Goths and Worried Parents

I'm not an unusual goth, nothing is outstanding and I certainly do not stick out from the usual goth crowd. So why is it that parents have come up to me so many times to ask me about the goth subculture because there worried about their sons/daughters/others [SDO]. So as this is my musings page I've decided to write some what I've said so that they can look for their answers on the web and stop bothering me at the juke box. Not that I mind it's just I'm very shy :-).

Parents that have talked to me generally fall into two types based upon their description of their SDO. The first catagory can be stereotyped as the "my SDO is listening to Marylin Manson and I'm worried that they are Goths". The others are worried that there SDOs are withdrawn and depressed/morbid or wearing too much black and listening to too much Cure.

Ok, You're barking up the wrong tree, in general goths don't listen to much Marylin Manson [MM]. He may dress in black and have simular external appreances, for example MM uses white out and black eye liner and lipstick. However he is not representive of goth musical tastes. In gerneral goth music is charaterised by "deep, harsh vocals, sombre metaphorical lyrics and powerful atmospheric chords", Paul Hodkinson.

Don't panic.
The general media would have Goths as a sercet, vampire loving, suicidal cult which doesn't need an excuse to shoot their fellow class mates. This couldn't be futhure from the truth. Those individuals whom gain media attention for their anti-social acts are classed by the media as goths for no better reason than that they might have black clothes or listen to MM. Studies by sociologists have stated that.

While their consistent manifestation in fashion in and music were clear, the importance of the sombre and the macabre in terms of behaviour, attitude and outlook was more ambiguous. Excessive grumpiness and depression did appear to be exhibited by certain individuals, but the majority had become resistant to such traits, regarding them, as with excessive desplays of interest in vampirism, as a misplaced negative stereotype of goths held by outsiders.

I would sugest that if you are looking for more information about your SDO's choice of subculture when read "Goth : Identity, Style and Subculture" by Paul Hodkinson, ISBN 1-85973-605-X