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It is basically
indefinable, because "Goth" means different things to each follower.
Many adopt unusual fashions in order to separate themselves from other
youth. Gordon A. Crews, associate dean of the School of Justice Studies
at Roger Williams University in Bristol, CT is an investigator of
what he calls the "occult"
which-- in his opinion -- includes the Goth culture. He said:
"It is up to the individual to define what Goth is for
themselves ... The mentality is, 'I want to be left alone but I want to be
seen. I want to see the shock on other peoples' faces."
Some factors that
are commonly observed are:
- Its unique
music, art and literature.
- The use of
extreme black clothing, light colored makeup, unusual hair styles, body
piercing, bondage items, etc.
- A fascination
with medieval, Victorian and Edwardian history.
- Wearing of
symbols such as a Christian cross; an Egyptian ankh or "Eye of Ra,"
or "Eye of Horus;" a
Wiccan pentacle, a
Satanic inverted pentacle. etc. 14
- Goths tend to be
non-violent, pacifistic, passive, and tolerant. Many in the media have
mistakenly associated Goth with extreme violence and hatred of minorities,
white supremacy, etc.
-
Many Goths write about being depressed.
Followers seem sullen and withdrawn, when in public. They are
often much more "happy and carefree in the company of [other] Goths."
1 Examples of
depression are:
- "Tigriss,"
commenting on her own life, writes: "So my gothic persona fit me
quite well. My black clothing and dark music aptly reflected my own
depression, pain, and anger which was what I made most of my life about.
Most of my goth friends had dysfunctional families and troubled
childhoods as mine. We could identify with each other through our dark
make-up and painful pasts." 12
- Researcher
Jasin Tamlin comments: "If you take a look at the 640 sites that are
listed on the Gothic Web Ring, you will find many of them filled with
desperation, depression, anger, hatred, despair and angst."
The five-pointed
star, or pentagram is one of the most potent, powerful, and persistent
symbols in human history. It has been important to almost every ancient
culture, from the Mayans of Latin America, to India, China, Greece, and
Egypt. It has been found scratched on the walls of Neolithic caves, and in
Babylonian drawings, where it marks the pattern the planet Venus makes on
its travels- a secret symbol of the Goddess Ishtar. Scriptures, especially
Hebrew, are abundant with references to pentagrams.
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