Can anyone explain gothism?

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   vespawoolfposted 12 years ago

   Can anyone explain gothism?
   
   I thought it was a clothing fad of the 80's, but recently I've learned there's more to it.

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   loveofnightposted 12 years ago

   You are at the same place that I am as far as the fashion, I thought that it played a major role. My daughter considers herself goth, but I know the heart of the child. I did check the different meanings of gothism, and it doesn't sound like my child. Or am I just being a mom? I was a hippie back in the day so maybe that is why I just see my daughter as expressing herself (acording to my daughter I still am). I know that this did not answer the question at hand, but I wanted to share.

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      vespawoolfposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I appreciate your experience with your daughter. It's so difficult to decide whether a fashion is appropriate or not for our children!

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   ii3rittlesposted 12 years ago

   Honestly, I believe it to be a style children and adults adapt in order to draw negative attention to themselves as they feel the need to be looked down on by others as they look down on themselves. Kind of like reassurance. On the other hand, some people and children are just drawn to darker colors. As far as I know its just a label, like "emo" to describe a look and a preference in music. I was once called gothic, simply because I liked wearing all black and I'm a Christian. So what does that tell you? Its the way others look unto others. Its all bs trends and stereotyping.
   
   Once you accept a label, you tend to embrace it. I never excepted a label so no one can call me anything or stereotype me.

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      vespawoolfposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for an interesting look at both sides of the coin. A label can certainly make a person feel like they "belong" to a certain group.

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   Electro-Denizenposted 12 years ago

   The whole goth look really came out of the glam rock era and punk as well. The modern goth look has evolved into different areas really, from today's emo type look to the more gnarly Marilyn Manson look. I remember the dark flowing dresses the girls wore and all those pretty trinkets etc, dancing to The Cure or Sisters of Mercy...
   
   To my mind gothism has got a real element of beauty to it, and sort of facing the reality of death and our earthly limitation and incorporating it into ones look, to make it even poetic. I haven't met any  brain-dead goths to date (well,  not the old school ones anyway :-)) ). I associate being goth with a sort of gentleness and wearing dark as a statement of empathy toward our society - just like Johnny Cash - The Man in Black.... That's just a few thoughts on the matter.
   
   Oh, and Marilyn Manson in interview comes across as incredibly intelligent and left-wing, not that I listen to his music...

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      vespawoolfposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Eloquently said! Yes, MM is highly intelligent.

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   blake4dposted 12 years ago

   The goth subculture ( I am pretty sure the term gothism is the wrong grammatical usage of the word syntax, but blah bah blah, onward) or the gothic culture is a contemporary subculture found in numerous countries. The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion.  It essentially is considered to have first become and influence of note in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an more importantly it was a splinter offshoot of the post-punk genre and the late new wave scene, both being essentially punk.
   
   The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era. The music of the goth subculture encompasses a number of different styles including but not limited to some emo bands, gothic rock, deathrock, post-punk, darkwave, Ethereal, electronica, shoe gaze, gabber, ska and neoclassical. Styles of dress range from deathrock, punk and Victorian style, dark attire, makeup and hair.
   
   Designers, such as John Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, are said to create clothing and styles that are "Haute Goth", but Gothic fashion is often confused with Heavy Metal fashion, Biker fashion, and Emo fashion. Many people mistake fans of heavy metal for goth, particularly those who wear black trench coats or wear "corpse paint". This face painting is actually more associated with the black metal ir trip hop
   
   
   Gothic in reference to music was by protopunk band Joy Division producer, Tony Wilson on 15 September 1979 in an interview for the BBC TV. Wilson called Joy Division "Gothic" compared to the pop radio. The band the Misfits were a heavy influence on what is sterotypically called goth fashion. The bands of the early Gothic rock genre included Bauhaus, The Damned, The Cure, Adam and the Ants...many of these from the new wave end of punk.
   
   The evolution were more modern and currently touring bands like the Virgin Prunes, Christian Death and Killing Joke.
   
   Its imagery draws heavily on the tonal artisitic sytles from the 19th century Gothic literature, art noveau painting, ink work and woodcut art, but more importantly the earliest photography and film experiements which happened during this same time period. The majority of gothic art and albums use some form of black and white contrast,Gothic literature from Byron, Shelly, Bram Stoker, Emily Dickenson, Emily Bronte, evolved a pop culture affility for dark romantic metaphor, along with horror films and to a lesser extent the BDSM culture.

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      vespawoolfposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for a very thorough and detailed desccription of goth culture (not gothism). It sounds like Wuthering Heights! I definitely associate goth with the music and often confuse goths with the heavy metal crowd. I appreciate the clarification.

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