User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Goth subculture

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In the late 1970s, one of the first usages of the "gothic" term (as applied to music) was by Joy Division's manager, it was not until the early 1980s that gothic rock became a coherent music subgenre within post-punk, and that followers of these bands started to come together as a distinctly recognisable movement.

The bands that defined and embraced the gothic rock genre included Bauhaus, ^[1] early Adam and the Ants,^[2] The Birthday Party,^[3] Southern Death Cult, Specimen, Sex Gang Children, UK Decay, Virgin Prunes, Killing Joke and the later incarnations of The Damned.^[4]

By the mid-1980s, bands began proliferating and became increasingly popular, including The Sisters of Mercy, Dead Can Dance, and Fields of the Nephilim. The 1990s the goth "movement went underground and fractured into cyber goth, Christian goth, industrial goth, medieval goth and the latest sub-genre, zombie goth."^[5] "goth hit the mainstream" crossbred with electronica and heard iheavy metal in the form of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson."^[6]

Gothic literature combines dark elements of both horror and romance: Throughout the evolution of goth subculture, classic romantic, Gothic and horror literature has played a significant role. E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822), Edgar Allan Poe^[7]

The gothic subculture has influenced different artists—not only musicians—but also painters and photographers. In particular their work is based on mystic, morbid and romantic motifs. In photography and painting the spectrum varies from erotic artwork to romantic images of vampires or ghosts. Gothic fashion is stereotyped as conspicuously dark, eerie, mysterious, complex and exotic.^[8] Typical gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, dark eyeliner, black fingernails and black period-styled clothing; goths may or may not have piercings. Styles are often borrowed from the Elizabethan, Victorian or medieval period and often express pagan, occult or other religious imagery.^[9]

The re-imagining of the vampire continued with the release of Poppy Z. Brite's book Lost Souls in October 1992. Neil Gaiman's acclaimed graphic novel series The Sandman influenced goths with characters like the dark, brooding Dream and his sister Death. Mick Mercer's 2002 release 21st Century Goth explored the modern state of the goth scene around the world.

The scene still exists in the present time. In Western Europe, there are large annual festivals mainly in Germany,

A 2004 article by Amy Wilkins describes the atmosphere in a goth club, where goths wear "...black fetish wear, leather and PVC, and dog collars and leashes". Wilkins states that while some "...men “gender blend,” wearing makeup and skirts, the women are dressed in sexy feminine outfits."^[10] Wilkins states that the goth "...scene’s celebration of active sexuality" enables goth women "...to resist mainstream notions of passive femininity." ^[11] Goth women have an "active sexuality" approach which creates "gender egalitarianism within the Goth scene", as it "allows them to engage in sexual play with multiple partners while sidestepping most of the stigma and dangers that women who engage in such behavior outside the Goth scene frequently incur", while continuing to "...see themselves as strong and independent."^[12]

Many members of the goth scene "...claim overlapping memberships in the queer, polyamorous, bondage-discipline/sadomasochism, and pagan communities.^[13]

Goth women wear "...highly sexualized" outfits that "fetishiz[e] the whore, combining corsets with short skirts and fishnet stockings."^[14]

Since the late 1970s, the UK goth scene refused "traditional standards of sexual propriety" and accepted and celebrated "unusual, bizarre or deviant sexual practices." ^[15]

While goth is "considered a music-based scene", "...to be Goth implies much more than shared musical tastes; it is... an “aesthetic,” a particular way of seeing and of being seen."^[16]

In 2004, Amy Wilkins wrote that goths are "...demographically homogeneous: With a few exceptions,...Goths are youth or young adults, white, middle class, college educated, liberal..., unmarried, and childless." As well, they are "...technologically adept" and "...they spend an enormous amount of time online".^[17]

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• Savage Garden Toronto, Canada

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• Generation Gothic

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• Vampyria Gothic Cafè

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• Heart of Darkness

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• Batcave, London, England

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• Devilles, Manchester, England

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• Xclusiv nightclub, West Yorkshire, England

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• Area 51, Salt Lake City, Utah

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• Xmortis, Boston, Massachusetts

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• Phantasy Theater, Cleveland, Ohio

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• Release the Bats, Los Angeles, California

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• Bar Sinister, Los Angeles, California

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• Das Bunker, Los Angeles, California

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• Neo, Chicago, Illinois

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• Wax Trax Records store, Chicago, Illinois

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• Downtime (Albion/Batcave), New York, New York

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• The Limelight, New York, New York

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• Pyramid Club, New York, New York

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• Trash and Vaudeville, New York, New York

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• Death Guild, San Francisco, California

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• Fresno Goth, Fresno, California

Kimveer Singh Gill, the Canadian perpetrator of the Dawson College shooting at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 13, 2006^[18], who committed suicide after the attack, wrote in his online journal: "I’m so sick of hearing about jocks and preps making life hard for the goths and others who look different, or are different.^[19] Gill described himself in his profile on Vampirefreaks.com as "...Trench...the Angel of Death." Gill's profile stated that "Metal and Goth kick ass."^[18] An online image gallery on Gill's Vampirefreaks.com blog, under his handle "fatality666" contained more than 50 photos depicting him in various poses. In several images, Gill either points a Beretta Cx4 Storm semi-automatic carbine at the camera, or wears a long black trench coat and what he identifies as combat boots.^[20]Gill's self-professed love of Goth culture was the topic of media interest, and it was widely reported that the word "Goth", in Gill's writings, was a reference to the alternative industrial and goth subculture rather than a reference to the unrelated and lesser known gothic rock music.^[21] Mick Mercer stated, of Kimveer Gill, that he was "not a Goth. Never a Goth. The bands he listed as his chosen form of ear-bashing were relentlessly metal and standard grunge, rock and goth metal, with some industrial presence.", "Kimveer Gill listened to metal", "He had nothing whatsoever to do with Goth" and further commented "I realise that like many Neos, Kimveer Gill may even have believed he somehow was a Goth, because they're only really noted for spectacularly missing the point." Mercer emphasized that he was not blaming Heavy Metal music for Gill's actions and "It doesn’t matter actually what music he liked."^[22]