 Teddy Boys

 Mods

 Skinheads

 Northern Soul

 Punks

 Goths

 Emos

 Chavs –

In the 1950s, working class youths known as ‘Teddy Boys’ emulated the style of the Edwardian period, usurping the look of the upper classes and hijacking its connotations of social status.  More recently, Goths are inspired by gothic horror novels like Frankenstein and Dracula, gothic architecture and Victoriana. In the last decade a group known as ‘chavs’ has emerged. Chavs wear brands like Burberry and Rockport. They are generally depised and ridiculed by the mainstream and it’s debatable whether they constitute a subculture or an underclass. They seem to have the look, but no philosophy.

Dick Hebdige’s book Subculture: The Meaning of Style uses an extract from The Thief’s Journal by Jean Genet, describing how a tube of Vaseline found on his person is confiscated by Spanish police. This mundane object signifies his homosexuality. Hebdige argues that Genet explored the subversive implications of style. He writes, ‘Like Genet also, we are intrigued by the most mundane objects – a safety pin, a pointed shoe, a motor cycle – which, none the less, like the tube of Vaseline, take on a symbolic dimension, becoming a form of stigmata, tokens of a self-imposed exile.’ Objects can be appropriated as style and used to express identity.

Mods

Perhaps the most cosmopolitan British subculture was the Mod scene. The Mod uniform was a sharp suit with narrow lapels and frog-mouth pockets. The look was one part French cinematic élan, one part American Jazz cool and one part Italian chic. Mods were inspired by the existential cool of Jean-Paul Belmondo in A Bout de Souffle, part of the French New Wave in cinema. The cover of Miles Davis’ album Milestones inspired Mods to buy green Oxford cloth button-down shirts. Another source was Italian waiters working in Soho, who zipped around on Italian-made scooters. The Lambretta scooter was a talisman of Mod culture. The working parts were masked by a carapace, which made it ideal for sharp-suited Mods.

The mod scene was depicted in the film Quadrophenia and more recently in Brighton Rock.

Skinheads

One of the most problematic subcultures is the skinhead movement. Skinhead culture originated among white working class youths in Britain in the late 1960s. The name derives from the way they shaved their heads to produce an aggressive, militant look. We tend to associate the Skinhead look with inner-city racism, but the original skinheads united by a love of black Jamaican culture.

Since the 1950s West Indian immigrants had been settling in Britain. Skinheads often lived in the same economically depressed areas of South London as West Indian immigrants and began to emulate the rude boy look of delinquent Jamaican youth: pork pie hats and short Levi jeans. The first skinheads were greatly influenced by Jamaican music, including ska, reggae and rocksteady. The link between skinheads and Jamaican music led to the development of the skinhead reggae genre by artists like Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan and The Pioneers.

Grassroots movement is a political movement that is borne off the concept of grassroots democracy. It advocates community involvement in the decision making process and as such encourages individuals and community groups to participate in community events such as rallies and information events. Though it varies from group to group, events that are commonly held by grassroots organisations include:

• organising large gatherings
• setting up information desks and handing out leaflets
• letter, phone or email campaigns etc.

The ways by which grassroots are organised and the causes they support often vary from movement to movement. However, they all share a common element of a strong community support. But what defines a successful grassroots movements? And are they still relevant in today’s society?

Techniques

Often, grassroots movements are movements that is borne off an ideological principle. And yet, not all such principles have turned into large, concerted movement. Also, not all of them have succeeded in achieving their goals. So, what are some common elements among successful grassroots programs?

http://grassrouteguide.com/

Communication

At the heart of any successful grassroots campaign is a good communications strategy. Phone calls, letters, emails and social media are just some of the tools that could be used to this end. More often than not, a successful grassroots campaign will also makes use of other media such as the local newsletter, leaflets and posters and also other broadcast channels to make their message heard. In any grassroots campaign, it is important that messages central to the movement are communicated clearly and coherently.

Community participation

Due to its nature, grassroots movement relies heavily on community participation. Successful grassroots movements often rely on getting communities involved at the local level or at the national level. As such, many grassroots campaign will allow and even encourage participation by the general public. In addition, they often allow for many ways by which people could choose participate. People could choose to help organise activities, turn up at rallies, or just sign the petitions that are provided depending on the level of involvement that they are comfortable with. All this are done with the aim of getting extensive community support to further their cause.

Fundraisers

http://www.fundraisingalmanac.com/

Leaflets, posters and banners carry with them a cost. To pay for these and other such costs, fundraisers are often held in parallel with grassroots project. Though less exciting than other areas of activism that grassroots are engaged in, fundraisers remain a very important area for grassroots organisations. A lack of funds often means an inability for organisations to get their movements off the ground. A good fundraiser strategy can therefore be key to any successful grassroots movement.

Social Impact

Grassroots movement is a fundamental part of any democratic society. Through the ability to organise rallies and protests not only are ordinary citizens able to express their views but they are also able to alter the course of the current policy debate. Campaigns are often carried out with just such an end in mind, with rallies indicating support, or opposition to particular policy platforms. With such a tool at hand, people could encourage or prevent the adoption of particular legislative measures and hence participate in the decision-making process, a central theme in democratic societies.

They could, for instance, voice concerns over pay disputes or workplace disagreements, as in the case of union movements. They could also use grassroots platforms to raise awareness on particular issues. Human rights group and environmental activists have often organised rallies for just such a purpose. Alternatively, they could also be used to demonstrate how widespread support is for a particular cause. Petitions offer a simple way for people to do just that.

Conclusion

In sum, grassroots movements is a phenomenon that has existed for a long time. And while the advent of social media and the like have changed the way such movements are organised, similar principles are still in play today as they were years ago. Various movements, such as anti-war movements and religious groups, have successfully used grassroots movements in the past and they continue to be just as relevant today as they were then.

Mat Rempit is a term that use for person who involve with the illegal racing and do dangerous stunt at public road . Illegal racing usually held at night participate by mat Rempit most of the them are youth. Mat Rempit culture keep survive because of the influence from the friends . Also because of the idea that more faster the bike you ride more skill and famous you are . This culture keep growing because of the cost to have moped bike have the same speed with superbike is cheap. Mat Rempit also is a trend to the youth .

Shopping culture usually majority by women in Malaysia. This culture exist because of the increases of the shopping mall in the urban area. Furthermore , every year there promotion in every mall that promote less price for the item to the consumer and also to interest tourist . Shopping mall sale is something special to the person who involve with shopping culture .Person who addicted to the shopping because of desire to have something with a low price is strong even thought the quality is not good .

Graffiti actually the name for images or lettering, painted or marked on any property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. In Malaysia, graffiti is used by the youth to express their feeling and to show their talent in art. However, graffiti also use to spread massages to the public such as society awareness and political views. Person who make the graffiti usually in group so they can share same idea and interest.

The last subculture that can be found in Malaysia is K-pop. K-pop is an abbreviation of Korean pop . K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electronic, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea. K-pop has grown into a popular subculture among teenagers and young adults around the world, resulting in widespread interest in the fashion and style of Korean idol groups and singers. K-pop subculture keep growing and survive in Malaysia is because of the globalization. West countries such as US and Canada had a great influence from K-pop.

Every subculture has their own positive and negative view. For certain subculture is not suit with the norm in the society in Malaysia or Asia. Some of the subculture will keep exist until there is no more supporter and people who interest with it .

The best that can be said about subcultures is that they give people a place to go who have a common interest.  Goth devotees, for example, dress distinctively, listen to certain genres of music, and embrace the “dark” side of life. Almost all of them will tell you that they are unique and edgy, that society doesn’t understand them and they don’t care. They don’t want to live by rules, they want to be who they want to be. Yet within their own group, they are judged, gossiped about, and ostracized the same way mainstream society does people who don’t conform to its norms. Those who live a Goth life have firmly held and sometimes intractable ideas about what it means to be a so-called real Goth. These include allegiance to people who facilitate the “scene;” e.g. organize club nights and events. Those who do this organizing have a thankless job, they get little help and have to pay for much of it out of their own pockets. They do inspire a lot of loyalty, and some of this results in an attitude that these organizers can do no wrong, and that anyone who objects or criticizes is trying to tear apart the “scene.” This insular, fearful mindset is symptomatic of people who live on the fringes of the real world and cannot brook any thought of their playhouse being called into question. The Goth subculture is a prison of its own making, in many ways more harsh and with more absolute consequences than mainstream society’s of similar “transgressions.”

BDSM is very similar, and there is much crossover with Goth subculture. BDSM relies heavily on secrecy, trust, and honesty. When these things are breached, all hell breaks loose among those who feel they have been betrayed. Most in the BDSM world do not use their real names, and “outing” someone to the mainstream world is just about the worst thing you can do. BDSMers refer to non-BDSMers as “vanilla.” Vanilla people have what they consider to be conventional sexual relationships, and few to no fetishes. BDSM is all about fetishes, and the indulgence of them. This is not bad or good, and almost all BDSM groups heavily enforce their policy of SSC (safe, sane, consensual). However, they are also ripe grounds for newbies coming in looking for ‘easy’ women to abuse, as many women self-identify as submissives. Groups do their best to protect everyone, but inevitably sociopaths find their way in and gain trust, only to be playing the game long enough to get their hands on a victim. It’s a paranoid world, and insanely judgmental. The “Doms” (dominants), who are mostly men, have huge egos and when it comes to group organization each one believes he is right. They are like rutting elk, attacking and trying to diminish each other in order to have power over the direction of the group.  Many male Doms will not recognize female dominants, believing that women are inherently submissive. Oftentimes people will look down on and criticize each other’s fetishes, while spouting their personal policy of tolerance. Gossip and rumor about the behavior of Doms is rampant, and Doms will form alliances to thwart the power of other Doms. It is a world built on ego, fetish, sex, and, in many cases, women who have been emotionally damaged and have come to this lifestyle in hopes of finding an outlet for their sexual frustrations. One of the few things they all have in common is a condescending attitude toward vanilla people, and consider themselves to be truly free, open, and tolerant. As I have just described, this is rarely the case within their groups. So again, we have a subculture that asserts itself as better and more open than mainstream society that actually has more rules, more discrimination, and more judgmentalism than mainstream culture.

I have no animosity toward anyone who calls themselves a Goth, or who practices BDSM. I only serve to point out that honesty about these subcultures’ variation from normal society is in order. They are not free or tolerant in the least among themselves. Fewer people in a culture results in more personal relationships, wherein destruction of trust and friendship is much more likely. The fact that people treat anyone who deviates from their subcultural “rules” as a pariah points up the hypocrisy of such groups calling themselves open and welcoming to misfits and fetishists.

Obviously, youth cultures challenge the mainstream culture and the existing social order. The variety of youth subcultures, such as Goths, emos, punks, metalheads, and others, has one common feature which distinguishes youth subcultures from the mainstream culture. This feature is the deliberate difference of youth cultures from the mainstream culture, which can be traced in different aspects of these cultures, such as fashion, music, language, look, etc. In other words, young people attempt to use all means available to them to distinguish themselves from masses of average people. Hence, exotic or even extraordinary haircuts, clothes and other accessories and elements of culture start to replace conventional language and other elements of culture in youth subcultures.

All these changes and differences of youth subcultures from the mainstream culture are determined by the unwillingness of young people to accept norms and standards imposed on them by the ruling class. In a way, it is due to the unshaped cultural identity, young people are still able to be really independent from biases and prejudices which dominate in the mainstream culture and which shape the cultural identity of their parents and elderly people. At the same time, young people are more inclined to rebellious behavior than adult people because they have nothing to lose and they are conscious of the fact that they are just beginning their lives (Mathieson, 2000). Often, young people are convinced that they are able to change their life for better and live in a different way, their parents do.

On the other hand, they are deprived of a possibility to initiate an active social protest. For instance, they cannot start a strike and paralyze an industry or the national economy at large, as strikes organized by working people can do. They do not have political power that means that they cannot influence political life of the country nor economic one. As a result, there is a paradoxical situation: young people are conscious of the fact that the mainstream culture and the dominant social order are decaying, degrading, and destroying their truly human nature, and, instead, they impose on them their own values and standards, transforming people into consumers, deprived of soul and reason. In such a situation, young people choose the only means of social protest that is available to them, they form their own communities with their own culture, which is intentionally different and eye-catching. In such a way, young people attempt to draw the public attention and show other people that they can live in a different way, which may be better or worse, but still different. They prove to be able to challenge the system and build a small but brave new world.

The emergence of the youth subcultures is a natural response of the younger generation to the current cultural crisis. In this respect, it is important to underline the fact that young people are in the search of their cultural identity, which is not shaped. In the process of the formation of their cultural identity young people attempt to find their own place in the society and they are willing to shape their personal philosophy which can explain them fundamental issues, such as the purpose of their life, and which can form their set of values they are ready to follow in their life. In this process, young people are often very skeptical of the mainstream culture because they are tired of it in a way and, what is more, there is a problem of generation gaps. Young people are often unwilling to accept values of their parents, because they are still idealistic and in search of their way in life.

The pursuit of their own way and certain nihilism, which is the characteristic of young people, stimulates the emergence of youth subcultures which oppose to the mainstream culture or, at any rate, they represent very different alternatives to the mainstream culture.  The major reason for the emergence of the youth subcultures is the lack of the impact of the ideology of the ruling class on young people. What is meant here is the fact that the cultural identity of young people is not shaped yet and they can think independently from the established norms, standards and set of values (Andersen, 2001). They are able to challenge the fundamental values of the modern society so far, while adult and elder people are conditioned since their identity is already shaped by the ruling class through media, education and other available tools. Hence, the youth subcultures emerge naturally in the result of the shaping of cultural identity of young people, which eventually, accept the mainstream culture and lead a conventional life, because they cannot afford to maintain the alternative culture, which pushes them to the margins of the society.

Goths, Punks, Hippies etc, are all subcultures with different points of view. But the one thing they all share however is the belief that a person should be who they are, and should be free to believe what they wish.

These subcultures are supposed to celebrate individuality, and self-expression. It is pretty much a built in rule for any subculture that goes against, and challenges, the mainstream.  They are meant to welcome those who are “a bit different”, those who do not feel a connection with the mundane mainstream. After all, that is why many of them belong to these groups, the need to feel some sort of acceptance.

Emo is the latest subculture. Its name is an abbreviation of “emotional”, and that is the main function of this group. Emo’s wear their emotions on their sleeve. They embrace their emotion and attempt to channel it. Sure there is the general stereotypical image of an Emo cutting themselves, but then again, how often do you see Goths having picnics in the park at night?

Of cause Emo is synonymous with teenage angst, after all, most Emo’s are indeed teenagers. They arrive to the point in their life where they begin truly looking at the world and attempts to understand it. Like the rest of us felt during our teen angst, they see the shadows in the world. They learn of the darkness, the depression, and the pain. Many say that the culture is nothing more than teenage angst, and to be fair that is true to a point, but most people who belong to a subculture joined while in their teens. It is a normal stage, and many either decide to stay living the lifestyle, or return back to their previous life after learning a little bit about themselves and the world in general.

The closest resemblance Emo has to anything, would be to Goth. It is no surprise they evolved from the goth culture as both share quite a few similarities. But Just because Goth came first, this does not give Goth’s any right to criticize Emo as Goth itself evolved from Punk. And Punk evolved from Hippy, and so forth.

Indeed, all the subcultures (eg: cyberpunk, steampunk, rockabilly etc) evolved from something else. That is how they come into being. If Emo lasts then I am sure another subculture would be birthed through it.

So to sum up, if you belong to a subculture, and you criticise Emo, then maybe you need to learn a little more about what your culture represents.  

Myth 9: “Goth is a phase”

This one’s a real pain and is the source of a fair few of the myths we’ll look at in this second part. We’ve already seen in the first part how people’s view of Goths is largely based on media portrayals and what they personally recognise as “Goth”. Well, unfortunately for us Goths, a lot of media portrayals show teenagers in “gothic” garb. You know the stereotype, the rebellious misfit teen in edgy black t-shirts and spiky chokers, that eventually mature into “normal” people.

Well, for some people it is a phase, but for increasingly large numbers it isn’t. In fact, those who treat Goth as a phase, something you flirt with in school but “grow out of”, rarely get into the core of the scene. For many, Goth is a way of life that you grow into.

People who think of it as a phase are, whether they mean it or not, implying that Goths are immature. Okay, some Goths probably are immature, but we’re certainly not kids. I know plenty of Goths in their thirties, forties, fifties and even sixties!

As an aside about those teenaged types, in the scene we call them “Baby Bats” and a lot of people treat them as a bit of a joke, partly because their aggressively spooky personas don’t really show the scene in a good light. Still, many mature into fully-fledged Goths so I tend to try to cut them some slack. Hell, even I used to listen to Marilyn Manson un-ironically once!

Myth 10: “Goth is just teen rebellion”

Again linking to the idea of Goth as a teenage phenomenon, people outside the scene tend to think of it as a rebellious “bad girl/boy” sort of thing, linking it with punk rock’s angry energy. Well, although there’s certainly a lot of punk energy in many Goth subgenres, Goth’s thoughtful introspection and flamboyant aesthetic doesn’t really lend itself to hell-raising. I mean, how often to you see someone in a corset and bustle skirt rampaging through town on a motorbike?

Remember how we saw in the first article that Goths are often quite, introspective, slightly geeky types? A lot of Goths, far from trying to rebel against their parents, get on fine with their families, those who don’t only wish they could be accepted for what they are.

The Goth look and the lifestyle that goes with it may be unorthodox but most Goths tend not to be drawn to it because we’re “rebelling” against the norm, we just prefer it to the norm.

Myth 11: “Goths are attention seekers”

Okay, we look weird, we know that, and I can see why people would assume that we where dressing and acting the way we do to get attention. But remember when I said a lot of Goths are quite shy? A shy person isn’t likely to be an exhibitionist, right?

The truth is, most of us dress the way we do because we like it, pure and simple. Our dress sense suits our aesthetic. Just as “normal” people pick out the current fashions that suit their tastes, so do Goths.

Yes, some Goths probably do dress outlandishly because they like the attention, but most of us would prefer people didn’t stare at us, thank you very much. We do accept that of course we do look different and that will garner strange looks but that’s not why we do it. In fact, because we’d rather not get these funny looks, a lot of us save our favourite outfits for Goth-only occasions, like clubs, festivals and gigs, when we can really be ourselves.

Myth 12: “Goth is too mainstream”

Oh boy, I’ve heard this one a lot, from both people outside the scene and people on the inside too. Eldergoths (that’s people who remember the scene’s early days for you non-Goths out there) moan that being a Goth is too easy these days; Deathrockers, Trad Goths and people from other subgroups complain that the “core” of the scene aren’t proper Goths; punks accuse us of being lazy because it’s too easy to find gothy accessories and outfits; “ordinary” people can mistake the Goth scene for a mainstream-friendly way to be “different”… Oh dear.

It’s true that the mainstream just loves plucking things out of the “dark side”, Goth and punk being unwitting accomplices in this. You’ve probably seen countless high-street boutiques, fashion shoots and film costumes that borrow heavily from the Goth subculture (which links back to what I was saying about media representations of Goths).

It’s also true that, although these things might not come from the scene, some Goths love them, Baby Bats and older Goths alike. It’s certainly a lot easier than it was in the early days to find Goth-friendly clothing, accessories and goodies like dolls, home decorations and even greetings cards.

Now, I have to say, this is a bit of a double-edged sword. It’s great that the mainstream is slowly becoming more accepting of Goths, because that means less violence, less hostility and less of those stupid news reports about Goth “cults”. On the downside, it means it’s harder and harder to work out what has come from within the subculture and to support it, and it also makes it more difficult to work out if you’re skull-sporting friend is a fellow Goth or just someone who shops at Claire’s Accessories. It also makes it harder to explain to people what Goth is, as they assume they know.

It’s worth bearing in mind that a lot of “off-the-shelf-Goth” labels started off as small scale productions made good: Alchemy Gothic, producers of beautiful pewter jewellery beloved of Goths the world over, started off in 1977 with a pair of friends making pin badges for friends in the punk scene. Other companies aiming at Goths might not have quite the same credentials, though, after all even Mattel produced a “Goth” Barbie a few years back.

Where possible, many Goths prefer to make or adapt their own clothes, or support independent designers, partly because the scene has to support itself somehow and partly because, well, having an outfit as unique as you are is always fun.

And for Eldergoths blustering over the large number of Goth-friendly shops around these days, remember that there were Goth-friendly shops back in the day too, especially in bigger cities with a larger scene. In the early eighties, even Dave and Laurie Vanian ran their own morbid-looking shop.

Myth 13: “Goths are kinky/fetishists/up for anything”

If you’re a regular at Goth clubs you’ll probably have noticed that every now and then the clubs attract “tourists” who seem more interested in leaching on the girls than listening to the music. Yes, it’s the Goth-as-sex-maniac stereotype.

Now, I can sort of see where this came from, after all the Goth look borrows heavily from BDSM and fetish fashion (and, of course, fetish fashion borrows back), what with the heavy makeup, the leather, the pvc, the fishnet and the lace. Plus, Goth music isn’t exactly squeamish when it comes to all things sexual.

Unfortunately for the Goth scene, the porn industry grabbed hold of this idea, added a pinch of the typical “bad girl” stereotype and slapped a bit of heavy makeup and fishnets on a model and started churning out “goth” porn. The result, even more tourists turning up hoping to snag a girl (or guy) who’ll be “up for anything”.

I’m sure by now you’ll have figured out what I’m about to say: Goths are ordinary, often fairly shy, people. We’re no more likely to go off on a one night stand with a stranger than anyone else. Yes, some Goths flirt with the fetish scene too, but plenty are fairly “ordinary” and fairly vanilla in their tastes.

Myth 14: “Goths are pseudo-intellectuals”

I can only assume that this is again linked to that unfortunate assumption that all Goths are young, immature and a bit stupid, and that thus we can’t really be interested in classic literature and history and all that sort of thing. Well, yes some of us aren’t particularly interested in such things and some people probably claim to have read things they haven’t, but a lot of us really, honestly are intellectual types. Why else do you think the Goth scene is bigger in university cities? Why do you think Goths love period outfits? Or why Goth bands love playing with literary references? Or why every other Alchemy Gothic trinket is named after a historical figure or character from a book? Many Goths have degrees, are genuinely interested in the arts, in history and academic studies (I know a fair few who work in academia as researchers or teachers).

No, I wasn’t joking when I said a lot of Goths are slightly geeky. So don’t assume that we’re oblivious to other meanings of the word “gothic” or that we’re just talking about books to be pretentious or sound clever.

If you want to learn more about the Goth subculture, why not check out my other articles:

Baby Bats to Eldergoths a guide to 21st Century Goth Culture

Hate Crimes Would You Kill Someone Because Of The Way They Dressed

The Goth Dictionary

 For more myths, as well as links to resources on the Goth scene, make sure you read the first article

Introduction: What is Goth?

For those who are frowning at that first paragraph; here’s a potted history of Goth before we get into the meat of the article. Not to be confused with the ancient tribe, the style of architecture, the style of literature and the art movement (all of which give the subculture its name), Goth is a subculture that grew out of a particular style of music in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Growing from the ashes of punk’s first wave, Goth was a mixture of punk, New Wave, glam and experimental music favoured by young people with big hair and big makeup. Since then, the Goth scene has grown and mutated into one of the largest and most recognisable subcultures in the Western world. Cross-overs with metal, industrial, dance music, second and third wave punk and even folk music are very common, each with their own accompanying style of dress. For more about Goth’s many sub-groups, check out my article on the subject.

Myth 1: “Goth is a cult”

Busted! Goth is not a cult, any more than rap or country music are cults. Yes, Goths wear unusual clothing, listen to strange music and wear jewellery that resembles arcane symbols, but that’s just because they like them. Goth, like many youth subcultures, has no religious links whatsoever, and you’ll find Goths who follow any number of religions, from paganism to Christianity, and many Goths who are atheist or agnostic.

A Goth couple at the Whitby Goth Weekend

Myth 2: “Goths are violent”

Busted! Very few Goths have violent tendencies. Although a few might fight back if you hit them, most will avoid confrontations whenever possible. Quite a few of us drift towards the scene because we’re a bit “different”, the sort of people who get bullied in school, and we tend to get a lot of abuse just walking down the street so because we know what it’s like to be on the receiving end, we don’t want to dish it out. I’ve known a fair few within the scene who have declared themselves pacifists.

Some people think Goths are violent because they’ve heard violent people described as “gothic”; think of the Columbine shooting and the Dawson College shootings. The perpetrators of these horrific attacks were initially described as “Goths” by the media who assumed that the trenchcoat-wearing, metal-favouring oddballs must be Goths (see below). Though some, like the Columbine killers, claimed to be Goths, it’s pretty clear from their musical and aesthetic tastes they weren’t part of the scene.

Myth 2: Goth is the same as metal/emo

Busted! Yes Goths, metal-heads and emos all wear black, but then, so do corporate businessmen. I can understand that, to outsiders, there are quite a few similarities between the three subcultures, and at certain ends of the spectrum there are cross-overs but that doesn’t mean that the three scenes are the same, no matter what the “funny” adverts with the loud rock bands tell you. If you’re playing “spot the subculture”, the key differences are in fashion, temperament and music.

Metal grew out of the hippie and prog-rock movements of the 1960s  and musically is made up of heavily distorted power chords, extended guitar solos and… is generally pretty loud. Fans tend to favour long leather trenchcoats, long and somewhat unkempt hair, baggy band T-shirts and jeans. Think of bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and Megadeth: macho frontmen, heavy sounds, lyrics about ancient battles and men on horseback… all that kind of thing.

Compare that with Goth’s Romantic, slightly effete image; velvets, lace, fishnet, brooding young men with long hair and sultry femme fatales hanging around in dungeons drinking fine wines… can you see the difference? Of course I’m generalising a bit here, but I’m trying to bring out the differences. Goth music in general has a very different sound to metal, it’s lighter but more melancholic, the Edgar Allen Poe to metal’s Beowulf.

Romantic and metal influences together at Castle Party in 2007. The chap on the left sports a typically metally look.

Emo, by contrast, is a much newer invention, morphing from second wave punk and “emotional” music. Thematically emo music tends to focus on, you guessed it, emotions and relationships. It’s more about day-to-day struggle with life, your parents and your girlfriend than struggle with monsters (metal) or with depression (Goth). In terms of fashion, the stereotypical emo wears skinny black jeans, tight black t-shirts and lots of brightly coloured accessories, complete with that infamous emo flick-fringe.

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule; plenty of metal fans hang out at Goth clubs, and there are areas where the whole thing gets a bit muddled. The punkier end of Goth (towards deathrock and psychobilly) can end up looking a bit emo, with it’s day glo accessories and retro hairdos, and the more industrial end of Goth can end up looking a bit metal, complete with leather trenchcoats. Then of course there’s “gothic metal”. Now, without wanting to get into an argument, “gothic metal” seems to be more popular with metal fans and people on the verges of the Goth scene than with your common-or-garden Goth, and although gothic metal bands look the part, they haven’t got an awful lot in common with the rest of the scene and few out-and-out Goth clubs play them (may local is more likely to play Iron Maiden than, say, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil or Cradle of Filth!).

Myth 3: “Goths are suicidal”

Busted! Believe it or not, wearing black is not a sign that someone is about to try and top themselves. Goths are no more likely to commit suicide, suffer from depression or generally have a mope than anyone else, it’s just some of us have a habit of letting our emotions show. Goth music, as we’ve already mentioned, is often very emotive (and, okay, often pretty melodramatic) and Goth fashion is equally so; there’s a tendency towards theatrics in many Goths that can let their emotions get a bit…overwrought.

A German “grufti” shows just how impressive you can look if you don’t smile

Myth 4 “Goths are racist”

Busted! Because the stereotypical Goth look includes deathly pale skin, some people assume that Goths must be racist. Well…they’re not. A few unsavoury individuals might be, but there’s nothing inherent in the Goth scene that excludes people from ethnic backgrounds. In fact there are plenty of Goths of colour in the scene, the clubs I tend to attend are made of between ten and thirty per-cent people of colour. There’s also sizable Goth communities in Japan, South America and mainland Asia. Goth as a whole is a fairly tolerant scene.

Goth model Lady Amaranth combines fetish and period garb for a classic pale-skinned loo

Myth 5 “Goths think they’re vampires”

Busted! Yes it sounds silly, but many still see the Goth scene as a gaggle of vampire wannabes. Okay, a lot of Goths like vampire fiction, it’s true. I know I certainly do. The decadence, the period costumes, the violence and the sensuality of the vampire genre is a bit of a Goth archetype. Many of us love anything with fangs in it. We do not, however, particularly want to be vampires and we certainly don’t think we are vampires.

It’s true that there is a “Vampyre” subculture which does occasionally cross paths with Goth (they often wear period costumes, like spooky music and have a taste for theatrics too) and, yes, vampyre culture can and often does involve drinking each other’s blood for psychological or sexual reasons. But these people don’t think they’re vampires in the horror movie sense either: they don’t honestly believe that they’re immortal members of the living dead and they are not going to run out into the street and attack someone for blood. No matter what they tell you!

Photographer Viona Ielegems combines period dress with quirky humour… and teaspoons

Myth 6: “Goths have no sense of humour”

Busted! To this I say: hang out with Goths for a day, I think you’ll find they do. Okay, I can see the reasons why people on the outside might think this: we pose for photos with gloomy pouts, we like “dark” and “depressing” music, we wear black… we don’t exactly look jolly. Beyond that, we might not react to jokes about our dress-sense in the way someone might expect. “Jokes” yelled at us in the street tend not to get a reaction, not because Goths are humourless but because we’re worried that the people shouting them don’t intend them as jokes. Yes, it might sound daft, but those spooky looking people are just as nervous of you as you are of them. Why? Well sadly the Goth scene faces a lot of intolerance, abuse and even violence (see my article on hate crimes towards alternative people for more).

But what about jokes in a more friendly environment, like work or school? Have you ever cracked a joke to your gothic colleague about their not wearing black today? Or suggested they attend the Halloween party dressed as a “normal person”? Well, so has everyone. It may seem funny and original to you, but Goths hear this sort of thing all the time so if a Goth doesn’t seem amused, that might be why.

Goths do have a sense of humour, it’s just a lot of us have a slightly off-kilter one. If you don’t believe me, well, why do think Goths love the Addams Family, the Munsters and Beetlejuice? There are actually a fair few comedy themed comic books, books and songs aimed at Goths, from the comics of Jhonen Vasquez and Roman Dirge (great name, incidentally) to the cheeky songs of Voltaire. Goths love irony and love making fun of themselves too, so don’t assume that that song you know that “makes fun of Goths” isn’t a Goth favourite.

Voltaire’s song “The Vampire Club” pokes knowing fun at the rivalry between Cybergoths and Trad Goths, or “ravers” and “vampires” as he puts it.

Myth 7: “Goths are arrogant and exclusive”

Busted! A lot of Goths are quite shy and prefer to keep themselves to themselves, which can lead to people thinking them arrogant or aloof.

Unfortunately there is a minority of very vocal people within the scene who like to kick up a fuss about certain others within the scene. If you’ve read many Goth-related blogs, tumblrs or Twitter feeds you’ve probably come across long whining rants about how such-and-such a sub-group isn’t really Goth and how the writer is the only real Goth in their area, moaning about the decline of the scene and so on and so on. I’ve got to say we all do it a little bit: the problem is that these days the Goth scene is so large and varied that it can be difficult finding others within your local scene who share the same interests as you, which is a shame because that’s what a subculture is supposed to be about, right? For the vast majority of us, this is a passing moan; many of us love the variety of the scene, it makes things interesting and keeps things fresh, and is part of the reason Goth has survived where others haven’t.

If, however, you’re testing the waters in your local scene and are finding your local Goths not to be particularly friendly sorts, do try out other clubs and hangouts in your area, as some clubs are less welcoming than others. You might find you have to travel a while (many Goths will travel to the scene rather than wait for something to happen in their city), but it will be worth it. Once you’ve befriended a few people in the scene you’ll find you make more friends pretty quickly. If all else fails, track down a club that plays your favourite tracks and befriend the DJ; DJs tend to know the scene very well and will be able to introduce you to new people and suggest good clubs.

Myth 8: “Goths all wear the same things. It’s like a uniform”

Busted! Remember when we looked at the differences between the Goth scene, the emo scene and the metal scene? Remember when I mentioned the large number of cross-overs and splinter-groups? There’s a huge amount of variation, individuality and innovation in the different sections of the Goth subculture. If you’ve looked at my article on the different subgroups you’ll have some idea of the different basic styles that are possible, and remember, new combinations and sub-subgroups are appearing all the time. Personally, I don’t see that much visual common-ground between a leather-and-fishnet-clad rivethead, a corseted Romantigoth with flowing hair and ruffled petticoats, and a neon-garbed, synthetic-dreaded Cybergoth.

This gaggle of Cybergoths show off influences from science-fiction, period costume, BDSM fashion and beyond. Note the difference between these guys and the people in the other pictures

I think this particular myth has arisen from three things: one, unless you’re really familiar with the scene, you’re unlikely to be able to pick out Goths in the street because in their day-to-day lives many don’t dress in a particularly recognisable way; they might even be wearing colours! Secondly, unless you go to a Goth club, you’ll only really see Goths in their everyday garb, which is, of course, a lot less flamboyant and extravagant than what they might wear to clubs or gigs. And third, people tend to focus on the things that Goths have in common, the dark colours, the heavy makeup and so on, rather than the things that set them apart. But by that logic, people who follow mainstream fashion all look the same, and, hell, everyone on earth looks the same.

What is true is that Goth fashions do have common roots and common aesthetics. We draw heavily from period fashions (particularly Victorian mourning costumes and medieval outfits), from punk fashion and from BDSM culture. We favour dark and jewel toned colours, elaborate or striking makeup, boots, and extravagant hairstyles, often dyed exotic colours, backcombed to oblivion or accentuated with extensions. If you have a good look at some of the photos I’ve included in this article, you should be able to see just how much we can do with black!

Just to prove my credentials: this shifty-looking individual with smudged lipstick and terrible hair is me, sporting a 2010 M’era Luna t-shirt and slightly too much jewellery.

If you’d like to look into the dark and wonderful world of Goth a bit more, let me point you towards the following marvellous resources:

Gothic Charm School: It’s a website, it’s a book, it’s a youtube series… It’s very handy! Jilian Venters, “The Lady of the Manners”, provides etiquette tips for Goths along with vital information about the scene itself. Her youtube series is particularly handy for the basics.

Goth Chic by Gavin Baddeley is an essential guide to the history of the Goth scene, it’s music, it’s sexuality and the film, literature and television that inspire it. Unlike many writers who have dealt with the Goth scene, Baddeley is fairly tolerant and unbiased in his treatment.

Goth: Vamps and Dandies by Gavin Baddeley is a beautiful book for anyone interested in the development of Goth fashion, illustrating the inspiration and the ways modern Goths use it.

Mick Mercer’s website is full of interesting archives and the latest reviews of Goth music. If you’re looking for a place to start building your Goth collection, this is it.

The History of Goth on DJ Pete Scathe’s website is an excellent resource for pictures and information on the very beginnings of the Goth scene, in the days of Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sex Gang Children and the Birthday Party. For anyone who doubts the links between punk and Goth, this is the place to look. He also includes an excellent selection of early promo videos and interviews that capture the essence of the Batcave sound

For more on the earlier days of the scene this article from Stylus magazine is useful, especially the list of “essential” Goth records.

If you’d like to read more of my articles on the subject, please have a look at:

Baby Bats to Eldergoths a guide to 21st Century Goth Culture

Hate Crimes Would You Kill Someone Because Of The Way They Dressed

The Goth Dictionary

A Brief History of Subculture Struggles

The concept of a subculture, or counter-culture, as we know them today first appeared in the 1950s, although subcultures themselves probably existed far earlier (think of the flapper lifestyle in the 1920s, or the jazz subcultures in the 1940s). But the 1950s saw the rise of the teenager and the notion of separate youth identities seems to be closely linked to the creation of this new “age”. The media were terrified and enthralled by teenagers, with their wild lifestyles and comparative lack of responsibilities, inspiring the sort of moral panics we will look at later in this article. However, although the 50s saw the rise of multiple youth cultures, violence between youths belonging to different subcultures (as opposed to different gangs within a subculture) don’t seem to have appeared until the 1960s, with the notorious rivalries between the mods and the rockers. Rivalries between particular groups became more and more common, but the 1970s saw increasing friction, anger and fear from “ordinary” people not affiliated to any particular group, as sensationalist reports of the antics of skinheads, glam rockers and punks increasingly perturbed the general public to the point of moral outcry. Particular subcultures continued to receive this sort of attention in the 1980s and 1990s, think of the complaints over the androgyny of the New Romantics, the fears of drug abuse in the rave scene, or the accusations of racism, misogyny and violence levelled towards rap musicians.

Today, many subcultures face animosity, often from other subcultures but just as frequently from the general public and the media. Because it’s my area of knowledge, this article will be focusing mainly on the Goth and punk subcultures, but I’ll provide links at the end which should detail the problems faced by other groups too.

Subcultures and Hate Crimes

The examples listed in the previous section could be violent and damaging, but few could really be considered “hate crimes”. Gang violence, maybe, riots perhaps, even media hysteria but not “hate crimes”. In fact, up until the late 1970s the only hate crimes linked to subcultures were, sadly, those committed by their followers. But with the rise of media moral panics, increasing attacks were made on members of subcultures, particularly the punks. In 1977, following the release of their notorious single “God Save the Queen”, Sex Pistols front-man Johnny Rotten was attacked by a knife-wielding gang in Islington, damaging the tendons in his left arm and narrowly missing cutting his eye, and was then beaten up again three days after being released from hospital. Drummer Paul Cook and artist Jamie Reid were also attacked in separate incidents. It seems that, believing the media hype and taking the confrontational attitude of the early punks at face value, members of the public were increasingly taking their outrage out on punk fans. It has to be said, the punks didn’t do a lot to help their image; while some punks complained of discrimination against them in work places and on the street, others became involved in brawls with members of other subcultures.

In 1997, one such rivalry ended in tragedy when 19 year old punk Brian Deneke was deliberately run over by “jock” Dustin Camp in Amarillo, Texas. There was an on-going friction between the “jocks” and the punks in the area, with local punks at the receiving end of violence and prejudice, but Deneke was a popular and charismatic young man, nicknamed “Sunshine” by his friends. What makes this case particularly tragic to me, is the way Camp’s attorney built his defence purely around Camp’s “normalcy”. The attorney, Warren L Clark, insisted that the local punks were violent “armed goons” and that the “wholesome” Camp had been acting to defend another jock. Thankfully, Camp was found guilty but only of manslaughter and not murder. This is an example of prejudice not only in rival subcultures but in the legal system itself. Punks and members of the alternative scene have long considered the murder a “hate crime”, and even Deneke’s father, who was not supportive of his son’s lifestyle, was said to be surprised by the leniency of Camp’s treatment. Tributes from the scene poured in for many years later, and due to Camp’s breaking of parole his sentence was extended, but the mainstream media never quite accepted his guilt.

In the new millennium, such attacks continued but, in the West at least, these attacks were increasingly seen as what they really are: hate crimes. In 2006, James Eric Benham, a sailor from the US Navy, and his brother attacked four Goths in San Diego, one of which had to be taken to hospital. The men were found guilty on four related accounts the following year. This was the first attack against Goths in particular to be called a “hate crime” during the trial.

In 2008, Paul Gibbs, a British Goth from Leeds, was on a camping trip with around 20 others from the scene, when the group was attacked by three young men, Quinn Colley, Ryan Woodhead and Andrew Hall. Four men were stabbed and two women robbed, while Gibbs, tricked into riding a motorbike with the attackers, was pushed from the moving bike, rendering him unconscious before they cut off one of his ears. Thankfully Gibbs survived and doctors were able to reconstruct his ear with cartilage from his rib. The three attackers were imprisoned.

Also in 2008, Gary Forbes, a Goth from Belfast, was taken to hospital after jumping 20 feet to escape a gang of attackers. Other cases show the impact of bullying on the lives of alternative people: in 2008 13 year old Sam Leeson from Gloucester hanged himself after systematic bullying for his love of emo music, while another 13 year old, Hannah Bond, hanged herself for the same reason. In 2001, Nicola Raphael, a 15 year old Goth from Glasgow, killed herself after near-constant bullying, and 12 year old Wiccan Tempest Smith from Michigan hanged herself from her bunk bed.

Nor is this sort of crime reserved for Britain and the States. In Egypt, unsuspecting emos became the scapegoats for “Satanic” graffiti, resulting in newspapers posting “spotter’s guides” to keep the public away from them. In Mexico, “emo bashing” has turned the streets into a very dangerous place for alternative types. Similar cases have appeared in South Africa, Tasmania, New Zealand, Iraq, and Israel, with both media hysteria and personal vendettas being taken out on emos, Goths and metallers.

But the case that really grabbed the attention of the alternative scene and the mainstream media alike was the tragic death of Sophie Lancaster in 2007. The Lancashire Goth and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were walking through a local skate park, when a group of youths attacked Maltby, knocking him unconscious. When Sophie moved to protect him, cradling him in her arms, the attackers went for her instead. One witness described them kicking and jumping on her head. Both Lancaster and Maltby were taken to hospital, so badly beaten they were unrecognisable. Sadly, doctors explained that Lancaster could never recover from her injuries and fourteen days after the attack, the family agreed to turn off her life support. Five youths were later arrested, tried and sentenced. In his closing remarks, the judge highlighted the unmotivated nature of the crime, saying: “At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food. You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself.” Even at the begining of the trial it was pointed out that “Sophie and Robert were singled out not for anything they had said or done, but because they looked and dressed differently.”

Many have seen parallels between Deneke’s death and Lancaster’s, but what marks Lancaster’s out as different to the other cases we have looked at is the support from the outside media, the authorities and the legal system. While in the 70s the attacks on members of the Sex Pistols were seen as provoked, Johnny Rotten was even arrested when he arrived in hospital as authorities assumed he had started the fight, and Deneke’s case was seen as a part of his lifestyle choices, Lancaster’s death was met with almost universal sympathy and shock. As with Deneke’s death, tributes from members of the alternative scene poured in, with tribute stages set up at the Whitby Gothic Weekend and the Bloodstock Festival, as well as charity tribute albums and “one minute’s noise” remembrance services. Her mother, Sylvia, has since started the SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere) campaign, which aims to educate young people and adults alike with the hope of preventing further attacks like those suffered by the people mentioned above, as well as petitioning to the government to have “to Widen the definition of ‘Hate Crime’, to include crimes committed against a person or persons, on the basis of their appearance or subcultural interests”.

What causes these attacks?

So what would cause someone to go out of their way to run over, beat or otherwise abuse someone purely because of the way they dressed? We’ve already had a hint of the sad reason when we looked at the early attacks on British punks: a tragic mixture of prejudice and gullibility, in short, the belief that the unusual dress-sense of their victims is a sign of deviance. It’s a sad fact that it is human nature to fear and distrust the Other, but it is sadder still that some will turn this mistrust into hatred and violence. If, in a fight, a member of a subculture were to defend themselves and fight back, this would be used as a sign of their violent temperament. If they didn’t; a sign of weakness.

As we have also seen, the media doesn’t do a lot to help. Sensationalist news reports mentioning cult practises, deviance, violence and anti-establishment ideals create fear in ordinary people and genuine hatred in more violent individuals. In some countries this hysteria has gone to the point that the government are actually considering legislation against certain subcultures: Russia has been threatening to ban young people from following the emo subculture altogether, seeing it as a dangerous youth cult. In Egypt, unsuspecting emos were held responsible for “Satanic” graffiti

We may smirk looking at the treatment of emos in Russia and Egypt, but the hysteria following their harmless lifestyle is very similar to the misinformation that followed the Columbine shootings, when the US media unfairly connected the killers with the Goth scene. It only takes one wrong word to convince thousands of people that an alternative lifestyle can lead to a mass killing.

What can be done?

Unfortunately, there are people in the world who will always look for a reason to hurt another, and something as simple as their clothing can be a trigger for this. But there are still things that can be done to ensure such attacks are less commonplace and less severe. First and foremost people need to be educated in tolerance and shown just how normal these people are, which is why the Sophie Lancaster Foundation runs workshops in schools to try and educate people as much as possible.

But equally, and I think just as importantly, writers, journalists and newscasters must be more careful as to the  image they are creating of these people. As we have seen misinformation can lead to increased violence, abuse and mistrust of alternative people, so be careful how you word reports, particularly when dealing with youth culture. In an ideal world there would be some legislation to prevent such smears from ever being printed but that would be difficult to put into place.

Unfortunately, the petition started following Sophie Lancaster’s death to try to widen the definition of “Hate Crime” in the UK has been unsuccessful, but the sentencing guidelines have been changed to put such attacks on the same level as homophobic and racially motivated attacks, which is a great improvement if not an ideal one. We can only hope that similar measures are put in place in other countries to prevent sentencing mistakes similar to those in the trial of Dustin Camp.

Links

For more about what can be done to make cases like this less common, please go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation website. There you can keep up to date with the aims and events of the charity, make donations and purchase items that will support it, as well as look at the case in further detail.

For more about hate crimes committed against people from alternative subcultures, as well as information about media misinformation and government action, check out the Alterphobia blog. There are links to numerous articles on each case.