Okay, folks, this is all thanks to the goth cruise documentary and it brought to mind that somehow, people still think that goth= devil worship. I'm a goth inside, we are allowed to smile, basically goth tells people the wrong message, which is really stupid, since most people who assume devil worship are well old enough to know better than to jump to conclusions.
Goth is, in essence, non-conformity, it's telling the popular people, the pretty people, and all the people that would snub their noses at someone who isn't a mindless drone, to go fuck themselves. There are so many kinds of "Goth" that I can't remember them all. People assume automatically that being goth means you are either a freak, or you're depressed, because of the colors you wear and how much you apparently don't care. Goths are very caring people who just want to see the world from their point of view, be it artistic, geeky, or anything that isn't considered "Cool". Despite the dark clothing, and the dark make-up, they tend to be beautiful in their own way. They're extroverts, plain and simple, that want their world to be better, my husband, in the past, has referred to them as the new hippies. They want a different world, where self expression isn't hindered by how cool you are, or how much your parents can spend on plastic surgery, cars and clothes before you turn eighteen. I had the parents that automatically assumed that I was worshipping satan, that I was in a cult, in fact, my poor sister has to deal with my dad, because he happened to go to the mall one day and saw her with all of her friends from their group, the New Org (referring to Organization XIII from the Kingdom Hearts game) all dressed up in their New Org coats, much like the ones from the game, he automatically assumed she was in a cult, he never considered asking her what they were doing, but now he does understand because she sat him down and explained it very carefully that she was only in a gaming group. A lot of gamers and "Computer nerds" are goth, they just don't feel accepted by the world around them, so they gravitate toward each other, for music, for the clothes, for things that make them different, because they can find comraderie, and friendship in the darkest times of their lives, because their friends were there to be with them, unfortunately, since I was in high school, goth turned into a fad, and stupid preppy bitches decided to turn it into things like cheerleading outfits. We tried to be different, and be ourselves, and suddenly, a bunch of preppy brats that didn't know what the hell they wanted, started a fad with it. Goth is NOT a fad, or a phase, it's a way of being, it's being happy in your own little way, it's not having to be rich, but making the best out of stuff going on, with the most awesome support system you can find, you don't have to be a twig to be considered beautiful, you can have all the curves you want, and the best part, if you're broke, then they can help, I remember friends who would do the most awesome stuff for me, when I had only a blanket to keep me warm on a cold day like today(and yes it does get cold in this part of florida) and I was suddenly huddled with others trying to keep me warm, putting coats on me, general acts of kindness, now you parents with children in each group, prep and goth, which one do you think would me more likely to heap their coat onto someone else because that other person has no coat on and thought it would be warmer as the day went on?
I'm not saying that all preps are bad people, but they do tend to be full of themselves, if we called names within our group, it was all in fun, and nothing was taken seriously. We were actually fun loving, hell I'd skip school and go swimming with my little group, all of my best friends were goth in high school, and we're still friends today, no pretense, no "OOOH WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? UGH GO GET YOUR MONEY BACK!" We didn't have to wear the latest fashions, we could be queens of the clearance rack and be flamboyant and beautiful. I'm a big girl, and finding my niche in the world was hard until I met my group of friends, where I fell in and out of love, without the alienation, or the "If they break up who's side are you gonna be on?" And talk about freaking people out, we were all in JROTC, because we all thought about joining the military, we all changed our minds but a couple of us, but we did go to our JROTC class until our teacher turned into a big sexist and we all walked out, and never looked back. It's no secret to anybody who knows me or bothers to ask, I'm bi, and he didn't like that, so he tried to tell me I was a problem student, at which point I set him painfully straight, I didn't hit him or anything of the sort, but I did hurt his ego, by pointing out his flaws as a person. We did basically what we were supposed to do, and most of us went to college, me not being one of them, since I decided to stay home with my kids... well, kid at the time. We've branched out alot, moved away, then moved back, but they are still the truest friends I have ever had.
Okay, I veered way off topic here, ok, back to what I'm supposed to be saying, goth isn't the clothes or the makeup, well not all of it, some people that were goth in our group were completely normal looking, we couldn't afford a lot of the stuff that went with it. I basically had a normal wardrobe and purple streaked hair, I wasn't considered pretty to a lot of the people.
Goth is changing your attitude, and listening to your music. Not changing your look, but most do, from changing your clothes to changing your entire lifestyle. Goths are not really people to be feared, we just don't want to be like you, the normals, that don't want to be as extroverted and stressed over the stupid stuff, we want to stay kids, and play dress up, and goof off, and don't want to be the same as everyone around us in this cookie cutter world. We want the bedroom reminiscent of Dracula and Elvira, or we want Nightmare Before Christmas all over our homes because, hey, Jack Skellington rocks!!! We don't want to be you, and part of the silly normal world where nothing should be different about you, you should wear the latest in fashion and you should dress a certain way and god help if you change your hair to anything but the latest in style. We are different, that's what categorizes us as "Goth" and not, "Prep" or some other group that really has no business labeling people. We're normal, most of us, aside from the way we dress, and you shouldn't choose to alienate a group of people just because they're different from you, goths have been around longer than you might think, defying the stereotype, and not conforming to your normal world, we are different in some way or another, and that makes us happy, instead of trying to get to a size two, we flaunt our gorgeous cleavage and poke our pudge and giggle, instead of worrying about how our hair looks, we let it go and call it grunge, though that's more punk than goth. We are different and instead of dreading leaving our houses in the morning because of it to go to school, to go to work, or anything of the sort, we own it, we love to be different and challenge the social norm, to see how far society will let us go with it. Uniforms in school were a cool thing when I was a kid until I realized that it squashes self-expression in it's purest form. So what if we have tattoos and piercings and weird colors for hair, we're not you, we don't have to be. So instead of cowering in fear, go up, talk to one, you might think differently at the end of the conversation.
So, to recap, goth is a form of self-expression, we do NOT worship satan, well not all of us, we are happy with ourselves, and we listen to what we want, and we aren't afraid to be ourselves, we know how to behave in public, and we know how to be more refined and dignified than more cheerleaders. Most of us don't end up pregnant, I did, but it was a choice, not an accident. I could've given up my kids for adoption if the idea struck me hard enough, but then I realized, I'm goth, not a bitch, and I do love my kids. We aren't just like you, get over it and go about your day. Thank you, and have a nice day.
