So here, in all of its glory, is my responce. Some of it has been altered from my origional responce, as I don't want the average densin of the Net knowing the company I work for.
Questionnaire: What is a "Goth"
1. What is your name? (Please put here any identifying information you would like them to have, I would suggest legal name, including any titles you might hold, and if applicable nickname also)
I'm (I put my name here). I'm 18 years old. I was formerly in student government on campus, I served as the chair of the (really impressive sounding committe), and I worked on hosts of various sub-committees. I was active in the founding of the Colorado Higher Education Funding project. I am no longer a student, and I hold a steady job as the CAO of (this is where I put the name of my company), LLC and I am the youngest owner or major shareholder. I am an ordained minister with the Church of United Light.
My nicknames include Sea the Tank Kitty, the Mad Pirate Bippy, and Lilly. Most people in the Denver Goth scene know me as Sea or Lilly.
2. Would you consider yourself a "Goth" ?
Yes, very much so. I'm a Goth, most of my friends and lovers are Gothic, my brother and his friends are gothic, and my parents put up with it remarkably well.
3. What does being a "Goth" entail?
From the outside looking in, unnaturally colored hair, dark clothes and funny makeup. Spooky music, way too many books, and moderately detached people.
From the inside looking in, I've noticed that an overwhelming drive and thirst for knowledge and a yearning for a change in the world around us are the only real commonalities among Goths. A love of philosophy, poetry, music, art, and religious studies is very important.
A Goth could be a computer whiz who longs for complete freedom of all information, the internet in every home, and equal access to education for everyone. There are Goths that longs for the romance of the victorian era. They want chivalry to return, more vibrant prose and poetry, more elegant dress, and more beauty in our every day life. Then there are the more politically inclined goths, like myself. The common thread is intellectualism, and wishing for something more.
Most of the Goths that I know are artists. They are brilliant musicians, talented sculptors, and honest writers. I paint. A very strong part of the Goth culture is a need to create, either a new outfit or a new book. The Gothic subculture is still vibrant after being around for 30 years simply due to that fact; something new is always being created.
Goths are the beatniks of today. Some of the greatest writing of the last century came from Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck, and E.E. Cummings. While he wasn't a beatnik himself, Dillon Thomas was certainly revered, almost to the point of being popularized by beatniks. They were shiftless, funny dressing kids. The great writing of this century will probably come from people with purple hair and too much eyeliner. Change, innovation, and brilliance almost never happen at the heart of a culture, but at it's fringes. These are all necessary for a culture to continue to grow instead of stagnate.
4. What does being a "Goth" NOT entail?
Violence. Pipe Bombs. Being 14 and angry. Most of the "goths" that are scary really have very little to do with the subculture in general. They're unhappy teenagers, rebelling against everything they can. They spend their parent's money at stores like Hot Topic and dress in black to piss people off. These are not real Goths, although some of them grow up to be Goths. These are angry kids trying to stab any form of authority they can find. You can find these kids in any youth subculture, from the gang-bangers to football players. The hip-hop subculture is far more likely to hold the violent ones. The goth high school kids are more likely to be idealists, intelligent, ignored, and pissed.
5. Do you consider yourself a violent person by your nature of being a "Goth"?
That is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. When I was 15 I was potentially violent because I was powerless, in college, ignored, marginalized, and trivialized and talked down too. I was seen as a victim because of my youth and my gender. Now I've proved myself a powerful adult. I am taken seriously, despite my red and purple hair. I've got a list of accomplishments people twice my age wish they had. And the only reason I would resort to violence would be to protect my home and family, just like most people in America today.
On the contrary, I have met more pacifists who are gothic than I have in any other subculture.
The problem with youth violence has very little to do with the clothes and makeup I wear. The problems with youth violence stem from something completely different, mostly our societys ambivalance as to wanting it's teenagers dependant or independent.
6. Does the literature you read or the music you listen to affect you? Does it insight you to violence?
Of course the literature I read and the music I listen to affect me. Women cry at sad movies, people's hearts beat faster at horror films, music can elevate your spirit, and books increase your knowledge and give you new concepts and ideas. If music, literature, and art didn't affect me I would be far more abnormal than if they did.
I think it's interesting that you think gothic literature might incite violence. I didn't know that Plato, Dante, and Decart had that reputation. The music I listen to could, however it would take a while to understand the full range of music I listen too. I do listen to Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and Stained. My favorite song happens to be the Toreador Song from Beitz's classic opera, Carmen. I listen to opera, mostly french and Italian (Wagner tries to hard and I've never heard of any other decent German operatic composers) operas. Although I've never been incited to violence by the music I listen too, I usually get the house clean a lot faster with Toccata and Fugue in D minor blaring in the background.
7. What are the last three "Gothic" books you read?
The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato. I didn't absorb it all, and I'm going to read it again shortly. THINK, An introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn. And depending on what you count as gothic, the Collected Poems of Dillon Thomas or The Moral Animal, Why We Are the Way We Are.
8. What are the last three "Gothic" albums that you purchased?
Nine Inch Nails's album Pretty Hate Machine, Tool's Laturalus CD, and a 1950 something recording of Maria Callas playing Carmen in the opera, Carmen.
9. What is your highest level of education?
Some college. I stopped going, I intend to return after paying for it is no longer an issue.
10. Are you employed? What is your occupation?
I'm Chief Acquisitions Officer with (my company's name). Basically, I go out and buy houses. The company then sells them. I try to get at least a 20% profit margin for our investors. Check out Proverbs 11:16.
11. What are your hobbies?
I like reading, playing board games with friends, a little gardening, hanging out, going to nightclubs and dancing, painting, and writing. If I'm not curled up with a book in my spare time I'm loosing at chess drinking coffee with my friends. I tithe to a homeless shelter I'm fond of, and I do some charity work, but not as much as I would like. I have a small group of people that I do a religious study circle with, we're forming a small congregation that meets in my house. We prefer that to a larger church, simply because you get closer to the people you're worshiping with. There is no back row.
12. Is there anything else you would like to say about yourself as "Goth" or the Gothic culture in general? A lot of what goes on in the goth culture was made up or sensationalized after Columbine High School. I lived up the street when it happened, and I can tell you that it deeply affected everyone in Denver. A lot of very angry things were printed in the newspapers, about the police, the schools, the parents, and the kids. A lot of things were made up, things that are just starting to get cleared. The reporters wanted a story and demonized the Goth culture. It doesn't help that we tend to be easy targets. Goth is not responsible for violence, for hate, or for Columbine. That is like blaming the tragedy of September 11th on all of Islam, from the perfectly respectable practitioner to the random fanatics. The crazy violent people are crazy and violent, it doesn't matter if they read Anton Le Vay and blow up their school or read distortions of the Koran and try to blow up the Pentagon. If you want to stop youth violence in America, you're better off implementing socal skill and anger manegement classes in middle school than attacking Goths.
