Skulls and Society...

[stolide]

Someone I know was telling me that they were looking at clothes and saw something they thought was beautiful, until they realized that it had a skull on it and how ugly it made the shirt.

I'm sure that if it had been nearly any other part of they body(or more spcifically organ system) she wouldn't have cared.

So how have skulls become synonymous with evil or death or whatever it is that is so repulsive to so many people?

My guess is that it happened long ago when people saw that dead bodies eventually became just a pile of bones. They decided that death is bad, and that bones are the result of death and thus bones must be bad as well. Not nessecarily logical, but I can see how some people could have come to that conclusion.

[Underwater Ophelia]

People are afraid to die.
Skulls remind people they're going to die.

[Slap Your Love]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

People are afraid to die.

Besides Goths, right?

[Underwater Ophelia]

No, not really.

[jack_the_knife]

Skulls are imagery associated with death, most people for whatever reason don't want to die. I have a friend who drives a hurse and a lot of people find the sight of it offensive, because they feel that death is a serious matter and shouldn't be "ridiculed".

[Albert Mond]

Skulls aren't exterior. It's not a body part that most people see a lot of. They're associated with death because most people with visible ones are dead. Plus, skulls are associated with Goths, and people don't want to hear that "You're a poser!" bullshit.

[Tam Li Hua]

Being one of a more dark mindset, I rather like the image of skulls, but if I saw an actual human skull just sitting and staring at me, I'd probably be a wee bit disturbed.

The thing about skulls in fashion these days, though, is that they are used on everything. It annoys me to no end to see clothing with skulls all over it...who have little bows on them.

Skulls were never meant to be cute; they were meant to invoke a dark image to remind the general public of the inevitability of Death. Likewise, cute little pastel bows were never meant to be dark and depressing, and should -only- be dark and depressing if used on a demon-possessed doll or a demented, murderous child in horror stories.

Seriously gets on my nerves. >_<

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

Being one of a more dark mindset, I rather like the image of skulls, but if I saw an actual human skull just sitting and staring at me, I'd probably be a wee bit disturbed.

The thing about skulls in fashion these days, though, is that they are used on everything. It annoys me to no end to see clothing with skulls all over it...who have little bows on them.

Skulls were never meant to be cute; they were meant to invoke a dark image to remind the general public of the inevitability of Death. Likewise, cute little pastel bows were never meant to be dark and depressing, and should -only- be dark and depressing if used on a demon-possessed doll or a demented, murderous child in horror stories.

Seriously gets on my nerves. >_<

I personally don't find skulls (or death) very frightening. What is frightening, however is old age. Put a nude former Playboy hag on one of those shirts with a bow, and maybe it'll creep people.

[$haDe]

More of the stereotype things, I would say.


Tam, Did you know that your posts are always ended in 3 paragraphs?

Especially your early and early posts.

[Tam Li Hua]

Originally Posted by $haDe

Tam, Did you know that your posts are always ended in 3 paragraphs?

Especially your early and early posts.

They do? Whoa, I honestly never noticed!

I guess I need to have things in threes..??

[Tam Li Hua]

Originally Posted by Albert Mond

I personally don't find skulls (or death) very frightening. What is frightening, however is old age. Put a nude former Playboy hag on one of those shirts with a bow, and maybe it'll creep people.

Yikes! That -is- a disturbing mental image. Or a funny one. It might be funny on a greeting card as a cartoon or something..

I'll give you the idea that skulls aren't necessarily frightening, but they certainly shouldn't be considered cute. My Little Ponys are cute. A little girl in pigtails is cute. But skulls? No no no no no. Just no.

[lied]

I agree skulls aren't necessarily frightening...
In Mexico they dress up skulls into clothes; there are images of smiling skulls. Thats not frightening. Not cute either but somehow they make it appealing to people.

I find organs way more frightening and symbol of death than any other thing. But maybe that's my association due to earlier experiences.

In any way, the church have associated skulls to EVIL since ages. I believe thats where most of that image came from...

... after thinking about this I'll ask my BF (who's muslim) what do they think about skull images... must vary from culture to culture.

[Slap Your Love]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

No, not really.

-50 goth points.

[xXEducatedSocialiteXx]

After reading that damned (true) story about the Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe (SP?), I'm a wee bit afraid of skulls incase they start screaming at me.
Not one's on clothes ofcourse, but real ones that you see in museums.
Just the thought of a screaming skull..... *Shudders*

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by xXEducatedSocialiteXx

After reading that damned (true) story about the Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe (SP?), I'm a wee bit afraid of skulls incase they start screaming at me.
Not one's on clothes ofcourse, but real ones that you see in museums.
Just the thought of a screaming skull..... *Shudders*

I always wonder if the people were tripped out until the 20th Century. Ever read the whole Bell Witch thing? There were talking glowing animals, poltergeists, choir singing ghosts, impersonations, super strength... crazy stuff.

[Jonathan]

Death doesn't mean a whole lot until it comes close to home. If the idea of death doesn't actually bother you, then I hope you never get a phone call about a loved one in an ECU after a vehicle collision. That sort of thing tends to bring reality into really sharp focus.

I guess some people just are not comfortable with wearing death imagery, either in cutsey forms or in more stark representations.

There is some pretty interesting hearsay I've stumbled upon that makes some links between various witch hysteria and ergot fungus, which can be used to make LSD. They very well might have been tripped out.

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

There is some pretty interesting hearsay I've stumbled upon that makes some links between various witch hysteria and ergot fungus, which can be used to make LSD. They very well might have been tripped out.

Heard it before, but the Bell witch cases would require multiple people (including a President) seeing/hearing the same thing.

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by stolide

So how have skulls become synonymous with evil or death or whatever it is that is so repulsive to so many people?

Possibly a defence mechanism to avoid dangerous areas by avoiding places where a skeleton is seen.

At least that's what I watched/read somewhere about elephants avoiding skeletons of other elephants, no idea if it's true, I can't find whatever it was.

[Tam Li Hua]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Death doesn't mean a whole lot until it comes close to home. If the idea of death doesn't actually bother you, then I hope you never get a phone call about a loved one in an ECU after a vehicle collision. That sort of thing tends to bring reality into really sharp focus.

I'd have to agree with this. While I love images of the Grim Reaper, it wasn't until after my mom died that I realized what a traumatic thing Death actually is. :/

Then again, her death was the start of my fascination with Goth culture, so take that for what you will.

I don't think I would be as freaked out by a real human skeleton as I would if you told me that I had to spend the night in a haunted house. The idea of ghosts freak me the hell out. :/

[$haDe]

It's 3 paragraphs again,Tam !!!

Next time,It'll be triple score,then !!!

[Tam Li Hua]

LOL!! *vows to break her own trend*

[Underwater Ophelia]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Death doesn't mean a whole lot until it comes close to home. If the idea of death doesn't actually bother you, then I hope you never get a phone call about a loved one in an ECU after a vehicle collision. That sort of thing tends to bring reality into really sharp focus.

That's not necessarily true.

I have lots of experience with people I love dying, and I have experience with nuclear family members nearly dying.

My brother went through a windshield, and my mother had pneumonia so bad the doctors actually told her to prepare for death.

Death, to me, is still just death.
If you freak out and are terrified of your own death or the death of others, then reality is NOT in sharp focus for you.

[Tam Li Hua]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

That's not necessarily true.

I have lots of experience with people I love dying, and I have experience with nuclear family members nearly dying.

My brother went through a windshield, and my mother had pneumonia so bad the doctors actually told her to prepare for death.

Death, to me, is still just death.
If you freak out and are terrified of your own death or the death of others, then reality is NOT in sharp focus for you.

Or it could be that since you've experienced so much of it, it's not as big of a deal to you. For those of us who have never experienced it before as adults, and then it happens, it is probably a bit more traumatic.

You talk as if people being afraid of Death is an abnormal thing, but as far as I know, it's quite normal to be afraid of Death and Dying, or of losing one's loved ones to Death. [Me personally, I think I'm more afraid of the dying process than of being dead.] Perhaps it's not normal to think of it 24/7 or to freak out so badly that you don't live your life, but it -is- normal for folks to go through the grieving process when they lose a loved one, or when they learn that they themselves are about to die.

Also, I think that the fear that comes with watching a loved one die is more that one can't be around that person any more; they are now separated by a chasm that can't be breached, and for some of us, that's also very traumatic...even if we believe in an afterlife.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts on the matter.

[Necrophagist]

She's got a point. Death itself is nothing to be frightened of. However, the causes of death are somewhat different.

[Underwater Ophelia]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

Or it could be that since you've experienced so much of it, it's not as big of a deal to you. For those of us who have never experienced it before as adults, and then it happens, it is probably a bit more traumatic.

You talk as if people being afraid of Death is an abnormal thing, but as far as I know, it's quite normal to be afraid of Death and Dying, or of losing one's loved ones to Death. [Me personally, I think I'm more afraid of the dying process than of being dead.] Perhaps it's not normal to think of it 24/7 or to freak out so badly that you don't live your life, but it -is- normal for folks to go through the grieving process when they lose a loved one, or when they learn that they themselves are about to die.

Also, I think that the fear that comes with watching a loved one die is more that one can't be around that person any more; they are now separated by a chasm that can't be breached, and for some of us, that's also very traumatic...even if we believe in an afterlife.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts on the matter.

Being afraid of death is normal, but it's still not realistic.