The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I've noticed lately that more and more people are joining the gothic community (or trying to at least). Now while many of these people are simply calling themselves "goth" and dressing the part for whatever reason, I can't help but wonder; why the sudden increase in interest?

I'd like to hear feedback and opinions please :)

unfortuneatly much like bell bottoms and penny loafers goth is the new in thing these little 14 and 15 year olds who are angry because they live in the subburbs and their parents don't "get them". just makes me so angry. they do this to get attention. the young are so ignorant it hurts

the only in this world that is constant, is CHANGE... so does people who alters their interests... if they were classy or elite people before, and have funky friends, they have the tendency to be influenced by the people around them..

and if there are a few goth population before, maybe because more people are afraid to get out of their closets and tell the world that they are gothic, maybe because of family values or other matters...

but today, people are so independent and brave enough to reveal what they are... thats why the gothic population continues to increase. aren't you happy with it?

Its because of the media- how advertised its becoming.
People are looking for a way to 'rebel' and they think thats it.
And bands aren't helping the situation either..

in regards to what alysander said; LOL i hate it when you hear kids whine about there lives and then you see their houses and their new cars and hear about their shopping sprees, and that's not to say that their families aren't screwed up, but the entire time i'm thinking,"oh yeah. it must have been soooo hard to with all of that upper-middle class oppression."

to live*

I would have to agree with Alysander and Illuminata. The younger generation feel that they need to scare or surprise their parents by taking on the *Goth* trend and many people now days are brave enough to show their true inner self to everyone.

indeed. i consider myself to be alternative, but just walking down the street, you wouldn't know it. i have a regular job, i don't cut myself or go around killing people and i certainly don't act the way i do to make my parents mad. it's annoying how many kids do.

As far as the teen generation goes look at all the *hot* bands right now: AFI, My chemical romance...etc. There images are gothic and there music can be dark or vampiric at times. And people tend to connect with what they like. Bands like that didn't used to be so popular and there image wasn't always so goth but now they are, there huge acts and they have a major following.

And goth has become the new in thing for everyone...britney spears purchased a coffin couch from coffin furniture. The Osbournes have the same couch...and many other celebrity's have been buying stuff like that. "Connecting with death" is what one magazine had to say about it and it's become something many celebs are doing with all kinds of expensive gothic furniture.

But all fads die hard...and those few left willing to endure the "thats so yesterday" will have the satisfaction of knowing it was never just a fad for them. ;)=

why the increase in goth culture? coz people realised there's money in it. there has been a gothic subculture for years, but movie makers like Tim Burton popularised it, and helped create a growing niche market - everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon, and the fashion rebels suddenly became the fashion gurus. what was considered a weird little group is now considered trendy.

OR MAYBE, PEOPLE (WITHOUT ADMITTING IT) ARE AFRAID WITH DEATH AND SUFFERING, BUT THROUGH CONNECTING WITH THE IDEA OF DEATH, THEY SHOW PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE FEARLESS ENOUGH TO FACE DEATH...

Goth tends to have the life cycle of a phoenix... It starts small, it gets big, then too big then it burns itself out.. and from there ashes rises a cute little baby subculture, ready to do it all over again..

*agrees with Sevenn* You'd have to see the view from up here being in the 30ish 40ish age group...

And, you know- who is anyone to say someone else doesn't belong? There is no panel of judges or initiation required. You are what you are.

'Goth' does seem to be a trend at the minute. Has anyone else noticed how loads of tv programmes have a 'token goth' in them? I was watching the new series of 'ER' just recently and a little girl was dressing up gothy and there was A.F.I playing on the radio...
Hmmm I think fakers are irritating but don't think it matters too much, because those of us who genuinely like the alternative lifestyle will still be here when the trendies have left...

What's a 'faker' anyway? If someone is into something- who's to say they aren't? If you dig it, you dig it.

I think that many of the factors mentioned above have a role in society being more aware and accepting of Goth culture. With this in mind the people who may have had "dark leanings" feel more comfortable expressing them. In addition, with more Goth people out in the general population, more real contact is made between non Goths and Goths. During this contact the non gothically oriented see that the average goth is not out sacrificing virgins or killing peoples pets, or planning massacres, they just choose to express themselves in a different way.

I found it fascinating this year when the bastion of Red Neck culture, NASCAR, delved into the dark side. Speedvision did a special show where a hearse was hot-rodded. The hearse belongs to NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. If NASCAR drivers are comfortable showing their dark sides, what part of society isn't? (And before anyone gets on me for busting on NASCAR, I am a rabid fan!...I just wish they would go back to the old rules!)

The youth of today will rebel in the way that will get the most negative reaction from their parents. I am sorry to say though, it usually takes the form of whatever the most popular subculture is. Now is goth.

Seems like "being goth" s all the rage anymore. It's pathetic... but true. People just don't realize what goth is. They think it's just about the clothes and the dark, nighttime, etc. It's not.

Okay so I'm 26, kinda in the middle range I guess! I'm trying to think of this from an older & younger point of view! Some probably are being fakers, just trying to freak their parents out, but others I think are just being more open about who they are! Like imagesinwords who are any of us to call someone fakers. People like what they like! Did goth stay hidden for someone many years because people criticised it, so why are "so called" goths the ones criticising & having such a problem with it! I don't label myself goth, although through out the years I have been referred to as goth. Anyways, I think it's a good thing & the ones that are just doing it to be doing it, well they will eventually stop & grow out of it! The ones that are true to it, always will be.

Although I am not goth, I would believe that this has to do with wanting to stand out. Some individuals feel that if they want to be noticed then they will stand out by trying to conform to the socially outcasted crowd, in this instance the goth community. They do this because this is different than the culturally accepted norm. However, this is just an opinion on the subject.

Over time, word has spread & people are more open to it! I would think it's probably a good thing!

Okay I feel the need to defend the younger community. It is true that there are some young ones who are just looking to be part of this "trend" for lack of better word (which I only call "goth" a trend in this case because that is how it is treated at times), but there are some more mature ones who feel the same way as you do. I for one do not like it when people treat it purely as a trend either, and I agree with you that most of those people can be found it the younger age groups, but please keep in mind that not ALL young ones are this way.

xXKissTheRainXx states:
I've noticed lately that more and more people are joining the gothic community (or trying to at least). Now while many of these people are simply calling themselves "goth" and dressing the part for whatever reason, I can't help but wonder; why the sudden increase in interest?

I'd like to hear feedback and opinions please :)

I reply:
How do we know people are simply dressing a part and calling themselves goth? As Imagesinwords pointed out, there is no panel of judges here. Or rather, there shouldn't be. We, as humans, are typically a VERY judging group. We judge based upon skin color, height, weight, monetary value, education, employment, musical interests, etc...

Something similar to this came up in one of my Yahoo groups, recently. The subject was vampirism as opposed to the Gothic subculture, but I believe my answer applies:

**** I think a lot of it goes right to wanting to fit in. Some
younger people come online thinking they can make themselves over;
become like others. Maybe they don't have a lot of friends offline.
In fact, over the years, I have seen a lot of kids come online
stating they have no friends offline because everyone deems them
a "freak" or because they're not "normal". ****

I understand this is a real problem for these kids and we shouldn't try to judge them based upon what we PERCEIVE their actions or even the motivation of those actions to be.

the movies and music has played a big part in the movement....its a fad that will fade away...only the those that actually have made it apart of thier life style will remain.

Hello and good evening,
To sum up the words... Rebelling.

I dont necessarily agree that it is rebellion.. I think it is more a form of expression.. wether it be the way you dress or maybe paintings or poetry.

When things become prepackaged to where you can buy them on every street corner, warehouse, and convenience store, it's no longer an expression or a culture. It can barely even be considered a commodity. At this point it becomes a crossbreed of blind ritualism and empty thoughts, both of which I find quite nauseating.

Unfortunately, this will always be the case, as every generation before and after this one will always have their "brooding" and "angsty" stage. While every one of these phases of a generation will make the excuse that nobody understands them, the real problem lies within the very real possibility that the only one they may not like are themselves.

I agree, dressing the part does not automatically give you culture.
Personally I think the original ideal Gothic culture has been diluted -- somewhat through the arrival of the many Gothic subcultures, making the definition of a Goth very difficult to pin down -- but mostly through the main-stream acceptance and imitation of the Gothic style. For a culture that enjoys rejecting the main-stream being widely mimicked by the populous is a serious blow.

I do not think "goth" was ever a rarity. nor do i think its a Fad. it has always just been a sense of style, or a way of mind. Even a way of life.
teenagers and young adults may just be going through phases to find out who they are, and what they like. i went through a couple of different styles, phases etc until fially i arrived at what i am today. And thats basically a lil bit of eveything.
"goth" isnt just black clothes, hair and makeup. its sexy, powerful, mysterious and downright fun!!!
if u want to be "goth" or if u want to be "grunge" "emo" etc...go for it. its who you are.

from reading a few things everyone has writen.I think that everyone has a right to explore and adjust there outside to how they feel on the inside.I grew up on the outside of all the groups of people and watched from afar.People judge eachother way to much i understand the little kids and i mean kids trying to rebel but should we judge them?We judge other poeple when we dont like being judged ourselves..I would say more but who am i to judge other people right..

oh, it was definitely a rarity in my town. you wouldn't believe the difficulty i had in finding black clothes in 1982 - i had to buy black dye, or buy black material and make my own. people would stare at me as if i was naked, and ask why i was wearing black, was i going to a funeral? and this was a university town for Morrisey's sake!

This goes along with Seven.....

Have you ever noticed that the younger generation of today seems to be dressing more like the generation of yesterday? I was born in the 80's... by the time I hit high school the cool thing was to dress in the fashion of the 60's..... Fashions come back. Trends live forever even if they die for a while.... (on a totally side note, the 80's are back, quite frankly they should have never happend. lol)

I think that it is on some level, a trend that has rebirthed itself, as Sevenn said goth goes further back then what is being thought of. It is bound to make a reappearance.... just like all things do. I dont think that all goth individuals are depressed and angry. To see me you would consider me goth or well more punky/goth if there must be a label..... I am not angry, depressed, or dark... I just like the way I dress, and have been this way for years. Before it was the IN thing to do. :)

yeah - i'm never sure if i'm goth or psychedelic or glam. depends on how i want to look i suppose. most of my Gothic friends are very cheerful people, and though they are all non-conformist, i wouldnt say angry.

OK! I agree with many of the points here. In my openion, the media, music, and internet had alot to do with the recent uprising of Goths. Also slot of it is because the kids need something to express themselves with and possibly act out and piss mom and dad off.
Im 28 yrs old and comsidered a Goth. Not because of the way I dress or act but because of the things I like and realte to. Like alot of people here, unless I was to choose to look the part, you would never know I was Goth unless you asked.

hmmm From the older perspective (I was born in the 60's) Goth has certainly been around for a while now. I am also living in a rural country area in the Bible belt. SO...
I think that the media's promotion of "goth" related personas and the shock value of the darkness have played a large part in "goth" kids here. Those who are older and wiser tend not to stand out in the community all that much anymore. We don't necessarily hide lifestyles but are no longer in need of the IN YOUR FACE type attitude that many younger folks feel the need to express. Perhaps we have just become more comfortable with who and what we are and no longer feel the need to flaunt it??? Just my thoughts on it.

Alysander- teenage rebellion may seem silly now, and being twenty I look back at me at fourteen and I'm a different person; but theres no need to blame that rebellion on a rise in interest in the gothic culture.

Goth is an attitude, and a state of mind- if people want to just wear black clothes and call themselves a goth rather than there own name that doesn't bother me. I am happy the way I am, and the effects of nu-metal on general culturedoesn't get in the way of my life, so I don't let it concern me.

Fashion goes in Cycles.

In the late 40's early 50's there was a plethora of sailors returning from the war

20 years later you have the 70's twist on bellbottoms

40 years later you have the 90's twist on bellbottoms

The same is occuring with goth... we started it in the 80's it is seeing a revival as a fashion... No big deal.

All cultures of this nature hand their culture down to the next one... it makes a few changes and carries on. Disco turns into Trance; Funk turns into Hip Hop, Ska turns into Punk, Calypso, and Reggae.

I saw so many tourests in the club last nght it made me cry. Out of the entire crowd I saw about 10% regulars, and about 20% aprttimers... who's to say what percent of the remaining 70% will be goth, or parttimers instead of Gawkers looking at how we place our electrical tape.

Too me goth style is a bit about finding you. Being individual... it is a beautiful thing to watch someone come in as a chav or Chachi, buy hteir firs tblack jeans and silve rjewelry... and possibly progress up to tripp (shudder) and then onto a personal style that is suited to them and although there is form and function... unique to an inside eye, because you saw them grow.

i don't agree that goth subculture will ever fade. don't you notice how long goth has been practiced by people of different ages? despite now tha we're living in the information and technological age, goth survives not because it's a FAD, but because it is a CULTURE were a group of people really belong

i would also like to add that goth is not a form of REBELLION.. as you all can see from the previous response on this post (if you have been reading), it's a subculture, a fashion, an expression....

if wearing black, listening to dark music or acting lilke goth (although it doesn't measure your being gothic) is rebelling, then it goes the same with wearing high heels and flashy dresses. all fashions and cultures are similar for it all represents our attitude and expression

Yes. That's what I am saying. I am replying to a comment about- that when this thread comes up yet again, that it shouldn't be blamed on younger people in a detremental fashion.

The Gothic Culture should be looked at more in an artistic fashion i feel
I have never met to 'goths' that are alike in any way shape or form
A sudden influx in the gothic community is and should be looked upon as more people coming to realization with who and how different they are to others.
Now by this i will state that i also count people who do not dress gothically as goths because to be a true goth you mostly should follow the lifestyle rather than the general clothing Trend!

oh you didnt know? yeah appearently emo has taken over, taking different cultures for their own. (ex: new wave, punk, goth)

Ok i am not sure if that was for me
but would you really slassify emo as GOTH...
Seriously, i would be more inclined to state it is it's own trend
Maybe because i don't like to be assosiated

Most people in the Gothic community seem to be fake and in it for the trend. So I still think it's rare, thogh there are some true Goths out there.

the goth community has no doubt increased exponentially since the rise in the late 70's early 80's. This is no doubt in the increase in interest as well as a "place" to be in this outcasted place the world has become. The increase in "vampires" and the feeding upon blood has both a good deal of fakes and fanatics growing around. the actual goth people and those who call themselves as such for the sole reason of being it completely is deminishing quite fast, due to the "wanna be's".

for me, i am expressing who i am inside by making small changes to my exterior...aparently i was gothic in my soul forever, i just didnt realize where i really belonged until i found VR and started my journey down the dark path....no longer will i spend time trying to please others or fit in, i am who i am, im living a genuine life now and im stronger and sexier than ever before. I like what i see when i look in the mirrior now.....this has been a long time comming and im glad to be here now.

P.S. goth is also becomming fragmented, there are several sub cultures to the goth culture, just as when you say "Rock and Roll" it means a wider variety of things than it once did. so to, goth has mutated, spread out, taken on many forms and therefore drawn in the masses.

From my experience I found that Gothic in general has become something for the rebel or misfit in highschool. The term is over used time in and time out. When someone says Gothic Community I don't think of the 80s Goth Subculture that was more surrounded by music then my visual. I see more of a visual setting of people fasinated by the darkside of life. In other words it can mean almost anything relating or surrounding dark imagery such as vampires, death, ghost, supernatural etc... All and all it has always been popular and been around for a long period of time. Just today we have ways of associating with people with similar interest through the internet. The internet really brought people fasinated by the gothic imagery and influences together. That is why it feels so common today to see more relating to such things.

I don't think many are joining the goth community persay but there is an obvious increase in emo kids whom would get placed among goths by un-educated individuals such as the jocks.... don't get me wrong I play my share of sports but I am no jock, and really I don't much care to exisit in any click outside of my pics on this site I maintain a job and a 4.0 in college I am just myself and do what I like the pictures are mealy a window to a major part of my persinality after all a picture is worth a 1000 words

i blame it on the media... mtv, vh1, and fuse making it all look "cool" and "hip". people want to look and act like their favorite band, when in essence they dont understand what their getting into.
its like some love struck girl trying to get her crush to like her and doing a love spell they got off the internet. if their lucky nothing will happen and if their not, well...
side rant, sorry...
anyway, its all the media's fault... i give it another year or two and something "cooler" will come out and all of the true goths will still be there, dancing to the beat of their own drum.

i agrre with some of the others in that with the internet and the easement of what is suitable for tv and relaxation of music on the radio every genre is so much more saturated then when i was younger so no matter what a persons belief sooner or later they encounter it..... hopefully ppl align themselves to a group because of belief and not because its cool

it means we get more of a look in for a start. in the eighties and nineties, alternative night at the local disco was just one night a week when they would play a mixture of heavy rock, goth, punk, and psychedelic. now we get whole festivals and clubs devoted to Gothic. their are dozens of shops that cater solely for gothic styles of clothing, jewelry, and ornaments. on the downside, it makes us lazy - we buy stuff ready made instead of making things ourselves - but that gives us more time for other things. there's only so many hours in a day (or night).

ya iv noticed that and i feel its all just because its became trendy to be dark and not so long from now it will be trendy to be something else thats when the pack of sheep will move from one trend to another and the people who truly wish to conform to a non conformist society will stay and do as they have always done and the others will just flop and change again

It is definitely more mainstream and has also become much more homogenized.

I think it is the fact that we r tired of not being who we truly are

Can any subculture be a rarity? There are so many ways that we learn/incorporate new cultures into our own due to tv, internet, and marketing, that nothing can stay hidden. Here at VR there are 8578 users alone on this Vampire site, and as you can see from the ads on here and a simple google search, there are so many companies that are catering to these subcultures and making a profit off of the growing number of these lifestyles.

I do think that there has been a larger movement that has taken on the trappings and style of the goth scene.

From a fashion standpoint, there was a time when goth clothes were what you could find or make from Goodwill clothes and the occasional (shudder) Halloween store trip (black lipstick and nail polish wasn't exactly everywhere in the early 80's). Creative uses of things like fishnet stockings as shirts and the borrowing of accessories from the S&M culture were not only a question of creativity but skill in finding what you wanted.

From a musical standpoint, there was little or no goth radio airplay in the 80's. Goth clubs kept the scene alive by the skin of it's teeth. The internet has made that point moot since radio isn't even all that popular in the 00's...bands gain popularity through the internet and television where someone can hear about a band and immediately get their album (often without even paying). So goth music was able to saturate the market much faster. Marylin Manson introduced a more pop oriented rock and roll style which allowed a huge number of other bands to come forward with dark visuals and dark lyrics and be named goth. But too a lesser degree, a similar thing happened in the 80's when techno and industrial influences brought in bands like Skinny Puppy and Thrill Kill Kult.

The main difference now I believe is access. You can get access to large groups of goths socially through the internet. You can see gothic music more easily on music television. You can buy ready to wear gothic fashion in stores. You can download gothic music immediately online. All of this access adds up to a larger following and rightly so. I think the gothic culture was always very alluring to a great many people without the connections or were with all to find their way in. So it's not surprising that given the increased access, this influence was more widely enjoyed.

I see so many kids now a days dreesing the part of a goth, or for a more usfull term, baby goth. trying to act and appear tougher and more scary looking, all portraying the image of goth, but most are atracting all the wrong, negitive attention. violence, crimes, anger.
Most of the goth people I know, are not angry, violent and do not commit crimes, yet we have baby goths killing, breaking, beating, and overall being very angry and violent.

Some of that young violence comes as pleas for help were left unheeded. I know of many whose efforts of expression in the heady days of high-school, led to ridicule and mental torture. People can be very cruel indeed and to one who has yet to realize that the world doesn't end after high-school...this treatment can seem like a never ending punishment that will haunt them throughout their lives. I feel that the unchallenged abuse that occurs in school (and by unchallenged I mean unchallenged by peers not by adults) leads to conditions not unlike war where some make it and some snap (often with unfortunate and headline making results).

I remember the good ol' days being a goth...by pilaging and bringing down the roman empire...can you say...deja vu

lol pheonix....if only the good old days were still around....the "normal" people would really hate goths

there are goths out there but theres a lot of posers now these posers can be seen by the fact that there scared shitlis of a real goth!

Who decides who is a poser. To me if you aren't over forty you are probably not an original Goth. I have a friend, we write in an online ezine. She worked in Hollywood at Vidal Sassoons and was one of the very first Goths...it stemmed from a musical trend, just like Beatniks which to me were the first to affect the wearing of black and "my doesn't life suck". This was back in the 50s. They are the ones that started the trend of saying "cool" and listen to all the people who still use that word and probably even more so today. Does that make them all posers?

My friend is now 50 and they called her the Gothic Nun. Each generation has their own take. Because one wears black doesn't make them Goth. Its a movement. Vampyres are something else and came first. Most don't drink blood but I think those that came out of these generations thought one was suppose to and they are a minority. It's really not about that.

Now the trend is more toward androgeny. There is more of a feeling of love for the sake of love and not about gender in certain segments of youth. Look to the core of the person and they dress and make themselves quite unattractive. The darkside has been alluring to many for years. In the 60s it was more a rebellion against authority and many got involved with the Occult and Satanism because of LsVey. Many of those people wore black too, lol. Los Angeles and San Francisco were hubs of new ideas...the dress and the music sort of had a late start to follow When the 70s came along and Punk music started in NYC and then went over into England and become much more popular there. This music came back across with the advent of the Goth movement and bands like Bauhaus...(I like many Gothic bands but not that one) Sorry, lol.

Just like the boy bands of the 90's and the hair bands of the 80's...goth and emo have become the growing trend of now. sadly it makes those like me and a few selected others angry because we have been this way before it was a trend...and been in our share of fights because of it but the fact of the matter is it's the in thing right now and not really much can be done to stop it. maybe there is hope people will learn about it and not be so ignorant to judge those who indulge in the subculture in the future.

for most its just a stupid fade..that they will out grow unfortunetly it will turn the goth society upside down in the end and the true goths will be concidered false due to this.

Lately I was wondering about it a lot...I am a goth for 5 years now,and It made me wonder why the sudden increase...Like others said;for some it's just a teen period.A way to revolt and act against parents and "grown ups",but there are real goths that join here...
It's not that only the old ones are goths...I mean..WHAT IS A GOTH ANYWAY?how would you describe a goth,make some sort of pattern for it,and then we could decide who is and who isn't a goth...But wondering about this,is just a waiste of time,since it's useless to try and build a pattern it has varieties...Every person and his own personality,It can start as a teen period,but continue "for real",it can start because of social influences,it can start cuz of movies or music and etc.Hipocrites are everywhere,but it doesn't really matter...
:-)
That's my opinion anyway...

i am with you
Everyone will be what they will be and it is realistically as simple as that!

I think that one in the highschools and junior high it is "cool" to be gothic. I also think that is is sociably acceptable now. I think because our community has grown dramticly over the years people are 1 used to it and 2 understand us better. Most people don't understand what goth is and think it is a "style" like american eagle and the gap and stuff like that. I also think that since more people are understanding what goth is they are doing some soul searching. My parents on the other hand think I am a sinner and think that i am into the devil and what not. they are more closed minded but that is 2 out of 20 people that i know that don't accept it nore do they understand it. I think alot of it has to do with it being in style now because there is so meny of us.

i do not think it is more people being interested in it as it is more are accepting of it...

so you will see more feeling more comfortable in being themselves and not be ridiculed .....

I am not sure what high schools you all went to, but the one I went to was full of preps, and they looked down on the goths. The goths were ignored, but then again I didn't really see a lot of them...

I know that I have the mindset of a goth, yet I don't dress it....I mostly dress in what I look good in, and that includes black and the darker colors.

I agree with most that the emo trend has gotten very popular....but where is the line between goth and emo now? So many people see them as only one thing, not two

im goth and it will always be in its not a fade most people claim it to be a lifestyle.

But,hell...goth IS a lifestyle...The goth community died a long time ago,and was in the area of Germany,I am goth too-and I tell you this:You are NOT a goth(and so am i) we are only living in a goth LIFESTYLE...that's it...

Everyone kinda said what I wanted to. When I was younger I wouldn't say it was a rarity but rarely discussed or seen. There was a culture but a smaller community. The community is grown and so more people know of the culture.

Underground is no longer underground as more and more poeple learned about the darkness of the gothic culture the more it became a fad then anything else. Like teenagers in my day claiming to be bi-sexual because they thought is made them seem more appealing...or more and more people becoming polygamus...as things of the unknown become realized more people learn about it and decide that...that is who they are...not really knowing for sure but just wanting to belong somewhere. It is no longer rare because it is becoming more well known and discovered different is better but what happens when everyone else tries to be different...you get everyone being the same...things are becoming more a fad now then ever.

maybe it's because they think that by dressing like that they will be "different" lol

I'll agree with Imagesinwords,the lifestyle has been around for a while and while it has split into different offshoots,the cybers,romantic,etc; it's something that will remain,to see so many is the same as bellbottoms and platform shoes,gone for a while then back again

I think Alysander hit the nail on the head. Back in the 60s, hippies got the same crap because they were a marketable item.

Imho, the ones that only dress the part and tack on a shallow sense of pathetiqueness without any real meaning aren't actually goth, and as much as I don't like Emo, they don't even have the obnoxiously turbulent mood swings like they do. The poseurs are simply people who don't have to bother sorting their laundry and complain about it. :P

It is not a terrible notion that goth is not a rariety any more. You have "posers" in any demographic, but also culture has the ability to evolve into something different than what it originated as. Goth might not be the same as what it was 30 years ago, but neither are any of the subculture. Take hippies, their not the same bra burning protest hungry individuals (quite a large number turned into the baby boomer generation that cannot exactly be described with liberal notions of love and peace). The same could be said even for trendiness look at the clothing lines from AF for the last 20 years, and there is a different there too.

I think so many (young) people are calling themselves goth now because they want to join in on a subculture that has for a long time considered itself isolated and misunderstood, when in reality only the original goths were such, because it had never been seen or done before, and now people who join in this crowd are not misunderstood or isolated at all, because it has grounded itself so much in the mainstream, having had many years to do so. I am not saying this is a bad thing. Nonconformists have always sought out their own crowd, and the more "controversial" it is, the better it is to most of them.

In all honesty I just think people are either completely obsessive about labeling every part of who they are, or trying to fit into a certain crowd to have the attention gathered from infamy.

I don't label myself as a goth and never have. Do I like gothic music? sure do.
Do I like some of the gothic style clothes? sure it all just depends.

It comes down to individual taste and expression. If you are a little "darker" in personality and feel like expressing it symbolically then feel free to do so. We all express ourselves in some way and form visually where the rest of the world can see it quite plainly.

But it really shouldn't go much beyond self expression and bully for you if you happen to find someone else similar in taste, preference and outlook.

well there isnt really any Goth in town. Just 1 person but he says that he's a half-goth. Well thats understandable seein that he doesnt wear the black 24/7 and dont have any Make-up. He just wears the black nail polish, and stuff. But Where Im from there any population of gothic ppl.

**there isnt any**

I think that just like many other “groups” there are many “posers”. Also the Goth culture is becoming more open and now more people know about it. And now that is it more accepted you would see more people dressing the part. More many teens it’s a new thing so it’s exciting. And some of the older Goth’s I know are teaching their children “the way of the Goth” if you know what I mean. I think that I am one of the few parents that choose not to teach my kids that. I will leave it to them to decide.

Is it actually a bad thing that the youth of today are into expressing themselves in a more goth manner? By opening themselves up to the possibility that the "Mainstream" way of thought isnt the only way to think turely brings them closer to being gothic. I find no problem in seeing more openminded people..

alot of people thought/think oddly of me as i mostly wear black...black is such a practical colour! mostly i wear it because i am married and its an olde tradition in my dads culture for married women to wear black. i do hear the mutterings behind my back..bruhah (isnt a nice comment by a hispanic) but its better than most i used to hear when i was single and wore colour....as for goth culture..i am willing to bet that many dont even know there is one..most here (seattle) connect it with bondage/sex games...

Most people in the Gothic community

seem to be fake

I will argee todays goth ppl a lot of them do seem to be fakes. But you have to remeber that there are those who are out that call them selfs true goths and they are bc they are the ones that know what it means to be truely goth. Now i will say i have bin a goth for a long time now and i just hate when i also see these young teens even ppl my age protend that they are goths when really they arent.

well im not a goth kk just 2 get that clear yea true that so many people are turnin goth just coz ppl dont undertsnd them bt not all ppl are like that about 30% of the young 1's dont dress up as goths coz of the trend as u call it just coz they want 2 be 1 so u cant say that the 14-15 are only dressin up coz of the trend unless u know them or ask them y they turned goth

first off let me say that I think the goth movement is a good thing but as with anything there are people who are doing it just to be a part of something.
what gets me mad are the people who just dress like it and expect everyone to call them "goth" it is not just the clothes that make you goth it is a lifestyle.........

I honestly think its a rebellious thing against parents for more and more of theses 14 and 15 year olds. they try to dress the part and be something they know little about because there parents dont have a clue and get upset

I think because most of these kids nowadays need some way of rebelling from their parents. Mom didnt get me that new car I wanted for my birthday so now I am hurt and angry. Something like that. And I think goth is what most parents don't want their kid to be. So its an obvious choice. Go goth.

so many are lost and need a way to express themselves. Others that know what goth means have lost the need to wear all black and letting it go to the possers. And those that just love and understand what goth truly means wear the style with pride. And know the difference between a true goth and a posser.

Unfortunately it happens to every great subculture eventually. For you it is the goth movement, for me it was the heavy metal movement. In the early 80's it was unthinkable to be a true metal head, the birth of speed metal, death metal, all of it came from years of being shunned by main stream society and then one day we woke up and every one wanted to be a metal head. "One" (Metallica) made it cool to be an outcast, and that was the beginning of the end. The parallels are there in any under ground culture that "takes hold", as all are doomed to such a fate. **sigh**

With all the people wanting to be gothic.... things get confusing. They need to look at ''why'' people are gothic. Not how.

This thread has been automatically closed for length.