If you think you're "Gothic" post here and make it very clear why. I'm curious as to what misconceptions people have these days. Maybe, though, we'll get lucky and someone will post here who actually knows what they are talking about.

Sorry to come off as an ***, but 99% of people I know don't even know what Gothic truly was. Most are just hot-topic mobsters, but please please please prove me wrong so I can regain some faith in our present youth!

i have a slipknot t-shirt and a korn t-shirt!

Wait, is this the answer you want?

"Being a goth is about wearing black and being hateful to everyone, and wearing chains and looking like satan"

I'm proud.

No, last time I checked gothism was all about hating life and stuff...

Dictionary Dot Com:

<3 #3

Hahahha

lmao
the thing is, that description is wrong as well. Goth was a "style", there were gothic period authors, artists, and all of that jazz. It's more than just an angsty style of music and black clothes, and that's why I made this thread. I'm not here to make fun of people, as hard as it is not to...I want to seriously understand why these "goth" kids think the way they do. Mostly, I'm just a very curious individual

Hahha omg.

I wear ALL black and I shop at Hot Topic all the time. I also put black streaks down my face and I don't use fabric softener...because I like pain. I am soooo goth.*

*Lies

Edgar Allan Poe was the original gothic poet, but he didn't "hate life."

What are you after?

Edgar Allen Poe and his ilk who write 19th century horror?
Hairy nomandic polytheistic tribal Teutons who sack Rome?
The distinct style of architecture?

He also had sex with his cousin, but he wasn't from Alabama either...

I wasn't allowed to go to a nightwish concert because my mum didn't like the sound of "sex driven goths" she heard about.

If I'm not mistaken, it was an offshoot of punk (from the 70s, I believe, but don't quote me on that).

Well...

Shut up.

Click

[Edit: Wolfy asked for a source at first, because he's a moron and he should be shot]

You have to take into account that during that time period, it wasn't completely uncommon to marry a relative such as a cousin. It was considered more distant a relation then than it is now.

LIES. FILTHY, FILTHY LIES.

Plus, I did the report five years ago. Like I'd remember something like that.

The modern 'gothic subculture' can't be generalised. It varies quite a bit. Some 'goths' fit the stereotype of the angsty depressed teenager who craves attention and wants to be shocking/rebellious. There are also goths who smile and laugh a lot.
There are all sorts of sub-subcultures, like the goths who dress in fancy old fashioned clothing, or the ones who act vampirish. The music they listen to can range from 80s pop (The Cure) to Marilyn Manson to Norwegian black metal to EBM, and so forth.
There is all sorts of overlap within the gothic subculture, and it also overlaps with other subcultures, like punk, and possibly even cosplay (if you would consider 'Gothic Lolita' related to cosplay... I'm not actually sure).
Not all goths actually call themselves gothic, and some people say the ones that don't call themselves gothic are the only 'real' goths.
Some would say it's not a subculture, but rather it's a human archetype, in which case it would include people like Edgar Allan Poe and probably Paganini, as well as many others throughout history.

Modern day 'Goth' is just a label, nothing more, nothing less.

That's why nobody can give an exact answer, it's just way too general and broad to be able to explain, so someone decided to slap a label on those kind of people and they called it 'Goth'.

[EDIT]Speeling.[/EDIT]

Oh puh-leeze.

Why do you even give a crap? Little kids will wear these black capes and dye their hair black so they can think they look cool and tell themselves how 'goth' they are. If you really aren't one of these people, then you shouldn't give a crap about what social groups and just dress and act the way you want.

That's like people telling me I'm just a punk wannabe because of the way I dress. You know what? I don't give a crap about punks, and I don't give a crap about what people think looks punk. I just dress the way I want, I act the way I want, and I listen to whatever music I like. If that makes someone a punk or a goth, then so be it, just don't give me any of that stupid elitist crap. Give me a f***ing break!

I have to agree with Flexor on this one. Its just a stupid style, just like all the other stupid styles out there. I never really gave it much thought,

I used to have a lot of 'goth' friends in highschool, although I don't remember them ever refering to themselves as such. I recall being accused of being a goth when I was hanging out with them one day, presumably because I was wearing my black sweatshirt (I happen to like black). Which was a bit off base, since I was also wearing khakis.

I'm not the one labeling people, i'm here to get justification for their own labels.
And I care because I'm curious, if you have a problem with curiousity then move to a communist country where they think for you.

Black is slimming.

I'm not attacking you. I'm just pissed at the people who feel like they absolutely need to label everyone with a social group. I'm pissed at those kids that'll go "oh, you listen to Evanescence. You're sooooo not a real goth!"

It's like this big argument between DJs about CDs versus Vinyls. It f***ing pisses me off when some moron will say something like "CD DJs have no talent. Real DJs use vinyl", just because they're the 'in' thing and they think they're so old school.

Oh my bad, sorry for the misunderstanding.
I also agree about the labeling, I don't label myself or anyone. That's why I'm curious to learn about why people label themselves. I guess the most that I do in that respect is mentally put my friends into "groups", but even that is basically just a mental guideline and nothing I think of as "that's who they are"

I blame this stupid english language and it's lack of impersonal 'you' pronoun.

That's why I wear it...

Damn, they've discovered my secret!

why am I gothy?

- I 'm vampire obsessed, to the point where i have drunk blood and ALWAYS bite my women or have them bite me.

- To rebel against all the stupid pikey/jock/normal losers.

- Cos my favourite music is considered goth music...
Apocalyptica, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil...

- and cos I look hot with black hair!

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

and your vampire blood failed today, you even admitted it

you look hotter with lighter hair, so that point is moot.

aww, that makes me sad, since I'm probably a normal loser. Then again, I don't know too many normal people who are obsessed with broadway, so maybe I'm safe.

We had a discussion in Art History a while back about why people who were "goths" called themselves such. We came up with, say, gargoyles for example. I don't know how many gargoyles you've seen but suffice it to say they had a bit of a creepy imaginaiton. looking at the art from the time period it was mostly religious, but most of it focused on the pain of the crucifixion (wow, yeah, I can't spell) as opposed to most other time periods, which focused mainly on aesthetics. the architecture was rather somber and imposing, even if it is magnificent, and the time period in history was not quite a happy one. you know, lousy life for the majority of the population, starvation. looking at fairy tales from the time period, all that the peasants wished for was a good meal, or a feast of some sort when given the chance. in the origional cinderella, the prince wanted her for her apple tree, that only she could get the fruit off of or some such thing. but I digress. it was mostly the art of the period that we came up with.

My $.02

YOU LAUGH AT ME BECAUSE I'M DIFFERENT, I LAUGH AT YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL THE SAME

And I laugh at you because there's a man eating lion behind you.

I have a black leather trench coat and other black clothes I can wear together.

But I just look sexy, not gothy.

The Goths were a Germanic Barbarian tribe that fought Rome. They have since died out and become part of other nations.

I like to play Gothic. Does that count?

i completely win on that last part