The How To Be Goth/ What Is Goth Mega Thread

[BoleroBelle]

How many people here would even describe themselves as gothic?

I don't know if i would. i am me. And besides, i'm about to be 23 and i'm far to old to label myself like that anymore. I mean, maybe in high school, identifying yourself that way is important, but when you're out in the real world, working a real job, trying to make real ends meet, who gives a shit?

Your employers dont. Your bill collectors dont. The landlord doesn't.

I just go where i want, dress how i will. i suppose some people would catagorize this as "goth" but i don't i'm just me.

what about all of you?

[Panther]

I am stressed. I am tired. I am working on insanity the way a clumsy dancer works on falling. And I am Panther, hear me angst.

I also happen to be a punk/goth/geek/nerd/masochist/dreamer/lay about/homocide waiting to happen (to someone else, if all goes well). However, those things are not me, they are just side effects of what I am.

[winged_dreams]

I like the way you think. I certainly like a lot of gothic things: the music, the barbarians, the architecture, and the pretty clothes but I never call myself goth. I don't see any point. I'm too eccentric for one label. I'm just myself. I'm just a happy, loveable, geeky, quirky, hyper girl. *spins*

[Sarkphagos]

*sigh* Everybody knows, if you are truely goth, you don't _call_ yourself goth.
No, but I was under the impression 'goth' was about being different and yourself (and you just happen to naturally to inclined the the darker side of nature). Thus if you label yourself as goth, you are no longer different (and thus not truely goth). Goth should only be a label _others_ give you so often you are forced to admit (very secretly in the depths of one's mind) that perhaps you are... just a little bit.

I've had people call me goth a bit (mostly strangers, I am not even sure why...), but I've only called myself goth once. I needed to explain to a roommate how I was not preppy and I was not punk.... I was at lost for words....

Originally Posted by BoleroBelle

I don't know if i would. i am me. And besides, i'm about to be 23 and i'm far to old to label myself like that anymore. I mean, maybe in high school, identifying yourself that way is important, but when you're out in the real world, working a real job, trying to make real ends meet, who gives a shit?

Your employers dont. Your bill collectors dont. The landlord doesn't.

Actaully, my friends and I had a name for kids at our school who were *sarcasm* Gothic as F***. It was Guppygoth, guppy being a nickname for freshman. We were a little mean to the Freshies, but we really did love them.

[Disfunction]

I'm a pelican. So... I think we all know where I'm going with that one.

[Solumina]

a pelican? I'm confused

[MrMaelstrom]

No doll, it ain't starting to become a cliché. It IS a cliché.

If we all had a buck for everytime that question is asked we could all go for a weekend drinking binge on that money alone, at NYC prices.

I might be dramatizing a bit, but we could all go for a happy meal to say the least.

[MrMaelstrom]

scabbed off http://www.gothicrevue.com

Funny and true enough:

Gothic Commandments

Thou shalt wear black. Thou shalt wear black and thou shalt fucking dye thy hair and shine thy boots and wear heavy makeup. This law is immutable.

Thou shalt like Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children, Cinema Strange, Sisters of Mercy and the Cure's first three or four albums, or thou art a fucking poser.

Thou shalt fight like a motherfucker when confronted, for thou art scarey and mean.

Thou shalt not be afraid of the dark, nor of graveyards nor ghosts nor the devil, for thou art scarey and mean.

Thou shalt read Byron, Poe and Poppy Z. Brite. Thou shalt not just buy the books because they look good on thy bookshelf, thou shalt fucking well read them.

Thou shalt not pretend to be a vampire, particularly when thou art in highschool, for that is fucking gheye.

Thou shalt seek an 'alternative religion', no matter how wacky, and thou shalt practise it. Thou shalt not give two shits if another bad-mouths said 'alternative religion' for thou art not just scary and mean, but thou art fucked-in-the-head as well.

Thou shalt not wear pink nor yellow, except as accents or in a sarcastic fashion.

Thou shalt wear fishnet. This law is immutable.

Thou shalt not wear off-the-rack outfits or thou art a fucking poser.

Thou shalt not nitpick over "types" of goth nor waste webspace defining said, or thou art a fucking loser.

Thou shalt support thy local scene and contribute to thy subculture or thou shalt not fucking whinge about it.

Thou shalt aquaint thyself with the history of the modern gothic subculture.

Thou shalt eschew 80s cock-rock hair bands. Though shalt not wear clothing by Lip-Service because Lip-Service designed clothing for shitty hair-metal bands like Poison and is therefore not a goth label.

Thou shalt eschew crappy glam-metal bands from the 1980s and anything that ever had anything to do with them, like Lip-Service. Guns N' Roses, on the other hand, art technically a punk band and therefore OK.

Thou shalt not complain about thy local scene and then proceed to neither do anything about it nor move to another. Thou shalt not move to a different local scene and then bitch about how "it was so much better over there" and then proceed to not do something better where thou livest.

Thou shalt not confuse the Victorian Neo-Gothic fashion movement with the Gothic Subculture or thou shalt be deemed "a dumbass."

Thou shalt not whinge about how much goth sucks, or thou canst fucking start thine own subculture & get the fuck out of ours.

Thou shalt smoke kretek -- not 'clove cigarettes', but kretek. Thou shalt call said smokey- treats 'kretek' and thou shalt like it. If thou hasn't the lungs to smoke kretek, thou shalt smoke Marlboros because Nik Fiend does or Lucky Strikes for the Poppy Z Brite reference.

Thou shalt not appear to all intents and purposes to be a goth and then claim not to be.

Thou shalt be a cat-person, or at least pretend to be. Thou shalt not, however, pretend to be a were-cat, for that is fucking gheye.

Thou shalt watch cheesy horror-movies from the 1950s and thou shalt like it. Thou shalt watch silent horror-films and thou shalt like this too.

Thou shalt not feign Transylvanian accents, nor British ones, nor Irish.

Thou shalt not claim to be decended from Gypsies, nor from Visigoths, nor from Celts nor Picts nor Romanians unless thou art, in fact, descended from such.

Thou shalt take bad photos of thinself and loved-ones goofing-off in the local cemetery. Thou shalt post these photographs on thy web-page and not give a shit about what the others say. Thou shalt also, occasionally, take *good* photos of thyeself and loved-ones in the cemetery and thou shalt be very proud of these photos.

Thou shalt play regularly in abandoned buildings, especially abandoned churches and cathedrals and thou shalt like it. Thou shalt also recognise the difference between a church and a cathedral or thou art a poseur.

Thou shalt recognise the historical importance, to the scene, the names "Johnny Slut", "Rozz Williams", "Nik Fiend", "Peter Murphy", "Siouxsie Sioux", "Robert smith" & "sexbat". Failure to recognise historical importance of these names or thou shall admit ignorance of the scene and proceed to do some research.

Thou shalt drink things which taste like aniseed, and thou shalt like it, or thou shalt drink whiskey. If thou drinkest whiskey thou shalt drink it straight and aquiant thyself with the history and particulars of whiskey. Thou shalt also be able to tell the differences, by taste, between American, Scotch and Irish whiskeys, or between Ouzo, Absinthe and Sambuca.

Thou shalt know what the Batcave and Slimelight were.

Thou shalt feel a deep connection with Ministry's "Every Day is Halloween".

Thou shalt also not be ignorant of Ministry's roots, nor of their development.

Thou shalt recognise Cryptie's HomePage as a cleverly constructed humour site or thou hast a big giant stick up ye olde arse.

Thou shalt recognise "Gothic ******"s a Japanese fashion-movement having no real connections to Goth as a subculture. Thou shalt recognise Japanese visual-rock or "visual kei" as being musical performance art and thou shalt not confuse it with something remotely connected to Goth, as a subculture.

Thou shalt not be mopey, nor sucicidal, nor shalt thou murder thy classmates, or thou art a jerk.

Thou shalt recognise the difference between a "movement" and a "subculture" and be able to explain these fine-points if confronted.

Thou shalt understand the finer points of backcombing, and thou shalt backcomb.

Thou shalt not mistake 80s pop-culture for goth, nor shall thou confuse 80s pop music with goth. Thou shalt, on the other hand, like all the gay '80s synth-pop thou pleases, AS LONG AS thou doest NOT claim it to be goth! Thou shalt never never never NEVER claim Synth-Pop to be the be-all and end-all of goth, nor shall you consider it such, nor shall you even believe it to be goth, and thou shalt differentiate between Synth-Pop & Goth.

Thou shalt recognise the difference between being bisexual and merely claiming bisexuality as a means of getting attention. Thou shalt also recognise the differences between being a slut and merely acting slutty for purposes of getting attention.

Thou shalt summarily execute any so-called DJ who can not/will not play Bauhaus at a goth club.

Thou shalt run or work for goth clubs only because thou lovest thy scene passionately, not because thou wishest to be popular. This applies also to stores, magazines, radio programmes, etc.

Thou shalt not claim Sarah Brightman to be a "Goth."

Thou shalt be insular & cliquey towards normals, but thou shalt refrain from backbiting & bitchery within the scene.

Thou shalt not claim to be oldschool if thou art not. Thou shalt not claim to have been a goth longer than thou hast. Thou shalt not claim to have met Trent Reznor unless thou hast, in fact, met Trent Reznor. Thou shalt not claim or pretend to know who Trent Reznor is if thou doest not, and if thou does not, thou art a poser.

Thou shalt recognise the differences between Wicca, neo-paganism, Druidism, Thelema, Qabbalah, Satanism and other occult religions past and present and never shall thou treat these terms as interchangable.

Thou shalt do thy research before thou openest thy gob and speaking about anything. Taking thy friend's word does not count as research.

Thou shalt not bitch and moan about labels such as Lip Service, Cleopatra and Hot Topic and then buy their products anyway.

Thou shalt have a sense of humour about thyself and thy subculture, for really, thou doest looketh like a bit of a dick. Thou shalt know when thou lookest like a dick, and thou shalt laugh about it, for if thou doest not, someone else will.

Thou shalt not claim to suffer from chronic insomnia or other sleep-disorders unless thou truly doest. Thou shalt not claim to suffer from bipolar disorder or another mental illness unless thou truly doest. Thou shalt not claim to be prescribed any medications, past or present, unless thou actually hast been. If thou doest so, very very lame art thee.

Thou shalt not claim to be sensitive to sunlight unless thou truly art. Thou shalt not get thy prescription glasses UV-tinted unless thy was urged to do so by thine optometrist.

Thou shalt not feign disorders, traumas, or angst. Thou shalt not feign nihilism, existentialism, or fatalism. Thou shalt not pretend to be, to have, or to have done anything which thou art not, hast not, or hast never done, or thou art one hell of a poser.

Thou shalt not use "poser" as an insult without genuine grounds to do so.

- Rozzlyn J. Heltir http://www.rozzlyn.net
&

Malice Unsane http://www.maliceunsane.tk


Hope that clears all doubts.

[WolfMoon]

You've got to fucking be kidding me! I come back to a thread like this?

*SMACK*

[MrMaelstrom]

Sucks don't it? And how goth is that, huh?

Just for you, babe....

[WolfMoon]

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts! Or a loverly couple, anyhow.

[MrMaelstrom]

Sure, you've got coconuts, but are they to be carried by an african or european swallow?

And remember it's not a question of where it grips it. It's a matter of weight ratio....

[spookypurple]

Well, according to my friends I'm Goth. But I've never said I am. I don't think I am. I just, you know, like certain stuff...

[spookypurple]

Or the last.

[ElendarSilvermoon]

I've had people ask me "Are you goth?" or "You should do the goth look, makeup and stuff, it'd look good on you." And no doubt, I don't think it would look half bad on me. But "goth"? Why not just "Ben"? Or "elfy", as I have received as my nickname? Something that stands for myself, not something that people have labeled my particular look just for the simple need to put a label on me. But yeah, I don't consider myself goth, my friends just call me elfy, my dad doesn't seem to pay attention, mom says I'm a bit flaky, and my younger brother is just your typical "wanks-himself-to-hearing-his-own-chatter" type person. So yeah, there's really no need for the "goth" label on myself. Hopefully this made a little bit of sense to you all.

[NyQuil of Doom]

Originally Posted by Sarkphagos

*sigh* Everybody knows, if you are truely goth, you don't _call_ yourself goth.
No, but I was under the impression 'goth' was about being different and yourself (and you just happen to naturally to inclined the the darker side of nature). Thus if you label yourself as goth, you are no longer different (and thus not truely goth). Goth should only be a label _others_ give you so often you are forced to admit (very secretly in the depths of one's mind) that perhaps you are... just a little bit.

I've had people call me goth a bit (mostly strangers, I am not even sure why...), but I've only called myself goth once. I needed to explain to a roommate how I was not preppy and I was not punk.... I was at lost for words....



Actaully, my friends and I had a name for kids at our school who were *sarcasm* Gothic as F***. It was Guppygoth, guppy being a nickname for freshman. We were a little mean to the Freshies, but we really did love them.

Hah, you sound like me. Really... I practically could've written this post.

I call myself "unique". Other people call me "goth", "mysterious", "spooky", "weird", etc. As long as I'm fine with who I am, I don't care what they call me (again, as long as they don't call me "ma'am".)

[edible_eye]

yes, ma'am.

[NyQuil of Doom]

I warned you I'd use the thumbnail... could gouge out an eye and see if it really is edible.

[edible_eye]

i tried to refrain... i REALLY, REALLY did - but you made it too easy. plus, i'm drinking and i warned you this might happen.

[NyQuil of Doom]

I can't control The Claw. The Claw pokes on its own. It pokeses out the eyes, it does...

[Faolan]

Why stick to one label when there are oh so many others out their. Besides most people are much more than one thing. Well that's my penny anyways.

[BoleroBelle]

This is exactly what i thought everyone would say.

[MrMaelstrom]

Oh really, now?

Well then:

scabbed off http://www.gothicrevue.com

Funny and true enough:

Gothic Commandments

-Thou shalt wear black. Thou shalt wear black and thou shalt fucking dye thy hair and shine thy boots and wear heavy makeup. This law is immutable.

-Thou shalt like Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children, Cinema Strange, Sisters of Mercy and the Cure's first three or four albums, or thou art a fucking poser.

-Thou shalt fight like a motherfucker when confronted, for thou art scarey and mean.

-Thou shalt not be afraid of the dark, nor of graveyards nor ghosts nor the devil, for thou art scarey and mean.

-Thou shalt read Byron, Poe and Poppy Z. Brite. Thou shalt not just buy the books because they look good on thy bookshelf, thou shalt fucking well read them.

-Thou shalt not pretend to be a vampire, particularly when thou art in highschool, for that is fucking gheye.

-Thou shalt seek an 'alternative religion', no matter how wacky, and thou shalt practise it. Thou shalt not give two shits if another bad-mouths said 'alternative religion' for thou art not just scary and mean, but thou art fucked-in-the-head as well.

-Thou shalt not wear pink nor yellow, except as accents or in a sarcastic fashion.

-Thou shalt wear fishnet. This law is immutable.

-Thou shalt not wear off-the-rack outfits or thou art a fucking poser.

-Thou shalt not nitpick over "types" of goth nor waste webspace defining said, or thou art a fucking loser.

-Thou shalt support thy local scene and contribute to thy subculture or thou shalt not fucking whinge about it.

-Thou shalt aquaint thyself with the history of the modern gothic subculture.

-Thou shalt eschew 80s cock-rock hair bands. Though shalt not wear clothing by Lip-Service because Lip-Service designed clothing for shitty hair-metal bands like Poison and is therefore not a goth label.

-Thou shalt eschew crappy glam-metal bands from the 1980s and anything that ever had anything to do with them, like Lip-Service. Guns N' Roses, on the other hand, art technically a punk band and therefore OK.

-Thou shalt not complain about thy local scene and then proceed to neither do anything about it nor move to another. Thou shalt not move to a different local scene and then bitch about how "it was so much better over there" and then proceed to not do something better where thou livest.

-Thou shalt not confuse the Victorian Neo-Gothic fashion movement with the Gothic Subculture or thou shalt be deemed "a dumbass."

-Thou shalt not whinge about how much goth sucks, or thou canst fucking start thine own subculture & get the fuck out of ours.

-Thou shalt smoke kretek -- not 'clove cigarettes', but kretek. Thou shalt call said smokey- treats 'kretek' and thou shalt like it. If thou hasn't the lungs to smoke kretek, thou shalt smoke Marlboros because Nik Fiend does or Lucky Strikes for the Poppy Z Brite reference.

-Thou shalt not appear to all intents and purposes to be a goth and then claim not to be.

-Thou shalt be a cat-person, or at least pretend to be. Thou shalt not, however, pretend to be a were-cat, for that is fucking gheye.

-Thou shalt watch cheesy horror-movies from the 1950s and thou shalt like it. Thou shalt watch silent horror-films and thou shalt like this too.

-Thou shalt not feign Transylvanian accents, nor British ones, nor Irish.

-Thou shalt not claim to be decended from Gypsies, nor from Visigoths, nor from Celts nor Picts nor Romanians unless thou art, in fact, descended from such.

-Thou shalt take bad photos of thinself and loved-ones goofing-off in the local cemetery. Thou shalt post these photographs on thy web-page and not give a shit about what the others say. Thou shalt also, occasionally, take *good* photos of thyeself and loved-ones in the cemetery and thou shalt be very proud of these photos.

-Thou shalt play regularly in abandoned buildings, especially abandoned churches and cathedrals and thou shalt like it. Thou shalt also recognise the difference between a church and a cathedral or thou art a poseur.

-Thou shalt recognise the historical importance, to the scene, the names "Johnny Slut", "Rozz Williams", "Nik Fiend", "Peter Murphy", "Siouxsie Sioux", "Robert smith" & "sexbat". Failure to recognise historical importance of these names or thou shall admit ignorance of the scene and proceed to do some research.

-Thou shalt drink things which taste like aniseed, and thou shalt like it, or thou shalt drink whiskey. If thou drinkest whiskey thou shalt drink it straight and aquiant thyself with the history and particulars of whiskey. Thou shalt also be able to tell the differences, by taste, between American, Scotch and Irish whiskeys, or between Ouzo, Absinthe and Sambuca.

-Thou shalt know what the Batcave and Slimelight were.

-Thou shalt feel a deep connection with Ministry's "Every Day is Halloween".

-Thou shalt also not be ignorant of Ministry's roots, nor of their development.

-Thou shalt recognise Cryptie's HomePage as a cleverly constructed humour site or thou hast a big giant stick up ye olde arse.

-Thou shalt recognise "Gothic ******"s a Japanese fashion-movement having no real connections to Goth as a subculture. Thou shalt recognise Japanese visual-rock or "visual kei" as being musical performance art and thou shalt not confuse it with something remotely connected to Goth, as a subculture.

-Thou shalt not be mopey, nor sucicidal, nor shalt thou murder thy classmates, or thou art a jerk.

-Thou shalt recognise the difference between a "movement" and a "subculture" and be able to explain these fine-points if confronted.

-Thou shalt understand the finer points of backcombing, and thou shalt backcomb.

-Thou shalt not mistake 80s pop-culture for goth, nor shall thou confuse 80s pop music with goth. Thou shalt, on the other hand, like all the gay '80s synth-pop thou pleases, AS LONG AS thou doest NOT claim it to be goth!

-Thou shalt never never never NEVER claim Synth-Pop to be the be-all and end-all of goth, nor shall you consider it such, nor shall you even believe it to be goth, and thou shalt differentiate between Synth-Pop & Goth.

-Thou shalt recognise the difference between being bisexual and merely claiming bisexuality as a means of getting attention. Thou shalt also recognise the differences between being a slut and merely acting slutty for purposes of getting attention.

-Thou shalt summarily execute any so-called DJ who can not/will not play Bauhaus at a goth club.

-Thou shalt run or work for goth clubs only because thou lovest thy scene passionately, not because thou wishest to be popular. This applies also to stores, magazines, radio programmes, etc.

-Thou shalt not claim Sarah Brightman to be a "Goth."

-Thou shalt be insular & cliquey towards normals, but thou shalt refrain from backbiting & bitchery within the scene.

-Thou shalt not claim to be oldschool if thou art not. Thou shalt not claim to have been a goth longer than thou hast. Thou shalt not claim to have met Trent Reznor unless thou hast, in fact, met Trent Reznor. Thou shalt not claim or pretend to know who Trent Reznor is if thou doest not, and if thou does not, thou art a poser.

-Thou shalt recognise the differences between Wicca, neo-paganism, Druidism, Thelema, Qabbalah, Satanism and other occult religions past and present and never shall thou treat these terms as interchangable.

-Thou shalt do thy research before thou openest thy gob and speaking about anything. Taking thy friend's word does not count as research.

-Thou shalt not bitch and moan about labels such as Lip Service, Cleopatra and Hot Topic and then buy their products anyway.

-Thou shalt have a sense of humour about thyself and thy subculture, for really, thou doest looketh like a bit of a dick. Thou shalt know when thou lookest like a dick, and thou shalt laugh about it, for if thou doest not, someone else will.

-Thou shalt not claim to suffer from chronic insomnia or other sleep-disorders unless thou truly doest. Thou shalt not claim to suffer from bipolar disorder or another mental illness unless thou truly doest. Thou shalt not claim to be prescribed any medications, past or present, unless thou actually hast been. If thou doest so, very very lame art thee.

-Thou shalt not claim to be sensitive to sunlight unless thou truly art. Thou shalt not get thy prescription glasses UV-tinted unless thy was urged to do so by thine optometrist.

-Thou shalt not feign disorders, traumas, or angst. Thou shalt not feign nihilism, existentialism, or fatalism. Thou shalt not pretend to be, to have, or to have done anything which thou art not, hast not, or hast never done, or thou art one hell of a poser.

-Thou shalt not use "poser" as an insult without genuine grounds to do so.


by:
- Rozzlyn J. Heltir http://www.rozzlyn.net & Malice Unsane http://www.maliceunsane.tk



Sorry, but I just hate that "You're a goth no matter what you do, wear or like just as long as you want to be a goth" attitude. It sucketh.

[Selena]

.... I don't have photos of me at a cemetery.

OH GODS! I'M A POSER! *kills herself*

[Peter]

A lot of those make a lot of sense. On the other hand, I don't know why people go on about it so much.

I am a goth by the way.