Difficult Situations Arising Out Of Being Goth

[Edward Strange]

Evenin' all.

I am going to presume this topic/question/questiontopic has been discussed several times before.
But I scootched back 3 pages and couldn't see anything similar to what I am about to write.

So here it goes!

A part of being 'goth' seems to involve alot of woe from your average Joe on the street.
They shout and scream abuse, throw rock/bottles/bottlerocks, give funny looks and whisper snide comments.

I remeber when I used to have painted nails (back in my 'posuergoth' years) my great big fat f*ck of a deputy manager had a big rant at me, calling me gay and lots of other nasty things that made me raher upset at the time.

True, I had no problem with his insults, if anything it exposed his black heart and general idiocy, which is a good thing. I suppose.
But to be fair, he did go into that job when he was 16 and is now in the latter half of middle age and is bald and fat. And he has only risen to deputy manager.

Anyway, we all love a good sob story, so I wondering if anyone felt like sharing how their 'goth factor' had gotten them trouble from the uneducated masses?
At work, on the street... Etc etc.

Hatred in school is taken as a given, children are evil, after all.

[Draconysius]

Yep, our self-expressing fashion tends to be our biggest problem.

In my baby bat days, when I had just shelled out 80$ on a pair of Tripp bondage pants, my dad would absolutely flip if he caught me in them. I had to wait until he was asleep to put them on and head out.
One time, I was going to the movies with my cousin and I was going to wear my trench coat, but my dad wouldn't have it. I snuck out with it and when I got back, he was standing there to bitch at me for wearing it. I came so close to just running away right then. Ahh, teen angst.

Lately of course, I've been getting all kinds of rude comments, glares, and snickers behind my back. No one seems to have the balls to laugh in my face. I must be doing something right. Hahaha!

[Edward Strange]

Aaah, I had the trouser problem too. But mine had chains, so they were... Well... Loud when I was on the go. So I had the novel experience of trying to walk quietly.

'Rents like to make SS jokes about my trenchcoat and jackboots, it's nothing bad though and I know they mean it in good humour. It's just a bit bothersome a times...

I don't suppose you get cross eyed people asking you "are you a goff?" any longer do you?

[DeathChii]

Really? I usually get comments aaaaaaall the time about my clothes. From teachers, students, random people on the streets, friends of my parents...etc [of course, not from my OWN parents... oh... and hardcore christians XD;] Everyone is so interested in my style, and are very drawn to it. Even the ignorant people who are like "Are you goth? You're wearing black!" Still aren't MEAN about it. x]
I mean I do get rude looks sometimes, but the good outways the bad and the amount of compliments and interest I get is ... a lot xD

[Clockwork]

Same here; I get more compliments on my wardrobe and questions about how I do my hair than I receive insults. There's about two people that seem to have a problem with the way I look, and they express their opinions quite often. They're just random kids at school, however, so I shrug it off.

Aside from that, I get an occasion drive-by shout out, which I can never discern anyway.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Same here. Excluding my parents, I think there has only been one time when someone reacted in a negative way for my looks. Listen carefully because it's hilarious:

I was all in black and it was one of the few days I accepted to wear (good) make-up as in eyeliner and stuff. I was in a store with two friends, and a little kid was looking at me next to his mother. I smiled at him and the kid was beginning to walk towards me when suddenly his mother pulled him back and she stepped between us.
I lol'd.

[Don't Look Behind You]

oooo...kidie stories!
I also have one:
Your Humbla Narrator was walking down the street one Saturday evening. A little twirpy kiddie walked up to me and after staring at me for like 5 minutes ( I was kinda shocked and stared back) said
"are you a vampire?"
I was in a good mood so: "Nah, just a normal satanist..."
As I walked aways i saw the mom come running out of a store around the corner a grabbing her twirpy little child as if it was almost been run over by a truck.

Such things make me laugh.

Otherwise, I get nasty looks from preppy propper Austrian old ladies and apart from that only complements for my original and elegant style.
I once had a teacher inform me that i had terrible influence on the class, but i really don't know if that was becuase of the looks....

[psyches_reflection]

I think the worst stuff I get these days is from the Emo's, because you're not allowed to be different unless you're different in exactly the same way they are *rolls eyes* pardon me for not having a giant bleeding heart tattooed on my tits.

My Dad was always fine with how I dress, though it does concern him how other people will treat me. I think he's just glad neither of his daughters turned into skimpy-skirts-and-boob-tubes girls. My mother will make sly digs at every oppurtunity - she once invited me out to the pub, and when she came round to pick me up, I wasn't finished getting ready. While I finished doing my make-up, she sat there watching me going on and on about how I'll grow out of it sometime and stop making myself look "even worse than you do already". Nice woman, my mum.

The absolute worst I ever got was in school - I was pushed down two flights of stairs for the crime of wearing all black. The school uniform.

[bleedingheart344]

Well, I was walking in the mall yesterday and a mother was walking with her four kids, everything was normal until they were about to walk by me, when she saw me she made her kids hold hands until they passed me.

[Edward Strange]

Ah, well I stand corrected, perhap it isn't all doom and gloom after all! This is all rather pleasant and jolly really.

Perhaps I should change the topic name to something more appropriate?

Anyway, yeah, I haven't really had people giving me evils about my clothes of late.
I used to get it quite a bit back in my posuergoth days of dire fashion blunders...
I think the only negitive comment I hear now is people saying about the matrix (it's the trenchcoat).
Oh, and Dracula, when I wear my -other- trenchcoat.

But, yes, this is all rather nice, reminds me of when I got talking to an old gent in a bookshop, he liked me gloves... Heh.

Anyway, loving the tales of terror so far, please keep them coming!

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Edward Strange

Evenin' all.

I am going to presume this topic/question/questiontopic has been discussed several times before.
But I scootched back 3 pages and couldn't see anything similar to what I am about to write.

So here it goes!

A part of being 'goth' seems to involve alot of woe from your average Joe on the street.
They shout and scream abuse, throw rock/bottles/bottlerocks, give funny looks and whisper snide comments.

I remeber when I used to have painted nails (back in my 'posuergoth' years) my great big fat f*ck of a deputy manager had a big rant at me, calling me gay and lots of other nasty things that made me raher upset at the time.

True, I had no problem with his insults, if anything it exposed his black heart and general idiocy, which is a good thing. I suppose.
But to be fair, he did go into that job when he was 16 and is now in the latter half of middle age and is bald and fat. And he has only risen to deputy manager.

Anyway, we all love a good sob story, so I wondering if anyone felt like sharing how their 'goth factor' had gotten them trouble from the uneducated masses?
At work, on the street... Etc etc.

Hatred in school is taken as a given, children are evil, after all.

Are you sure it wasn't something against you, personally?

[Methadrine]

I've had people to the cross sign in front of them when I walked by, but that was in my earlier days when I wore makeup and more shiny things, and a big, black hat. They supposedly thought I was the devil or something. Oh, and just as Edward says, a "the matrix" comment or two when I wear one of my longer leathercoats.

Nowadays a friendly nod from someone you meet downtown with the same taste is more likely, or the funny little emo-girls who sometime stare so hard that they fail to avoid lampposts and walls and other things Man was not design to pass through, but around.

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Methadrine

I've had people to the cross sign in front of them when I walked by, but that was in my earlier days when I wore makeup and more shiny things, and a big, black hat. They supposedly thought I was the devil or something.

That's always fun. It's even more fun when you stare at them as if they have two heads and make the sign of the cross first.

[Cicero]

Compliments far outweigh the negative reactions for me. I think the worst I ever got was someone shouting "GOTHS!" out of a car window once, but that was when I was walking with a group of friends who were looking far more stereotypically gothic than I was at the time. And as far as I know 'goths' isn't exactly an insult. It just wasn't said very nicely, that's all.

[Beneath the Shadows]

That's all they yelled? That's quite amusing.

[Methadrine]

That's when you look all surprised and exlaim: eep! Where?!

[DarkRevalations]

i get alot of rude comments, especialy since im in a boarding school, every one says that im a suicidal freak emo, and gives me dirty looks, but i try to ignore it, though, it does get a little annoying , but i guess the true test of someones enthusiasm to what they beleave in is tested by others giving them a hard time, and i have never denied being a goth to anyone, no matter how imposing they are ^-^

[Your Darkest Secret]

My dad hates my long velvet skirts - not sure why. He keeps asking me where I park my broomstick. His twin brother tries to order me a vat of blood every time we go out for a family meal. And one of my aunts - who has something against trenchcoats - always answers the door with an exclamation of 'Oh my God, I thought it was the Grim Reaper!'
Ha bloody ha.

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Your Darkest Secret

My dad hates my long velvet skirts - not sure why. He keeps asking me where I park my broomstick. His twin brother tries to order me a vat of blood every time we go out for a family meal. And one of my aunts - who has something against trenchcoats - always answers the door with an exclamation of 'Oh my God, I thought it was the Grim Reaper!'
Ha bloody ha.

Well, that's when you have to come up with your own snide comments. You father asks where you park you broom? Next to his ouijia board, of course. Your brother orders you a vat of blood? Well, better than the human heart that you order for him! You aunt wants to know where the Grim Reaper is? Tell her that you'll be at her house soon. (Those are suggestions, of course.)

[Your Darkest Secret]

Originally Posted by Beneath the Shadows

Well, that's when you have to come up with your own snide comments. You father asks where you park you broom? Next to his ouijia board, of course. Your brother orders you a vat of blood? Well, better than the human heart that you order for him! You aunt wants to know where the Grim Reaper is? Tell her that you'll be at her house soon. (Those are suggestions, of course.)

Thanks.
I think the best one was probably from my grandad. Admittedly he caught me on an off day - baggy Grim Reaper hoodie, black jeans and my giant black furry slippers with PVC claws.
He said, 'you'll never get ra.pe.d looking like that.'
What the hell do I say to that? 'Uh... thank God?!'

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Your Darkest Secret

Thanks.
I think the best one was probably from my grandad. Admittedly he caught me on an off day - baggy Grim Reaper hoodie, black jeans and my giant black furry slippers with PVC claws.
He said, 'you'll never get ra.pe.d looking like that.'
What the hell do I say to that? 'Uh... thank God?!'

I would've said, "Good, I don't like you anyway."

[Minyaliel]

YDS - actually, I find that rather amusing... (self edit - seems there's been a few posts in between - I was talking about your aunt's comment)

I've had people shun me in my babybat phase. I believe this might be mostly due to the shock of seeing the then hippie/ bohemian- like me suddenly start wearing all black for two years straight.

I once walked into a second- hand store (I guess this might've been around this February or something) and it seems that I scared the living hell out of one of the guys working there. As I walked out I heard some other staff saying to him "she's going now, you can come out, it's okay". I haven't entered the shop since - I don't dare, in case I scare them again...

Apart from that, sure, I've gotten a few stares and people's eyes almost popping out when I pass; also exclamations like "Oh my god", "Holy hell" and questions whether I'm in the metal scene and similar are so frequent that I almost am surprised when I don't get any reactions at all. Still, it's the positive feedback that's the most frequent - elderly ladies seem to like my outfits when I dress up in ladylike historical styles, tourists take pictures with me and I usually get compliments on my clothes and make-up from ordinary people when I pass by or sit in the park watching the fountain. And the kids love me, especially when I wear sparkly things like spiked chockers and so on. Heh. I've only once heard people shouting "goth" or "emo" after me. I think most people here still don't know what that is, and rather confuse goth with the metal scene.

[Your Darkest Secret]

Originally Posted by Minyaliel

YDS - actually, I find that rather amusing...

She calls me 'her little Black Death'.
I worry about my family's sanity.

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Your Darkest Secret

She calls me 'her little Black Death'.
I worry about my family's sanity.

Maybe you should start treating them like the load of freaks. If they actually ask you why, you can simply (and honestly) point out the fact that they are the ones always talking about morbid crap. Like parking brooms, and Grim Reapers, and shit like that.

[Your Darkest Secret]

Originally Posted by Beneath the Shadows

Maybe you should start treating them like the load of freaks. If they actually ask you why, you can simply (and honestly) point out the fact that they are the ones always talking about morbid crap. Like parking brooms, and Grim Reapers, and shit like that.

It's kinda funny though. My mum goes all fierce and starts sticking up for me. But yeah, good plan. I likey.