What Do you people think about Goth people?

I am sorry if I hit a nerve.

As a person who was bullied in High School (and who went out with a sweet guy who also was), I do get that. I may be over 30 years removed from High School but I do remember how awful that felt.

Your objection is to -- you feel -- us all lumping you into one group, yes? Yet judging this entire site (which has over 200k members) by one topic, well, how does that differ?

PS The steampunk thing is different -- most of my colleagues are into it, as it goes along w/building robots.

Not only did you misaddress your post, I think thou protests far too much with you initial post/criticism.

You read a thousand page manifesto into a single sentence that only was making a single point of semantic criticism:

It's not a profound and heavy handed critique against some kind of deemed monolithic Goth culture. It's a mere observation that can be said against any one individual who claims their identity is truly individualistic even though there are thousands of like minded individuals who dress and think like them thusly literally making the idea that they are aesthetically individuals moot.

and that right there is the base "reason" for so the called individual goth.

The ' no one understands me' ... ' im always the victim' mentality.
Goth is teenage angst and depression with labels like Osiris..

there is nothing individual about dressing like a group of other people. So what if you drag the black make up on your face a little different than everyone else. You are still the same. You still capitalize on your so called horrible life and play your anger and depression like the ace card in poker. Get over it. Get a grip.

Goth and "emo" kids are allllll too much alike. The only difference is one wears baggy pants while the other wears skinny jeans.

You are all just begging for attention and wanting the world to pity you..

But, again.. you cant waste your time here as you said. Because, WE dont get it

But, beside my reaction to an overly sensitive post..

I thoroughly enjoy the teenagers who DO choose to stand out some what. I dont care if they are all wearing black make up, if some have blue mohawks or what have you.
I love love love love people to DO something different.
Everyone is so wrapped up in looking like the newest style, wearing the latest dress or showing off brand names that when I see the punk rocker kid walking down the street with a plain black jacket covered with safety pins, rainbow colored mohawk and over size steel toe boots... I smile.

When someone younger than me has a misfits shirt on, listening to ramones or black flag or even gg allen.. sweeeeet.

ripped up jeans, megadeth patches....right on..

but if you walk by me in seanjean over priced plastic stuff? sorry.
Gotta have the latest kate spade with no thought? No thanks
There is mainstream style which bores me personally, then there is a main 'stream' style that is just a bit different ..

I remember being in high school being one of the first girls to have a spike mullet.. YEAH.. shut up yall I was trying to have a joan jett hair do
But I had a spike mullet, denim jacket covered with patches and high tops so wide they looked 5 sizes too big. i was the outcast until all the other girls saw that I got to hang with all the boys haha.
High school was fun.

but then we see stuff like this.... that just.. well..

I think I broke a rib

sorry. cant take that seriously. I just wanna sprinkle his cupcake with prozac

I had a body shirt and flairs with BIG flowers on em and shoes with 4 inch heels and two inch soles.
teenage fashion disaster.

Its just some people's poor out cry through their appearance to be different.

But that's the point, they don't look different. Goths all look like they play for the same B-movie sports team.

When i got out of the army, i let my hair grow long, but soon cut it off. My hair was (and still is) thick and curly, and grown long, it was a nightmare to keep clean and neat, and largely an annoyance. In addition, i wasn't too thrilled with bell-bottom jeans or "flared" slacks, and went out of my way to find straight-leg jeans and slacks at a time when they were hard to find.

People whom others called "hippies" were often suspicious of me, and mistrustful. I'd actually have people ask me if i were a cop, because my hair was (relatively) short, and i wasn't wearing the "uniform" of the young and the hip.

I suspect that it has always been that way. To fit in, one adopts the style of the group they choose, as well as imbibing the opinions required--such as that both they are not goths, and that goths (by which they mean themselves despite having denied it) are persecuted. Young people for as long as i've been around, and including when i was young, despise their elders for being ignorant and narrow-minded. Yet there is no one more narrow-minded, and more devotedly ignorant than the adherents of any group (goths, hippies--anyone) which requires uniformity of appearance and opinion.

Responding to the title of this thread, I view people as individuals. Whether a teenager is a goth or not is a matter of indifference to me. Unlike goths, there are "popular" students who are a pain in the rear, just as some who are unpopular also happen to fall into that category. When she was in high school, my older daughter (who, unlike me when I was in high school, excelled academically) had goth friends. Even though she wasn't a goth herself, she could still relate to them. No big deal, one way or the other.

I don't give them a second thought, I get it, mommy and daddy didn't love them blah blah blah

The individual arguement can be applied to almost any social group. Take bikers for instance. Don't they all look the same, 1% patches an all. Hippies, back in the day. Cowboys, or urban cowboys. We all do it to some extent. We want to identify with our chosen social group. Individualism only goes so far.

I'm glad I didn't go to your high school. A school full of bullies, huh?

The same crap happened back in the late 60's when we grew our hair. My buddies dad told me that I'd never be a race car driver with long hair. Then Jackie Stewart came along.

Personally I don't particularly like it - my niece, a teenager, is into it - it is a style that lots of teens like. That is how I see it. And she does still look cute - just not something I like and fortunately my kids don't either.

By the way, I looked quite our of place going into the local goth style store to get my niece a present. I laughed when the girl at the counter asked if I wanted a frequent shopper card.

I had spiked hair too - it was fun.

I don't get this from the goth look though - the idea of being angry, etc.

I think alot of it is from the popularity of the vampire movies - my niece is not angry and is close with her parents and doesn't dress such a way for those reasons - she simply likes the look.

frank, you got my point.

Actually, it isn't true that we all dress the same. Personally, I make a lot of my clothing and jewelry by hand, so it is one of a kind. And I have worn bright tie dye, before. I don't stick to a strict, all-black outfit. Some goths do elaborate make-up and hair, while others of us, like me, do unique clothing, and normal makeup. Some goths wear skimpy cloths, others are very conservative. Some have piercings, some don't. Some like tattoos and stuff, others prefer historical dress.

I kind of got into goth style before I even knew what goth was. Many goths start inventing their own style, then discover a subculture of similar people. This does not mean we are identical. Many younger goths are what is called "baby bats", and they tend to fall into clichés. A band shirt with bondage pants does not a goth make. As they get older, though, many of these young goths branch out and get creative. Instead of dressing like their peers, they begin to make their own unique style, and listening to their own music, not just the big goth bands. I know a few artists with less than a thousand views on their songs. Most goths that are not baby bats or snobby elitists feel free to experiment with lots of colors, jewelry, music and more. The art and style is important in the subculture, and therefor experimentation is encouraged. I have never copied the outfit of anyone else, and have never looked like any other goth that I have seen. Frankly, I can't afford to buy the mainstream goth clothes. Many of my designs are inspired by nothing but personal taste, not mainstream goth. For a while I worried that it meant I wasn't really goth, just a poser, but then I realized that adding your own creativity is what the culture is about. I do lots of typically "ungoth" activities, like sports, and I just in general do what makes me happy. Really, you shouldn't try to hard to be like other people. I don't like Siouxsie very much, for example, but that doesn't make me less goth. I can feel confident working a Star Trek shirt or a cute modern dress into an outfit, without changing who I am. Some days I just want to wear boys cargo pants, a loose shirt and a neon hat, and skip goth altogether for a day. Your niece sounds like a clueless (but we love them anyway) baby bat, and will very likely either quit the subculture or evolve into a full goth.

One big thing to keep in mind: not all goths are young. Some of us are quit young, yes, but the subculture started in the early eighties, and there are people, old now, that have been in it since then. Many have raised families of their own (some are even old enough to be grandparents), and have had successful lives. There are gothic nurses, teachers, engineers, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. Personally, I hope to be a theoretical physicist someday, and do grant writing on the side. Goth isn't always an adolescent trend, it is quite often a lifestyle choice embraced by many different people.I am sorry you see us in our clichés, and that you have not met many of the unique, wonderful people involved in this diverse culture. It is a place where we can be ourselves and not face judgement from those that are different, because we know we are all different in some way. That is our ideal. If a goth wants to wear hot pink, or dance to Bollywood music (I love Indian music and jewelry), or grow old and raise children, or listen to pop, or watch mainstream TV, that is okay, or should be to those goths that aren't those obnoxious snobby "gothier than thou" types.

Please be patient with your niece. She is just trying to figure out who see is. Most young goths fall into stereotypes because that is all they know, if they are not second generation goths and do not have any gothic role models. She will either grow out of this (a distinct possibility for many), or grow into a unique, creative, beautiful goth girl, who isn't afraid to experiment with things that aren't mainstream in the goth world. I never had "goth buddies", so as the only goth in my school I guess it was easier for me to get creative and do my own thing, without worrying about elitists, but someday your niece, too, will find her own path, totally unique. If that path is uniquely goth, then good for her. Unique and goth can go together.