I beleive that I can touch my creator without having to join or subscribe to any group. I long for friends that feel the same way…I hope that somewhere out there they exist. I wait there contact.
I am a Goth. I have been a goth for a long time and all this stuff to do with murders does not reflect on the foundations of people who are goth. I do not believe in religion because it bounds free thought and there is no proof. Liking black since I was 6 I somethines wonder if i was born goth (if it is possible). Thankyou for your articles on goth and gothic peoples.
P.S.- Marilyn Manson was not the cause of Columbine as many people seem to think, and Manson may sing goth but he is not the only goth singer. He has no more effect to other people who claim to be gothic and commit suicide or murder.
Greetings,
My sobriquet is Dr. Raven and I’m a Goth writer and journalist profiling all aspects of the Goth community. I am also a Christian and fully and completley have accepted Jesus as Lord of my life. Its true the media and the Christian Subculture (not the Christian faith but our corporate Christian Culture) has a poorly defined view of what it means to be Goth and especially in our Christian Subculture we have redefined what it means to “Love your neighbor” when we only surround ourselves with people who have already been reached. I am thankful for what Apologetics Index does in educating the body and continuing to open doors to preach the Gospel. Remember brothers and sisters that your neighbor is everyone around you. Including the kid in a top hat and make up smoking cigarretes as well as the well dressed young well mannered individual. We are called to reach the world, not just the people WE want to see in heaven.
Gods Peace.
Dr. Raven
I would like to thank you for this website it not only lets non goths become familiar with the gothic culture but helps goths feel good aout them selfs. so thank you for helping to open the eyes of the commen steriotypeing public.
i have a lot of friends that are gothic i have allways had a fasination with them and vampires ever since i could remember i wouldnt class my self as looking gothic like most do but i wear heavy black eyeliner and black clothes i listen to alot of gothic(heavy metal bands)like system of a down, marylin manson, black sabbath, i think its all about finding an identity and relating to some one i know that even though i am descrimated by most people as a goth for being different i am able to love people i have emotions and deep feelings like everyone else and i have people who do accept me for me.
hey i’d just like to say that even though i do not view my self as a goth i do like some of the music and appreciate the fashion and i do have a lot of friends that are gothic. my parents flipped when they thought about the idea of me going goth but then i showed my mom this website and she now understands that being gothic doesn’t neccisatily mean that you have to be satanic or suicidal… so basicaly i just want to say, thanx for the website, it really is helping people open their eys and minds to new ideas ;-)
Hey. id just like to say that i really like this website. all that has been said is totally true. being goth doesnt mean that u r satanist or nethin. im christian…although most tend to stereotype me as being “evil” or “devil-worshipping”. this especially happens at my school where the majority is black people, who listen to rap and r&b. many people look at me and my friends weirdly, just b/c of the way we dress or look. i dont always dress goth…its funny on days i dress like what people consider normal, i get compliments on what im wearing. people ask me why i dress in black & stuff when im so pretty i dont consider myself lookin any different, no matter how i dress. its just that im more comfortable in my black “gothic” clothes, as people call them. i really wish people will stop stereotyping goths…they really are just like every else. they can be some of the nicest, friendliest, coolest ppl.
i would like to thank you for this website i am a christian goth and i love to write moody, mysterious, and violent poems. i think a lot of goths are misunderstood we dont really hate anyone just people who look at us like were crazy. were not all that different from anyone else we just like to be left alone and feared because it gives us a sense of pride. i think a lot of people turn goth because they were either hurt or something and they turn goth to get rid of that pain. i on the other hand did not get hurt nothing has happened to me, i have a relatively good life and yet i turned gothic one because i like the music two because i like the clothes three because when your apart of a group of gothic kids they all treat you like your family and my other friends that arent gothic have a lot more drama and they dont treat eachother with such tenderness they treat you like your just someone who is there to keep them occupied you know i had a friend who wasnt gothic and she had a lot of drama in her life she was constantly being picked on and she was constantly in a fight with someone. you know in my goth group if we have a problem we talk it out we dont go around school making rumors about someone, or say mean stuff behind someones back we just talk it out and if we cant solve the problem and were still mad at each other we usually get together privately and talk if we want to or compromise even if that means promising not to do it ever again, or we duke it out and once we get tired of beeting the crap out of eachother we either wont be friends anymore or well just say sorry and say that we finally got all of our anger out and then were ok. and yah i know your thinking how can you hit someone and be hit by them and still be friends its because we learn to forgive everyone for any and all mistakes i mean were only human we all make mistakes and we just build our lives around forgiveness, love, and companionship. thats why i think most goths are misunderstood just because we look creepy,weird, and violent sometimes doesnt mean we want to kill you were just finding a way to stand out and and be known of our love for eachother. thanx again for the website it helped me know that im not the only one whos life is like this
My daughter is Goth and kinda EMO I suppose. Is there such athing as a GOTHEMO?
She is involved in the occult and used drugs and alcohol. She is currently in a rehab. She had been cutting herself, dressing very black and dark and ripping lots of her clothes. Her attitude of life starkly contrasted my Christian values.
There is in my experience knowing her and all her friends nothing ok about this ‘trend’. Becoming like the darkness and death, how can that ever be ‘good’?
Greetings, all. I am relatively new to this subculture, yet it is one of the most fascinating things which I have ever come across. In the few months I have known the Goth culture I have gathered all the information I could possibly find on the internet; I have dug deep into the controversy surrounding this culture and seen both sides of the issue. From the start the gothic culture possessed for me a charm I never felt in any other culture. Yet one issue holds me back. I, a Catholic, find some of the comments here decidedly anti-Catholic. Sadly, many of the elements in this subulture are also this way.
I am charmed by the goth culture as well, by the music, the mood which tends to match mine, and by the clothes. I grew up in an evangelical Christian family under many suffucating rules. Now I am 19, and live on my so I can find and follow my own path so to speak. I still consider myself a Christian though my beliefs and practices are different from those of my family. For one thing I am much more tolerant toward others. What gets me is that I still find it hard to be tolerant toward myself. For instance, I really like the gothic fashion trends, especially corsets, which to me look and feel fantastically erotic. I love that look on other goths, but often have a hard time giving myself permission to wear and enjoy corsets, particularly the underbust ones. I have met several other Christian goths who seem to struggle with their love for the fashion and whether or not you can wear certain things. I mean, much of the gothic fashion is somewhat revealing.
i my self a goth think that when you have to live A LIFE of nothing but hell and there is no one to talk to i think that dressing black shows that i waz left out of this world and when poeple ask me are u goth i say yes then they ask why i say beacuse i waz forgoten and all my friends are goth and now that i am enterying hight school i hope it worth it because in middle school i waz steryotyped but i just thought i wold telll u ths later
hey,well after reading the article and the comments i’ve come to realise that my life is like this.
I’m a christian goth, and something that also ticks people is that i’m a brown pacific islander or to those rascist people also known as a BLACK person. during last year i had been opened to the gothic persona by a few people at school.that is what ticked me really, i wanted to be different than everyone else, i guess that i’m the only pacific islander that feels like this at the moment.last year i had also been feeling suicidal and started cutting myself and all but it wasnt because of the “goth encounter”it was because i had fallen into a dark hole of deep depression.my mum always called me “evil” or “devil-worshipper”but to be honest i’m so not like that.i still love jesus and will always love him since i gave my life to him at the age of 12.i guess i just want to dress the way i do because i want to be me and not get criticised for who i am.i still get crap from my mother tho’ everyday not a day goes by that she doesnt call me a “devil-worshipper” i just wish that she’d understand me for who i am on the inside, she still claims that i’m evil and that my great goth mates are too.but she doesnt know what it’s like to be me.i just wish she understood.this website is freaking awesome…thankyou!
Parents, please: If your son or daughter is cutting, etc, it’s not because of anything goth related. Correlation does not mean causation. It’s a separate problem to be dealt with. Satanism is also separate. It is not an integral part of our subculture. Goth is not a problem; it’s a viable esthetic and lifestyle. Cutting, depression, etc are problems and should be dealt with appropriately and with compassion.
I’ve been a goth for years and years. I’m about to turn 40 if that gives you any idea. (Yes, there are plenty of eldergoths out there. For many people, this isn’t a teenage phase.) I make a good living. I have a nice house and a good relationship with a gothic man. Our lifestyle is healthy and affirming for those who naturally fit into it. For those who don’t fit into the mainstream, it gives us a home in the subculture, and kindred spirits. I’d be hard pressed to find anything wrong with that.
No, I don’t go to work in clothes from Hot Topic and Lip Service. :P That’s club wear. Yes, most of my clothes are black. Just as well: I’m a klutz and I spill coffee sometimes. :/
So. If you’re a young goth, take heart and know there are good things waiting for you. If you’re a parent, please try not to freak out. It’s nothing to give yourself a migraine over. Let it be.
Seriously people goth isn’t a bad thing. It’s just basically saying “I’m different from you and I’m not afraid to show it”. I know a lot of goth people & I will say they are some of the sweetest most real people i know. People look at me like I’m crazy because I have goth friends and I’m not really goth nor any other stereotype but I guess everyone has their own opinions. But seriously people need to lay off the goth kids are satanists stuff. They’re people too and it’s kinda sad that people just automatically assume that just because of the way they dress. CLOTHES DON’T MAKE WHO YOU ARE. So with that being said I’ll go.
I am young but very alone at my school i used to try to fit in, to belong but it all felt so empty. I fell into a deep depression realizing i did not know who i was or what i was supposed to do in life. So i started wearing my favorite color black, and quickly fell into the Gothic music. I am not a satanist but i do think the philosophy in it is very smart and should not be put down so much. I get angry allot, that no body cares or really knows who i am but ever since i have found out who i am i do feel better, and i really hope i can find someone who feels the same way, and not just read about them.
i have to agree with most people here. im a christian goth but with very different views when it comes to that relegion. satanism and cutting is not a dominant feature in the culture, parents need to try and understand that. the culture is very open to anything. we’re very different, yes, but i though humanity almost got past the whole “lets be afraid of whats different thing”. thats what the sixties were for, and we got past it. To state my point, everyones entitled to an opinion and im not saying everybodys cut out for it, but goth is NOT bad.
Okay look…Goth does not mean that you are depressed. It doesn’t mean that you wanna kill people or yourself. It doesn’t mean that you want to be part of a ritual in which you’re killing animals. Goths DON’T always wear black. People have spent way to much time defining what Goth is and most of the time they’re wrong. It encompasses such a large and diverse group of people. Yes there are some that partake in the aforementioned activities, but that group is a surprisingly small percentage of what’s really going on in the “Goth lifestyle”. In my opinion, real Gothic people are some of the most admirable people on the planet. Too many people are so tied up in material things and trying to fit in that they don’t really have any idea who they are. A real Goth knows exactly who they are and are, in most cases, very comfortable with themselves. This is why when someone who isn’t in that real Goth circle will look at someone who is and think they are strange looking or even act strange.
Please, for the love of all things dark and beautiful, stop thinking that masochism has anything to do with being Goth!! I’m 31 and only recently “became Goth”. I was admitted to a looney bin when I was 16 for cutting myself. Don’t confuse growing up with being Goth. Goth is a state of mind that opens so many doors to so many new things. When you’re comfortable with yourself, you’re much more receptive to some things that might seems strange on the outside that turn out to be the best thing you’ve ever seen, tasted, smelled, written, read or been. Goth is about being open-minded, not about deep, dark depression.
To me to be goth is to be free of wat soceity deams to be the acceptable path in life. To be goth is to forge ur own path through the vast forset of life. Life is and always will be wat u the individaul makes of it, and if that is following the lead of everyone around u and doing wat every one else says and does then ur not even an individual ur nothing but a robot. To be goth is to be a free thinker and approach every aspect of life with an open mind and open heart. In fact there is a famos Wiccan saying that says “Do as thy wilt and harm noone” that saying alone is very fitting cause it holds alot of meaning to alot of goths just cause they approach life and all things with a open mind. Now by all means I am not saying all goths are Wiccan cause that would be mainstream and doing wat everyone else does labeling everyone, which brings me to anothor point. I have yet to meet a goth who is judgemental in anyway goths are very realistic and take things for wat they r and then make up there own minds we dont live in a world were the the glass is half full or half empty ull simply get the reply u have half a glass of water cause thats wat it is half, nothing more nothing less. We take the bad with the good and then endure the bad untill the good comes around and if u spend ur life in a world were u only c the good in things ur going to get walked all over and not taken seroiusly.
Most of the goths I know usally are also very in touch with there emotions but dont like to show it which doesnt mean that there cold hearted or whiners just means they have absoult control over there emotions and express them in a way that they see fit not in a way that is always socialy deamed acceptable. Weathor its music body art peircings poetry writing clothing or a hair stlye thats going to get a rise out of everyone walking passed them its wat we do and who is anyone else to judge. If I remember correctly the bible says let he who has not sinned cast the first stone now with that said show me 1 person in this world thats a christian and has never sinned. As far as religon goes first off one of the main reasons the fore fathers came to this country was to avoid religous perscicution which means to be able to pratice the religon of there choice weathor it be witchcraft or satanisum to christanity to muslum. With that said goths are about as religously diverse as everyone else in the world so plz with all due respect we don’t force our beliefs on u or anyone else so don’t think ur saving our souls by trying to push ur beliefs on us. Cause in case you havnt figured this out yet we don’t care wat u think and were going to do wat we c fit no matter wat u say. O ya one more thing as u can conclude form this letter, is that I’m a goth and I also have a job now the worlds sterotype is that has been given to us would suggest that I work in the mall at a movie or music store or sell drugs or even better yet hang out in front of hot topic anyone who believes this is ubsurdly wrong. Now back to the fact that I have a job, I am a United States Solider serving in the Army and have 3 combat tours to Iraq under my belt serving as a 21b (combat engineer) and have never been in trouble with the law or done anything to break the law in anyway and I’m a goth and I’m proud of it and if u don’t like it o well. So before u judge me tell me wats the last thing that u have done for ur country besides gripe and complain about everything around u. So I’m hear to tell u if u can’t stand it anymore then get out of America cause I don’t remember u standing to my left or right as I was defending this great nation. I do know a lot of goths that were standing to my left and right and that are still standing there to this day. That is the truest diffention of being goth by a goth. Written by : Kalimadran
I’m a thirteen year old Goth
and I’m sick with all the people who think Goths are bad or evil..
If a Goth would take drugs or do suicide…
It’s his own and that doesn’t mean that the other Goths are like that…
I’m a Catholic and I do am God-fearing…
Even though I like dark, horrific and gothic things..
I still do my job as a child of God…
People who aren’t Goth have different perceptions about us…
and I do appreciate those people who understands what Goths are really are…
Good day and have a nice night!
†ToPaZâ€
I agree with all of my fellow goths here in that Gothicism is not a bad thing.People who judge our culture are usually tragically misinformed , and therefor tend to spread their ideals on to other people.This is what leads to everybody believing that we are all evil, devil worshipers etc. It is like that game called telephone.
i am kinda goth i guess. i dress in black and i love most of the music but i am also a devoted christian as well. my mom totally freaked wen i startd wearin black nail polish and stuf but i lookd up sum info and found this website. thnk u so much btw. i hav tried to dress diffrent like in bright colors and my friends( none of which are goths actually) ask me y i changed my look. i am always being told that i look good the way i dress, but my dad keeps sayin stuf likes its satanic the way i dress and he wont believe me wen i tell him it isnt but oh well cuz im me and even tho i dress gothic and listen to the music, im still one of the loudest people at skool and people think im awesome and i am loved by almost everyone. thank u so much for this article. it helpd me convince at least one of my parents that im ok.