BLOG: Blogger breaks down the Goth stereotype

I asked three of my fraternity brothers what the top three things were they thought of when they saw a Gothic person. Their answers were: black, they tend not to socialize outside of other Goths and they like to cut themselves or even others.

It’s because of these stereotypes that I’ve decided to do a segment on the Gothic culture, in order to promote understanding and deal with some of these misconceptions.

This topic is important to me, because I have many different friends, some of whom are members of the Goth community. Because of their dark and strange look, Goths are often treated with mistrust and disgust, and are often associated with being anti-social and deviant. While this might be true on

occasion, it does not apply to the majority of them, so I’m writing this to hopefully make the public more knowledgeable on the subject.

In order to understand Goth, we must first examine its origins. Gothic culture emerged in the United Kingdom at the end of the 1970s as a splinter off of the punk movement, although it did not emerge in the United States until the late 80s. This attributed largely to the rise of Gothic music. Goth culture then spread to North America, Europe and parts of Asia, eventually finding a place in television and entertainment, with many Gothic characters having parts in books, cartoons and TV shows.

Defining common traits of Goths can be difficult, as the members of the culture are often split into several different subgenres. With some of them being so different  they’re almost not comparable to the generic Goth.

An example of this can be seen in the comparison of the Medieval Goth and the Cyber Goth, the former embodying Renaissance style and music while the latter embraces the rave scene in futuristic clothing and bright colors. The website blackwaterfalls.com lists more than 23 types of Goth.

There are a few things most of the genres have in common though in terms of fashion and interests. Most Goths are known for wearing black or dark clothing, often contrasted by shades of white and silver.

Most of the time, Goths wear makeup to emphasize their appearance, usually white skin with black eyes and lips, but this is more of a personal choice than a demand of the culture.

When it comes to music, Goth taste can vary, but most tend to enjoy Goth, punk and metal bands. These cultures are also known to interact and crossover with each other, sometimes to the point of being hard to differentiate between the subgenres.

The Gothic community often displays an appreciation for art and poetry, and thus can often be found in galleries or coffee shops. Going along with their dark theme, many Goths are fans of the horror genre and many dark books, like “Dracula” and “The Crow.” It’s not likely you will find groups of Goths involved in activities such as going to the mall or hanging at the beach. Goths are stereotypically thought of as people who engage in illegal activity, however there is little evidence that being Goth makes one more prone to deviance.

Addressing the Gothic ideology would be difficult to explain, as the very idea of Gothic is an inherent want of individuality from societal standards. This makes casting any one of them in a single view impossible. However, the best summary I can give is that Goths tend to view things from a more cynical or realistic point of view.

As one of my many Gothic friends from Vermont once put it, “We don’t view the world in a negative light, simply in a darker one. And we enjoy it that way, seeing things as they are as opposed to some fairy tale. We believe the world is rarely a nice place, but we don’t mope about it. We simply deal with it.”

In essence, Goth ideology is about looking at the darkness that exists in the world, but rather than running from it or trying to destroy it they simply deal with it.

In the end, being Goth is about living life the best way you can, even if that means isolating yourself or being cynical. If that’s the price one has to pay to be one’s self, I promise you, it’s worth paying.