Gothic culture is a multifaceted entity with several different aspects; there are at least three major ones that compose the subculture. One is being involved in the gothic social scene -- especially frequenting clubs and knowing others involved in the scene. To outsiders, gothic is almost always evaluated and judged by what is known of the visible social scene. The social scene ideally facilitates the exchange of ideas and draws individuals of like mind and interests together. In reality, the scene is most often a social group similar to other social groups and cliques in structure and function, i.e. it provides a sense of belonging, contains unspoken social hierarchies, establishes norms of social behavior, etc. It must be noted that gaining acceptance in the social scene is not necessarily an interest of everyone involved in gothic culture. It often becomes progressively less important to individuals as they grow older through their 20's and 30's. Another essential aspect is having a gothic personality. In short, this includes individualism, an interest in the darker side of life and the supernatural, focus on beauty and dark aesthetics, art, emotion, creativity, intellectualism, mystery, and drama. Almost everyone in the subculture would probably agree that possessing the gothic personality is ultimately what makes someone gothic. The last is a passion for gothic music. The subculture is a musically based and driven one; the music is what holds the social scene together. As the music changes, the direction of the scene changes. Music is most often the reason cited for continued involvement in gothic culture over the years. Read through the Music category for more. These three aspects of gothic culture are interdependent in many ways; they are intertwined to make up the whole picture. However, each of the three does not possess the same amount of importance to different individuals; some people may only be involved in one or two of those three aspects. Further examination follows.

Social Scene Dressing a certain way -- In order to identify him or herself as Gothic to other Gothics, a person would do this through dress. See common culture under fashion. At first, one's appearance is an identifying factor. It initiates the belief within the group that this person should be considered one of them. However, it often takes further investigation to decide whether or not this person should actually be considered gothic. The way a person dresses alone does not automatically make a Gothic. For some people, the image of being Gothic is shed as easily as taking off those gothic clothes. Having the "gothic mentality" -- This category indicates what a person is like inside. Several of the following questions will help to get an indication of whether someone is "Goth on the inside." These are questions that come to mind, whether consciously realized or not, when evaluating if someone is gothic: Is this something you are doing in order to look cool or to gain acceptance, or is it who you are? Are you willing to stand up for yourself in the face of normal society, daring to be different despite ridicule, harassment and prejudice? Are you getting into Goth because you're following a trend? What is your depth of knowledge of gothic music and culture? What are your similar values or traits that you should be accepted for -- i.e. are you pensive, artistic, gloomy, moody, or dreary? Are you fascinated with the mysterious, the supernatural, and the beautiful? Listening to certain music -- This includes such things as: the amount of time someone has liked a band, how underground the band is and that person's passion for it -- how much he/she knows about the band, how many CD's he/she has. It also relates to what a person wears (band T-shirts or stickers). See Relevant Music Classifications. The music plays different roles to different people. Some people enjoy Gothic only for its social or aesthetic aspects and never seek to listen to more than the most popular and well-known of Goth bands. True dedication to gothic culture is often displayed in one's span of music knowledge. A related phenomenon occurs to display that dedication: mouthing the lyrics to songs at a club. The occurrence of lip synching or singing along will vary in different cities with different scenes. It is often used to show others that a person knows the song and is more into that band than those who don't appear to know the lyrics. This category also includes familiarity with other media, such as movies and books, etc. However, these count to a lesser extent and do not qualify alone. Knowing certain people -- Unfortunately, this often seems to be the biggest factor in whether or not someone is considered gothic by the social scene. If a person is accepted by the most infamous members of the social group, that is often automatic grounds for being considered Goth no matter the length of time in the scene, how extreme that person looks, or musical preference. Perhaps the assumption is that their standards for someone being Goth are fairly strict because they have suffered the most persecution, prejudice and ridicule to be a part of it. These standards in no way mean that infamous Goths will not accept another as a friend if they are not gothic. The standards only apply to accepting someone as a Gothic. People who have been around the longest in the scene tend to be the most infamous and/or most respected. It is because they have proven consistently over time that it is not a phase, but part of who they are

Drugs and sex are the fastest way for someone to initially become accepted in the gothic social scene, but obviously not the only way. They are the fastest methods because they allow a person to meet and create quick superficial connections to others. Not everyone takes that route in meeting people when they first become involved in a scene. What follows is an observation of the general criteria that the gothic social scene will use to evaluate whether someone should be considered Gothic. Categories two, three and four are the biggest test of "true Gothness."

Why Cut Yourself? "The practice is most prevalent among abuse survivors, in gangs or prisons, and among teenagers. Young cutters carve words, pictures, and punctures into their skin using Swiss Army knives, paper clips, scissors, tacks or fingernails. They cut to get attention, or to avoid suicide by substituting a physical pain for a nebulous inner pain they can't control, or to acquire a sense of focus." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "They cut to get attention": These youths will make shallow cuts in obvious or semi-obvious areas, like the inner arm, usually with a razor blade. It will be in a place that can be hidden by clothing from parents or teachers. However, they will want friends or others to be observant enough to notice and care. This person is not actually suicidal. They want someone to notice even though they may hide their cuts and scars. "To avoid suicide by substituting a physical pain for a nebulous inner pain they can't control": These people are not necessarily suicidal, but definitely filled with an overwhelming emotional pain. Physical pain can be induced to distract the person from their inner pain and give it a tangible symbolic form. Since physical pain heals, the act of cutting is a symbolic action to release inner pain and allow it to heal. The cuts and scars are also symbols to remember past pain and the fact that they've survived it. People cut themselves in a symbolic attempt to release emotional pain, whether or not the thought of suicide actually entered their mind. Cutting yourself as a form of self-punishment also falls into this category. "To acquire a sense of focus": People who try to achieve focus despite pain are testing the limits of mind over matter and experimenting with their pain tolerance level, to see if they can take it. People who focus on the pain are trying to overwhelm any other trivialities which may be distracting them. They are trying to become more in touch with their body and its mortality. Another reason not mentioned in the article is experimentation/imitation. A person may grow curious about the sensation. They'll do it for purely experimental reasons -- to see what if feels like, what it looks like, how it scars. Imitation is also relevant here. Some youths get the idea for self-cutting by knowing others who have done it. Curiosity, or a desire to be like that person, will make them try it. Although in this case, it is to gain respect of those who also cut themselves

Blood Drinking? Blood drinking differ from the act of cutting oneself. The motivations might be the same, but the desired ends can be different. Blood drinking can be solitary, between two people or in a group -- whereas cutting oneself is almost always solitary. The main difference between the two is that the focus is more on the blood than the pain with blood drinking. Blood has historically been a powerful symbol in literature and art, signifying both life and death. Blood drinking and blood letting are always a case of taking the symbolic into the literal. Vampiric imitation - Movies and other pop culture in the past years have done much to romanticize vampires. Vampires were once represented as demons and creatures of the devil in folklore. They were surrounded by superstitions concerning garlic, holy water and crosses. These days, partially due to contemporary authors such as Anne Rice, vampires have shed much of their superstitious air and come to embody the darker desires of humanity's ideal. The vampire has become a sensual creature of passion and beauty, immortally young, powerful, and free of inhibition. The vampire is no longer the murderous demon, but a symbol of what humanity wishes it could be: fearless, immortal, indulgent, powerful. I think that almost all young kids have a fascination or interest with the supernatural (aliens, monsters, fairies, witches and vampires). Some don't ever pursue it. Teenagers especially tend to find the vampiric symbol attractive when they reach a time in life when they feel very powerless, restricted, uncertain and anxious. This category consists of people who find pleasure in imitating the vampiric lifestyle. Some take it fairly seriously indeed. They do not kill to get blood, but they will drink from themselves or any willing donors using controlled cutting techniques (such as using a surgical or exacto knife or any other cutting tool that is precise, sharp and sterile). These people do not necessarily think they are vampires, but they enjoy playing the part. They are not usually the type to drink blood from a glass or drink an animal's blood. This category does not necessarily have anything to do with blood drinking as part of an erotic experience, although it can. Curiosity and experimentation - Some people will try it just to see what it tastes like, how it feels, how the blood flows, what it looks like. These cuts will usually be made with razor blades or more crude knives (such as a pocket knife, kitchen knife or makeshift sharp tool). These cuts are usually fairly superficial and made in an easy to hide area such as the inner arm. This person will most likely end up doing it alone, but sometimes might be a part of a group that begins experimenting with blood letting and blood drinking. Erotic experience - Sex is a way to share yourself with your partner. For some people, blood drinking can also be a part of this sharing experience. Often it is viewed as a more deeply bonding and erotic way to experience the essence of another person. It is the ultimate way to symbolically share your life with another. This would be an entirely consensual experience and perhaps a part of some fantasy role playing. This category always has to do with blood drinking as a sensual pleasure in an erotic exchange, although factors such as curiosity or vampiric fantasies may also play a part. As far as blood extraction, I have been told that if you suck on a particular part of the skin in a certain way for long enough, blood will come out. Sometimes blood is extracted by controlled cutting, or (depending on the inclination of those involved) with teeth or nails for those who into more "rough" sex or a "primal" experience. Extremists: killers, religious cults, fanatics - There are some people that are extremists who practice blood letting and blood drinking for entirely different motivations than all of the aforementioned categories. These groups might kill a human or animal to get blood. They might drink it out of a glass. They may offer bloodshed as a religious offering and sacrifice. They may drink or let blood as part of a ceremonial ritual. These extremists often believe that blood is a powerful agent, that it can help one gain immortality. They use it to worship a deity. Blood letting or drinking may rarely also be a motivation for murder. There are a few people who sincerely believe they actually are vampires and are obsessed with vampires to the extent of becoming a fanatic. This person is not really religiously or homicidally motivated; they are delusional and probably disturbed. At the very least, they have lost the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. These groups or individual extremists are very relatively small in number. Their fanaticism or criminal activity lands them in the media spotlight at times, but the destructive groups are not the whole of those who practice blood letting or blood drinking. An overwhelming majority of people who have engaged in an act of blood drinking will never come close to this category.

Death I'm sure you've heard it said that Gothics are fascinated with, fixated on, obsessed with death. Personally, I'm scared to death of death and I try not to dwell on the thought of dying. I'll deal with it when it comes, right now I'm worrying about life. I can't believe that Gothics are accused of being fixated on death, a statement which immediately makes "normal" people feel morally superior to those sick and degenerate Goths. The truth is, all of humanity is fixated on death, just as much as Gothics, but in a more subtle way. Gothics are merely an exaggeration of that side of the human psyche. They represent outwardly the dark obsessions that linger in the back of everyone's mind. Death -- in literature, in life, in religion -- has always been the single driving force in so many of humanity's efforts. Gothics tend to make their feelings about death a little more open than the rest of the world. For some, it is an acceptance of the inevitable that makes them appreciate life and live it to the fullest from day to day. Whether or not the moral right approves of the way they choose to live that life is not relevant. Before you point a finger at Goths to call them "disturbed" because of their "obsession with death" perhaps you should count how many times you heard about death on the news, how many times you thought about it today, how many people died in the TV show you just saw or the movie you just watched, and how many times you've contemplated what happens after death. Then perhaps you will put do

Depression Are goths really depressed? Yes and no. Some are, some aren't. Often what people say about their feelings of depression are quite different than how they really feel. I didn't ask anyone in my interviews about depression because of that reason, I knew I wouldn't get a truly honest answer. It's hard to say one way or the other if Goths are more depressed than anyone else, but here is my theory on the subject matter (for what it's worth): In everyday society, depression is seen as an abnormality, something that must be pushed down. People are encouraged to put on a happy face and act as if everything is wonderful, especially at work. Depression and sadness are viewed as a symptom of something being wrong with the person, something that must be fixed. Adolescence is a time of depression for many, and they feel the pressure from family, friends or teachers to be the "perfect" child and not show when something is wrong. They may feel incredible pain, but don't want to be looked down on for it as if they are abnormal. Some people find Gothic culture to be one group of people that say, "We know you are depressed, it's okay. We don't think any less of you for it, here's your chance to be depressed, to not push those feelings down anymore. We'll accept you all the more for it." Goths happen to have a preference for black, for mystery, and they tend to like depressing music. Although not all gothic music is depressing, nor is all depressing music gothic, it definitely does a lot to classify a band as goth if they are depressing. People find an expression of these feelings in the music and in the people who are feeling the same and going through the same things they are. This helps them to feel better about their situation, to have someone to relate to. Most people in Goth who are depressed were depressed before they got into goth. I think it would be interesting to see someone do a scientific study on Goths, to determine if a large percentage of them would be diagnosed with a chemical imbalance, clinically depressed. Everyone will say that they have felt this way all their lives, they just haven't always had an extreme appearance. While I don't believe goths in general are necessarily more depressed than any other group, depression comes to be a feeling that Goth personifies. It is one emotion that typifies goth best. Punk represents rebellion, Industrial represents anger, Goth represents sadness. These days people feel so alienated from each other that everyone has broken off into small groups, latched onto something very specific (race, music, an idea), and formed a culture surrounding it. People belong to these subcultures in order to really feel as if they own something, are a part of something. Subcultures take an idea and exaggerate it, focus on it to the point where they typify it. This exaggeration of the beauty of sadness in Gothic culture leads people to think that Goths are more depressed than other groups. I doubt that they are in a significant way, but it is possible. It's also possible that this is just the impression people get about Gothic because it is just that, an exaggeration. Goth happens to be a group of creative individuals, most are artists in some way. Artists have long had the reputation for depression or mental instability, whether it be a valid reputation or not. I think at the very least, this is an image that Goth tries to embody, i.e. the tortured artist. In goth, it's hard to separate the artist from the torture. A few things I have learned about Goths in general: they tend to be very emotionally focused and driven, sensitive, creative in some way. They focus on the supernatural over the natural, congregate in clubs, and are held together by the music. They tend to have a lot of the same experiences in life. They are an urban occurrence and mostly a white subculture (not out of racism, but just because most minority youths have a much more dominant subculture to belong to. Rap, R&B, Hip Hop, Soul, or gangsta type music etc. is what they identify with more than Goth, and it is where they better fulfill their need to belong. A racial subculture is a much more powerful pull than goth culture, a musical subculture, to most minorities). They become an exclusive club, not understanding the other subcultures or even the parent culture after some time. Being Goth doesn't necessarily make one sad, but I do believe that people can easily become trapped in their own expectations from themselves and absorb the energy of their appearance and those they surround themselves with. Such as, if you were a cheerful person to begin with, and you liked the music, attitude and dress of Gothic, when you get into the scene, you are more likely to meet and become friends with those like yourself who take a positive view of gothic, people who aren't moping. However if you are a depressed type of person normally, you start wearing all black and listening to depressing music and becoming friends with people who are similarly depressed, you might begin wallowing in that depression, which is not good. It might help you to feel you are letting out all these bad feelings, that you have someone who will take you seriously about your depression and someone who can relate. However, as I've said, people absorb what they surround themselves with, and if you constantly surround yourself with the depressing aspects of Goth, then it's pretty hard to see the fun, creative, inspiring part of it. People can often wrap themselves up in their own dramas, and take themselves too seriously. People can start taking the image and stereotype of being depressed and being goth too seriously, so that they find themselves living up to an image and don't allow balance in their lives. They close themselves off to thoughts or clothes or activities that don't fit this image. That's when being goth can lead to someone causing more depression for themselves. But as I always have said, it depends on what the person was like beforehand and how they perceive goth as to what it means to them. It is the chicken and egg sort of argument: was the person depressed and because of that became gothic, or did they become gothic and it made them depressed? In recent years, the term perky goth has emerged which challenges the whole idea that gothic typifies sadness. The bottom line is that being Goth does not necessarily mean being depressed. I would say (and I would hope) that most Goths attempt to keep a balance in their lives. While they are capable of feeling extreme sadness, they are also capable of experiencing true joy. To some, Goth only says that sadness, like happiness, has its own majestic beauty and must be embraced as a valid emotion, not pushed down as an abnormality

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