Gothic Culture – What is Goth?

May 1st | Music Articles

Response to The True Christian Church of Christ ( www.truechristian.com/goths.html )

What is.. or what ISN’T GOTH?

SATANISM and WITCHCRAFT: GOTH culture is NOT anti-Christian. Just because someone is not YOUR religion it DOESN’T mean they are anti-anything. Many of the gothic songs and motifs are not SATANIC. Some people believe otherwise. Often the music is about emotions or spirituality. Gothic music is not based to any specific religion. Some people identify themselves as VAMPIRES and wear fangs or colored contact lenses. This doesn’t mean they are ‘gothic’. Some people also practice WITCHCRAFT (“WICCA”) – this DOES NOT mean they are gothic. It COULD mean they practice a different religion than you do. No ONE religion is the only correct religion. A person can choose to be non-religious.

DRUGS: PEOPLE use drugs (even devout Christians), and don’t let anyone tell you differently. Well-known deadly drugs such as heroin and marijuana, as well as exotic “designer” drugs, are often used as by all types of people. This includes businessmen, housewives, mothers, fathers, and former ESPN employees. Drug use is not bound to any specific type of music listener.

HOMOSEXUALITY: All kinds of people (even Christians) may be homosexual or bisexual. This has nothing to do with ones taste in music. This is also not something you ‘decide’. Sexuality is not a ‘perversion’. Homosexuality is not a ‘crime’. Why do you think that it is?

A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE: People in general can become violent and intolerant of others – this is not based on a favorite music genre. Some people like to ‘blame’ violence on external factors (as if people are not in control of their what they do). The decision to be violent has NOTHING to do with being Goth.

THE MUSIC and the FASHION: Many people think that because someone dresses in all black they are ‘gothic’, ‘sinister’, and ‘probably up to no good’. The way someone dresses does not automatically mean they can be labeled as ‘gothic’, or any other classification.  Often people will ‘go goth’ and dress in all black without having a clue as to what is means to be ‘gothic’. Someone can wear a suit and tie and be gothic, someone can wear a pink dress and still be gothic.

Gothic is more about the understanding and embracing what most people consider ‘dark’, ‘mysterious’, and ’emotionally abstract’. A person who is gothic can be peacefully sad or emotionally aware, perhaps it can be though of as ‘happy to be sad‘. A person who is hateful, hurtful, violent, or emotionally closed is far away from being ‘gothic’.

So….What is Goth?