[Iriacynthe]

I actually like answering this kind of questions. I've answered quite a few of these lists, and it's often funny and interesting to see how your own views on the goth subculture change during the years. Oh, and I'm somehwhat an attention-whore too, so I do like the idea of representing a subculture in a paper or article.

(I'm not a native English speaker so you'll probably have to correct some of my answers for your work, I'm sorry. Feel free to ask me something if anything's unclear.)


Age:18

Gender:girl

Q1. Would you describe yourself as a Goth?
Gothic is absolutely the subculture which I like the most, and I do consider myself a member of this subculture, but I'm not too fond of labeling myself (or other people) as goth. When you call yourself a goth (or a prep, a punk, a hippie, or whatever), people immediately have certain ideas about you that might not be true. I don't want to be limited by a label, and there are so many things I think and do that don't have anything to do with gothic.

Q2. Why? What does Goth mean to you?
It means beauty. I don't really like the gothic-is-a-lifestyle-idea, because I've never found a description of a gothic lifestyle that actually included most people in the gothic subculture. Gothic is, to me, a kind of music and fashion, a kind of literature, that has a certain ambience that I feel comfortable with. Life is too short to read bad poetry, wear ugly jeans, and listen to boring music, so I choose to surround myself with what I think is beautiful. That's not always gothic off course, but a big amount of it is.

Q3. How do you like to dress during the day and at night?
The way I dress really depends on my mood, and I don't have a separate style to wear when I go out, I just wear my usual clothes and spend more time arranging my hair and make-up. I tend to mix hippie-like clothing with more classical goth-looks and some punk elements. I don't really like too much leather or pvc, and I never wear short tops or mini-skirts (well, it can be very beautiful, but it's not my style). Oh, and I'm absolutely not into the white-face-black-lipstick-make-up-thing.

Q4. Are you trying to convey a message with the way you dress? If yes, what is it?
Not really, I just wear the clothes that I like. I do hope that people who see me think something like 'hey, it's cool that she wears something that's different from what most people wear', but that's not the reason I wear what I wear.

Q5. Has your view of what a Goth is changed over the time you’ve been involved in the subculture?
Absolutely. I was 14 when I started getting into the scene, and I really must have been an annoying child than. I had my phase of 'being goth is soooo cool, and everything that's goth is cool, and everything that's normal is soooo boring and stupid', but actually, I hardly knew anything about gothic, I just wanted to appear deep and alternative. Now I just do what makes me feel comfortable, and I feel very comfortable in my cosy little goth-scene.

Q6. What sort of music do you listen to and what do you like about it?
I obviously like gothic music, but there are several other styles of music I enjoy, like trip-hop and jazz. Every genre has bands I like, and it also depends on my mood, sometimes I just feel like singing along with the Beatles. I generally don't like music that's too hard, like black metal or industrial or hardcore, but there always are exceptions to that rule. I can't really explain why I like the music I like, it just touches me in some way. Some music makes me happy, some music makes me sad, some music makes me want to jump on a dancefloor and shake my ass all night long.

Q7. What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love reading, I like to write poems, plays and short stories myself, I spend way too many time on the internet, I'm addicted to shopping, I'm absolutely fascinated bu anything that has to do with religion or philosophy (I even study theology) so that often keeps me busy for several hours a day, and I follow tai-chi lessons. I've played a few instruments too, but I'm afraid I don't have enough discipline to become a great musician. Off course I like doing all sorts of fun things with my friends too, but I guess that's what most people like to do. I'm also fascinated by languages, I speak five modern languages and read classical Latin and Hebrew, and I try to improve my language skills in every possible way. I like children too, so I often spend my holidays at the local summer camp inventing all sorts of fun games for those cute little devils.

Q8. How interested are you in art and literature?
Very interested, although I don't know that much of it. I do enjoy reading and going to museums and so on, but I don't have enough knowledge to know the background of all the books I read or all the paintings I look at.

Q9. What ideals do you think you share with other Goths, if any?
A friend of mine has a handbag with 'be yourself in darkness' printed on it, and I'd like to think that summarises the whole gothic subculture. Unfortunately it doesn't, there still are a lot of people who aren't themselves, and there's a lot of gossip and pretending to be cooler than you really are and so on. I guess you find those things in every subculture.

Q10. Would it bother you if Goth went mainstream and became a fashion trend? Why?
It would bother me a little bit if people who used to call me a freak started to look like I and listen to the music I like, without really liking it, but actually, it wouldn't really be my problem. Fashion trends come and go, and the people who are only into gothic because it's trendy will move on to the next trend soon enough. Right now you can find corsets and velvet skirts in almost every clothing store in my country, and I love it, I can't wait 'till they sell hoop skirts for 20 euro at H&M.

Q11. Is there a difference between younger Goths (12 – 17) and older Goths (18+)? If yes, what is it?
When you're older, you usually care less about what's trendy and what's not, and you find your own identity. A lot of younger goths are still trying to find out who they are and what they really like, and so they experiment with different subcultures. A lot of the young teenagers who like gothic grow out of it (which isn't a bad thing, I've grewn out of some things too), and find something that fits them better. Older goths are more steady. Besides, older goths can go to parties and festivals and so on, so they get more involved with the scene than people who sit alone in their room listening to their own cd's.

Q12. Which, if either, do you think is more important in your subculture and why: style (what you wear and how you look) or content (what you know and how you feel)?
On the one hand, content is off course important for most goths, and I hope for most people, because there's just more to life than dressing up and going to clubs. But I do think style is more important to define gothic, you can call a certain style gothic and say more or less which style is gothic and which isn't, but you can't really say that this or that personality is gothic and the other one isn't.