i was just wondering afew things about the gothic lifestyle...

do you have to wear dark clothes and makeup to be gothic?

dont you get sick of wearing dark clothes and applying dark makeup constantly?

do you think its worth being goth taking into consideration the negative reactions you recieve constantly by nongoths which sometimes bring sadness to you? why or why not?

1. No

2. Its not a prerequisite of being goth, therefore you only do it if you wish, therefore you wont get sick of it

3. 'worth'? please explain yourself, because 'worth being goth' sounds like you are intimating that goth is something a person puts on every day, a facade, whereas for most it is contrary to that, they live a gothic lifestyle.

My Opinions of the "Gothic" Lifestyle in reference to your questions are as follows:

Question # 1: No

Question # 2: No ....but thats probably because i dont use any makup, and i am comfortable in dark clothes, However, i don't wear them constantly. Just about 95% of the time

Question # 3: The few negative reactions i recieve certainly don't bother me, i usually just laugh them off. Certainly nothing anyone says to me regarding this will bring me sadness, i mean, like who cares what others ppl think, you are you, and thus should be happy with that. If you live in the darkness, its because you chose to live in the darkness, obviously something about it makes you happy, or you love something about it.

There is much beauty to be seen in this lifestyle...for those who cannot see it...that is thier choice.

PS: in regards to question #3 ... also what Sybelle said above.

worth being goth meaning is it worth wearing dark clothes and applying dark makeup when you know you will probably recieve negative reactions from nongoths which might get you angry or sadden you... ?

its not really a matter of worth, its a lifestyle. Its just something you do...naturally. Others reactions shall have no bearing.

yes, One said it- that was the point I am making. It entails no effort.

Comments about being gothic do not sadden me, it amuses me the ignorance of people who think their words affect me.
What would affect me would be someone being personal- "you're fat" or "you have a big nose"

I think the majority would agree..

well taking into consideration that you dont apply dark makeup on yourself, people then probably dont give you negative reactions, atleast not all the time

but what i dont get is how some goths, who do apply dark makeup all the time and dress only in dark clothes, still live their lifestyle even though they recieve negative reactions almost on a daily basis...

we are all human, if someone says to you that you are ugly, you will mentally suffer to a certain degree, no matter how hard you try to not get affected by what that person said to you

so here's where i am stuck... i now realise my third question doesnt apply to every goth, its for goths who use makeup and jewellery and piercings and tattoos...

i should have rephrased my third question...

what i really meant to ask was... doesnt negative reactions from people affect you in a negative way mentally? for example, if someone keeps asking you why you dress gothic etc, wont you get irritated by him or her? now is that irritation or any other form of negative emotion worth you living a gothic lifestyle?

Ok, well lets put it this way... If you wear makup its because you chose to wear makeup, its not because you live a gothic lifestyle, yes, maybe you do live one, but that certainly is not the sole reason you would wear makeup. Same applies to tattoos peircings and anything of the like. Ppl wear makeup and tatts etc.. because they like to, because they like how it looks. Its decorating your body to suit a taste in which you believe to be nice, and there is nothing wrong with that. Its kinda like asking a drag queen if its worth being a drag queen because ppl bother him/her. Well i think the reaction from that person would just simply be "I dont really care what others think of me, i am who i am, and thats whom i shall be"

i agree, there's nothing wrong with expressing yourself the way you want to, even if its unconventional...

but...

i disagree with you on the reaction aspect... i believe one will suffer mentally to a certain degree if given negative reactions, no matter how hard they try not to get affected negatively... its just human nature...

You would be correct. I never really said otherwise, i just said it does not bother me, however, not too many ppl bother me. I get called morbid, and called somewhat of a freak, but only when certain ppl learn my interests, but as i said, i really dont care about that, it honestly does not hurt me in the least. Oh, and it really does not happen very often. Usually the ppl who say these things to me, continue conversation with me...they may think this way of me, but they dont really have anything against it.

i see

imagine what a peaceful and better place the world would be if people wouldnt give negative reactions to each other... it would be almost like the concept of heaven...

haha, yeah, well the world is full of assholes, and it will never change, just part of life i guess. As some people say, people suck! ....... but not all.

yeah, life is funny, sometimes its rocks but at other times it can be a real bitch

well call me crazy but i actually BELIEVE at one point in time, in the distant future, there will be no evil in the world for a certain period of time and then after that, the world will come to an end

you see, as i was born into a muslim family, i have been exposed to the religion of islam... its holy book, the quran, has lots of prophecies all of which have come true and the above is another prophecy in the book

so you see, even though im not religious at all, infact hate organized religion, i still believe in these prophecies

well I have a tendency to be melancholy and pessimistic, self indulgent and pitying, pathetic, im very self-depreciating so I dont think anyone could be nastier to me than I am to myself.

so if being gothic doesnt necessarily have anything to do with dark clothes/makeup/piercings/tattoos, then how is a goth defined? what is a goth? why?

'one who sees the beauty in darkness'?

To your questions:

1) Most definately NOT. The dark clothing is just a superficial aspect that some choose to don and others do not. They have no bearing whatsoever on any member of the subculture. Its cliche.

2) I don't wear make-up. Though my wardrobe tends to be drab, I do have my colors and such. Its the same way for my girlfriend. As for anything else, see number 1.

Worth it? Heh. It isn't a question of worth. Its not a question at all. I simply fit where I fit, and thats that. You have to keep in mind that dark clothing and everything else is a cliche. I don't do it that way always, so I don't get the adverse reactons.

And now to follow up:
What you need to learn is that Goth is a mindset, plain and simple. I don't have any piercings or tattoos. I don't wear make-up, save for theater productions. These things are all material.

Goth is a mode of thought, a different way of seeing, experiencing, and interpreting things. What is that different way? Well...for me it has to do with seeing the big picture and being able to read the writing on the wall, to borrow from some stupid old phrases. Its looking at the world and seeing that things aren't as great as everyone seems to think. If this is true for more than just me, then it might be where the cliche idea that Goths are sarcastic and callous comes from. There is more to it, of course. Thats just an example.

Something else I want to address: People say, "Well, you're supposed to be non-conformist, but you all dress alike!"

There are two flaws in that. First, not all Goths dress the same. I sit here right now in baggy gray pants and a white shirt. Does that take away from anything inside me? No. Second, they can only look at the clothing. Inside the mind is where its at. Inside the mind is as different from one Goth to the next in much the same way as no two snowflakes are alike. That is an exaggeration, of course. Obviously some people can be very similar to one another. I just wished to drive home the point.

Goth can not be defined in any easy terms at all. There is not set definition because every single goth is different. There are goths from all different religious denominations from different countries, from different lifestyles, and different political parties. There is quite a full representation of backgrounds within the subculture.

If you create a definition, then you will have moronic conformists flocking to bend themselves to this definition. Remember when the Tony Hawk Pro Skater game first came out? That game essentially defined what a skater should be, what brands they should wear, and other things like that. What did we see at the same time? People rushed to become skaters. How'd they try to look? What brands did they use? Well, they bent themselves to the definition provided by the video game. To create a working definition only creates this problem. Things are bad enough; we don't need more of it.