"The dark side is hipper than ever, with macabre makeup and lots of black"

The original article can be found here.

My Response
The article "Gothic Glory" in The Democrat & Chronicle was an interesting one. I felt that it went a little ways in explaining the culture and flavor of goth. One thing that John Hughes does not mention is that goths are, on average, some of the most intelligent people in society today. We say that there are no requirements to be a goth, but there are some unspoken ones (in my opinion). Goths read. I haven’t met a goth yet that hasn’t read a plethora of books, ranging from MacBeth to H.P. Lovecraft, and, of course, Edgar Allen Poe. We are artists, musicians, poets, and playwrights.

I think that it’s good that the article mentioned that many goths do not fear death. Most are quite scholarly and either look at death as the next question, or have made peace with themselves and do not spend time worrying about what may come next.

However I feel compelled to point out some things which are, in my opinion, errors. The success of Marilyn Manson, for instance, is attributed to the interest of the goth community in him. In my experience this has been shown to be the other way around. Rather, the interest in the goth community has arisen from an interest in Marilyn Manson. Many "real-goths" (not trendy poseurs) would not listen to Manson if the speakers were implanted in their ears. The next paragraph says, "‘What other culture could allow men to be women, women to be whores, and drugs’ to be accepted." This statement is a half-truth in a negative light. Yes, men are allowed to dress like women. After all, women have been dressing like men for decades: pants. As for women being whores, this is the crudest statement I’ve heard on the subject. Women are equal to men in the goth culture. In popular culture, a promiscuous man is called a stud. A promiscuous woman is called a whore. Any double standard there? It doesn’t exist in goth culture. As for drugs being accepted, that’s more of an opinion than fact. Some goths use drugs, some don’t. I, for one, am what might be called a ‘straight-edge’ goth: no alcohol, no smoking, no drugs. I care about myself.

The biggest point of goth culture that this article touches on is that it can’t be categorized well. Not all goths wear black. Not all goths wear makeup. I, for one, would look silly in eyeliner, base, and nail polish (or even a dress like they mention). It’s a matter of style. Some effeminate guys go for the androgynous look, wearing poet’s shirts, tights, makeup or dresses. Others who are bigger go for the villain look: large, dark, and intimidating. Music ranges from female vocals to dark industrial. Movies may be horror flicks to tragedies to dark comedy. However the one thing that links all things gothic is passion; passion for life, passion for death, passion for art, passion for intellect.