Head Splodeys

What part of "NOTagoth" didn't you understand?
2001-04-25 - 3:12 a.m.

::sigh:: Y'know, I swore to myself I wasn't going to get into any more discussions/debates/rants about what is and is not "goth". I swore this shortly after I got in a flame war over whether or not Marilyn Manson was derivative of Bowie (random spooky kid: "Well, I don't really know anything about David Bowie, but Marilyn Manson ISN'T COPYING HIM!!!!"), & after a 15 year old on a different mailing list told me that the "gothic movement" wasn't about music or fashion at all... it was actually a way of life that started in the middle ages.

Right. It was about that time that I mentally threw up my hands in resignation, unsubbed from all of the random "gothic" mailing lists (except for a couple band-specific & local ones), & started proclaiming myself to be emphatically NOT a goth, if someone asked (if nobody asks, my gothness or lack thereof never enters a conversation).

The problem with the ongoing "what is goth" debate, is that "goth" has meant many different things to many different people, all of whom think they're the only ones who have it right. The problem that I have with "correctly" identifying "goths" is that I define "goth" differently than the current pop-culture majority seems to. For further information, check out the "Brief History of the Gothic Movement" on the Study of Gothic Subculture website (which, BTW, is overall an excellent source of "what is/is not gothic" information. I don't agree with all of it (I doubt anyone does), but it's one of the most thorough, unbiased, & as-factual-as-possible sites I've seen dealing with the gothic subculture geared toward "outsiders").

Basically, I am (or was) a late second-gen "goth", who relates quite firmly w/ the first & second gen goths, thank-you-very-much. "Goth" is almost impossible to define, but you know it when you see it. "Goth" actually doesn't give a rat's ass whether something is "goth" or not. "Goth" just likes what it likes, & occaisionally notices other people who happen to like similar things, & starts hanging out with them. "Goth" is not about being angry, or sad, or cutting yourself, or thinking you're a vampire, or shopping at snHot Topic, or wearing the blackest black, the poofiest poet shirt, or the most expensive corset. Some "goths" may indulge in some or all of the above, but that's not what makes them gothic.

You don't wake up one day and decide "I think I'll be a goth" & go out & buy a new wardrobe of black lace & velvet, & start wearing tediously bad makeup. You don't ask other people how to be "more gothic" or "look more like a goth". You just are, or you are not. You might become, but it's generally a gradual process, & should give the casual observer the impression that you are becoming more truly yourself, not just wearing a costume because you think it's cool.

Finally, "goth" has a sense of history. You may not much like or often listen to Bauhaus, March Violets, Death in June, Christian Death, Fields of the Nephilim, The Mission UK, Alien Sex Fiend, ad infinitum, but "goths" should be at least aware that these bands exist(ed), & can probably at least pick out one or 2 of their more popular songs if they're played in a club.

This is the way I define "gothic". This is not what most people seem to mean when they say "gothic" now. In my experience, when you find first or second gen "goths"... the ones who typify what "gothic" means, in my eyes... they are the ones who will tell you they are not goths. Words mean what the majority of people using them think they mean, & the original "goths" are tired of being identified with 12 year olds with greasy, natural-colored hair, bad clown makeup, & vinyl hotpants, barking & claiming to be a real sp00ky vampire on Jenny Jones.

These disenfranchised people who once-were-goths and the people who never really identified themselves as gothic, but lurk about in & around the goth scene & are probably mistaken for goths by Joe Average are who I had in mind when I created my NotAGoth diaryring.

Note that "NotAGoth" does not equal "not a goth". There are plenty of webrings out there for people who aren't gothic, never were gothic, and could never really be mistaken for a goth. The NotAGoth diaryring is also not a place for people who feel they match the currently-held majority view of "goth".

And no, I'm not going to start saying who specifically is or is not fit for my diaryring. You know better than I if you're really notagoth. However, I can't fathom how you could possibly be both goth & notagoth simultaneously. If you're currently a member of the "gothic-ones" diaryring, you can't be a member of NotAGoth. I'm sorry if you think this is snobbish & elitist, but if I was running, say, a vegetarian webring, I wouldn't allow members of an "Ilovemeat" webring to join, either.

[If you sincerely think that you are genuinely both a goth & notagoth, & *really* want to be a member of both rings, send me an email briefly explaining your duality. If you make sense, you can stay. I am a benevolent dictator.]

Give a Clix, if you please.

midi lives in gloomcounty
midi came from Ravenswood Manor