My First Brush With The Goth Cluture/Sub-Culture

Macabre · 09-08-2006, 03:05 PM

I am not "Goth". I don't think i'm "Goth". Then again, I don't exactly what Goth is, so i'm still researching. So I might be "Goth". We'll get to that later.

Anyhow, growing up I always thought that these "Goth" people wore black clothes, white makeup, and wrote poetry about depression. An entire group of people who want to be 'unlike everyone else'. Not that I really cared. These people never bothered me, and besides, most of the girls looked pretty damn good in their attire.

Then it happens. I'm in The Mall, browsing a store called 'The Underground'. I'm reading a Skinny Puppy t-shirt (I don't know who Skinny Puppy are, can't name a single song they have performed, but regardless, I was checking the tshirt), and I hear a quite soft "oohh hellooo" from behind me. I turn around to see something that's about 6'4" with blondish/black hair, a baggy trenchcoat, some oilspill Converse shoes, and a rather drab brown shirt walking toward me.

I stood there for a minute stunned. As I said, I have no problem whatsoever with people being different, hell i'm different...The irritation resulted from my inability to decipher the gender of this individual. If there were any sort of "Goth Tell-tale Signs" that should have indicated to me just what sexuality this person was, I sure as hell had not a clue.

Anyhow, it's walking toward me, and I am mentally debating on whether this is a guy or girl to the point that the words melded into one and silently, I termed this to be a "Ghoul". Fuck, I didn't know what else to call it. I offer a muffled hello, and just as it comes within breathing distance of me, I bolt from the door, poor Skinny Puppy t-shirts falling off the shelves behind me. Fuck it, let the 'Ghoul' deal with em.

Since then I have encountered many different people, and have been more introduced into what (I think) is the Goth Culture/Subculture...And oddly enough, i've never encountered another "Ghoul". Which begs the question? Could this have been a Goth in the middle of a nervous breakdown? A Goth Lost? Who Knows....

This story doesn't really mean anything, just whining. Thanks for putting a forum here for me to do so. Given my failure on the introduction thing, odds are good I messed up somewhere by doing this. Ah well, one more thing for me to whine about.

cradle · 09-08-2006, 07:32 PM

LOL I love the way you describe him/her/it/uhhh...

Minyaliel · 09-08-2006, 11:50 PM

Probably someone going for the androgynous look and succeeding really well... *grins*

Delkaetre · 09-09-2006, 05:06 AM

Hey now, I used to be a short version of that! When my hair was really short no one could tell if I was male or female... my hanging around with a pack of guys and playing stuff like Magic-The Gathering probably didn't help.
I know a few of those 'ghouls' myself, sometimes it's not their fault- a pre-op trans can't help the androgyny sometimes.

Minyaliel · 09-09-2006, 06:06 AM

Just to say, my previous comment wasn't intended to be negative in any way. I think those who can pull it off are lucky bastards, really. I wish I could do it, but I'm too distinctly feminine to even try thinking about it.

HumanePain · 09-09-2006, 08:28 AM

Hey Macabre, go easy on yourself, I wouldn't have called the Intro thing a "failure".
I can be a persistent old bastard sometimes, sorry if I traumatized you. (you can rant and whine about me if you like...). We are glad you are here, you write AWESOME stuff!

Back to the thread: You might have a rough time in Southern California. There are many androgynous people here, and trannies, gender-benders and people who have elected to have sex-change surgery. But most of these are not Goth.
Most of the Goth's (in Soutern Cal.) have clear sexual signals.
My local observations (I was born and raised here) are that the women embrace their feminine Goth-ness, in a very attractive way, and that the men, although wearing lace sleeves and gloves, or fishnet shirts, are also obviously male. But I have only been to three different clubs. There are many more I have yet to explore (hey, that rhymed!).

Alaizabel Cray · 09-09-2006, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minyaliel

Just to say, my previous comment wasn't intended to be negative in any way. I think those who can pull it off are lucky bastards, really. I wish I could do it, but I'm too distinctly feminine to even try thinking about it.

Hah, same here, for the most part (at cross-country practice sometimes it could be hard to tell I'm a girl, because with a sports bra plus a baggy shirt that kinda eliminates one tell-tale sign, and my hair is shorter than that of most of the guys I know. But a lot of my friends tell me that they're amazed at how, even with my hair short and wearing something like baggy jeans and a hoodie I still look very feminine. I wasn't going for the androgynous look myself when I cut my hair short, just trying to get rid of the annoyance, but even if I tried it'd be pretty hard. Not to mention, I walk like such a girl, haha.

PoupeeCelestia · 09-09-2006, 02:53 PM

Oh, funny story =). You were lucky that the ghoul didn´t came up with the typical "Hey!, what´s your favorite song-concert-whatever from Skinny Puppy?!".
But, if something like that happens again to you...what would you do?, stay and talk?...

OnixxFilth · 10-11-2006, 01:20 PM

Hehe, reminds of the time before I fully realized that I was a goth. It seems to be what I was evolving towards all along. I was a high school metalhead with an interest in dark things, when I happened into a Hot Topic in Eau Claire, WI. Somehow, I found myself trapped in an aisle with this really tall dude who coulda been Marilyn Manson's twin brother and nearly peed myself or passed out in fright! I mean, here I was, thinking I was soooo badass or whatever, and here comes this dude even more hardcore than me. If I would meet him again today, I'd say something like,"Hey, nice clothes!"

Catch · 10-15-2006, 09:39 AM

I met my very first Goth in detention. I was 'arf bag' wearing black and a stupid french cap, like industrial and punk, wore a lot of black. They wear a year older and sat next to me. She had really long finger nails painted bright red and a french cap too. We sat and talked a little before she realized I wasn't really a gothic. Then I turned my attention to the guy that everyone gossiped about. He had long wavey blond hair and everyone said he was a Satanist. Spent the rest of detention making smart-ass coments about is satan worshiping. I knew his sister, so knew he wasn't really.

DarkHeartedDemoness · 10-15-2006, 09:54 AM

What? When she discovered you weren't gothic, you started gossiping about a guy? The connection there is..... Um?

Catch · 10-15-2006, 10:14 AM

I didn't gossip about him. And she reall stopped talking to me because you're not supposed to talk in detention. I recognized him, because he was a friend of a friend's older brother. I only knew this because one time previous I was kind of looking at him and his sister came over and very rudely informed me that he was her older brother.

It was fun. There is a chance he was gothic too. Since we hadn't spoken, before, he is excluded from meeting previously.

Ben Lahnger · 10-17-2006, 11:44 AM

This place was my first brush with the gothic culture. It was a nice intro and an education. But I had a closet full of black t-shirts and liked Siouxsie and The Cure before I'd ever heard of "Goth".

kenwheeler · 11-08-2006, 03:30 AM

i would have been so pleased with myself if i was she/he/it.

insertwittyname · 11-09-2006, 09:39 PM

O.o If you found a very hot androgenous*sp* and they started flirting, what would be the correct course of action to find their gender? A very puzzling question.

My first encounter with a goth was a friend of mine who was prepp in 6th grade and on comming into 7th had redone her look, and was cutting, though did her best to hide it and didn't show it off. She was a bouncy sort of person who was nice to everyone, so I really liked her as I was the kid in my second elementary school who everyone made fun of when bored. Since I knew her already, and her personality hadn't changed, my acclimation to neon hair, shredded clothing, and Hot Topic Pants *somehow she was able to pull these off without looking stupid or emo* was a relatively easy one, though the time she pierced her bottom lip during school in the girl's bathroom was a little shaky... Ow...

OsoCrazy · 11-09-2006, 10:20 PM

Ha! I know a "ghoul"... I was over at battlezone ( Lazer tag, I'm so lame )
I was doing my new thing of going there Friday from 7-12, and while I'm sitting in the lobby, it, walked in, I sat in confusement, i had NO idea what gender it was. I thought i was the only one, but later on in the night, another gamer and I are talking, and asks, " Hey, is that guy or a girl." I responded with a " I have Noooooooo idea " kinda answer. After about 3 more nights like this, I finally found out it, was a guy. Quite shocking really. Just last week, I could swear he had a sister there because the facial features were some-what the same, a bit more feminine, and long hair. But yea, there is my encounter...he's probably going to be there tommorow to, he scares me.

DarkHeartedDemoness · 11-12-2006, 09:16 AM

He scares you because his gender isn't apparent? How strange... I try to only be scared for reasons like "I've seen him kill and eat a small child". THEN I would be scared.

She_Is_My_Sin · 11-12-2006, 09:35 AM

Hmm, I haven't met any goths with the same interests as me. Well I've seen them around, but I haven't known any well enough to speak to. My friend, she kinda used to be into the whole goth thing, but she's not really into it anymore. Though she did introduce me to some random guy from her school, who was supposedly really gothic. But when I saw his trackie bottoms & a Manson T-shirt I thought 'Oh dear...'. There aren't any at school...so I guess my only discussions about 'goth stuff' can only take place on here.

DarkHeartedDemoness · 11-12-2006, 09:37 AM

What's a trackie bottom?! THAT sounds scary...

She_Is_My_Sin · 11-12-2006, 09:41 AM

Kind of like jogging bottoms. With the stripes. Tracksuit bottoms, trousers, yeah sorry I was just typing how I'd say it.

They're not so much scary, just a damned hideous piece of clothing.

insertwittyname · 11-12-2006, 10:20 AM

O.o Stay away, stay away! *cower* Those pants scare me, the only people who wear those are the random ghetto dudes and the preppy girl cheerleaders who own green and white ones.

She_Is_My_Sin · 11-12-2006, 10:25 AM

I think the only times they should be worn are when you do exercise. I'd only wear them for that. Every other time they just shouldn't even be considered.

BLEED REBELION!!! · 11-16-2006, 05:48 PM

i dont no why but im realy real REALY atracted to guys that look like girls and its drives me in sane cuz when i hang with them i feel like im not delicate enough or thin enough or pretty enough for them dambitt. im such a chump!!

Mephistophelian · 11-18-2006, 07:30 PM

Here is my story I suppose.
I've always been interested in dark things. I grew up on horror movies and Edgar Allen Poe. I was not 'really' gothic but I was in a way.
But I think that at that point I was listening to Green Day 'remember I was eleven'.
Well three weeks into my sixth grade year a girl transferred into my school 'lets call her Leanna'.
This girl, Leanna, looked like something out of a Alfred Hitchock movie.
I was completely intrigued by her looks.
I inevitably became friends with 'Leanna' by charming her with my knowledge of fantasy and horror.
I later came to find out that she was my third cousin.
Here I am many years later with dyed bright red hair, dark khol eyeliner, black nail polish, black clothing, and a music taste that scares my four year old cousin.
{Truthfully. I once was playing Laibach and it scared the poor dear senseless.}

Macabre · 03-24-2007, 03:52 PM

Well, it's been awhile and I have not had any new encounters with the 'Ghoul'. Reflecting back upon that day, I suppose my desire to leave rather than visit with this person would stem not from the fact that it's gender was indecipherable, but more from the way it presented itself. It felt like a creepy, leering, privacy invasion, what with all of the hovering around and heavy breathing.

Perhaps I should have stuck around to see what it wanted (and quite possibly I could have gotten a free Skinny Puppy tee out of the deal, even though I still have no idea who the hell they are) and I may have had an even more interesting story to tell.

On the next occasion (assuming there will be one) I think i'll stop and visit with him/her/it and compliment it on it's success at completely hiding it's gender. I expect that as with most anything else, it takes a special kind of talent.