The Goth Tag

Hello Everyone!

Its me May again and I am so sorry that I have not posted a single post in like an entire year. School has been so harsh on me this past year since I was taking nothing but core classes to get my Associates degree because I just want to get school done and over with and to move on to get my Bachelors degree as well. I was going to get my Associates on this summer of 2014, but sadly that was not possible because they were not offering the last class that I needed. So I have to wait until this fall semester to take it which is a total bummer. :/ Sorry guys I don't have anything exciting to say on what has happened in my life all of this time. Other than  that recently I had hanged out with my best friend from high school on her 21st birthday bash and I hadn't seen her in 3 years since we graduated in 2011. So it was very cool and fun to see her again after 3 years! :)

You guys are probably wondering why I never wrote on my blog for the last 6 months. For the last 6 months my computer did not work and was out of commission so I could not write posts on this blog at all. I had to get it fixed but of course I couldn't get it fixed because of the lack of money. Until this past week I got it fixed. Although on Tumblr and Facebook I have updated daily because I could access those on mobile whereas BlogSpot I couldn't publish anything on mobile. Since this is my first post in like a year I wanted this comeback post to be a good one. It took me several days to think of something good and then I remembered the Goth tag that the lovely Toria McGrot came up with this tag and I had messaged her way back in December 2013 back when she made the video if it was okay if I could do the tag in post because I do not have a camera. And she was so sweet and replied back to my message and said it was fine to do it in a post!

Here is her Goth tag video please see it because she is an amazing girl!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3CirT0C4VA

And here is her Youtube channel and subscribe to her as well!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzx8qPXFXUy_unifrCXlt3Q

So without further ado let us begin this tag!

1. How long have you been goth?

To be honest I am going to say three years because when I was 17 it was when I knew what Goth was so I am not going to count my "babybat" years because I do not think I could completely call my phase a babybat phase. I will explain this in the last question. Since I am 20 years old now so three years it is.

2. How were you introduced to goth?

I have three answers for this question. The first one is through my cousin it was in high school when I just getting into the alternative through him since he was very into a lot of alternative music ranging from: alternative rock, heavy metal, glam rock, trash metal, death metal, and screamo. And since he listened to all of that type of music in which he also went through the babybat phase of course I followed suit because I was new to this scene and thrilled about hearing all of this new music that I had never heard ever in my life.
The second answer is through anime when I discovered the terms Gothic Lolita and Visual Kei I was in awe because of how cool the fashion was and it was then where my super obsessed anime crazed self discovered the world of anime and Japanese fashion. Even though the Goth wave is different in Japan from the Western side of the world. Nonetheless it is still Goth but a different type of Goth because it was another subculture that was also music based like the Post Punk and Deathrock scenes.
And the last answer is going to be super cheesy but it was through the book Vampire Kisses with the character Raven Madison. To be quite honest I had never even heard of the word Goth until I read this book when I was 14 years old in my freshman year in high school. And when I read the book and about Raven I thought she was just so cool and I wanted to be just like her just as fierce and not care about what everyone else says. And not to mention all of her outfits were so cute who wouldn't want to dress like that!

3. What Gothic sub genre would you put yourself in?

I have two answers for this one. Musically inclined I am more of a Post Punk, Cyber, Rivithead, and Faerie (ethereal) Goth. As for fashion and aesthetically wise I am more of a Perky, Gothic Lolita, Pastel, and Visual Kei (even though Visual Kei isn't Goth).

Me in a Pastel Goth fashion
December 3, 2013

Me as an  Aristocratic Gothic Lolita
April 23, 2013

Me in Gothic Lolita with a half red wig
December 31, 2013

Half Gothic Lolita and Pastel Goth
May 13, 2014

4. What do you believe to be the bases of the Gothic subculture?

Personally I think the main component for the Goth subculture is the music and I believe it is the exact same way for many other subcultures such as Punk, Indie, Emo, Scene, Hip-Hop, Metal, Grunge, and many other subcultures. Although other factors do include the fashion aesthetic like in the other subcultures I just mentioned  because it is what makes that particular group stand out in its own way. As for the Gothic subculture it has extra factors which are the literature and overall architectural design of buildings. The books of course have that otherworldly and morbid flair that add to the Gothic subculture that makes it dark. Whereas the Architecture concept is more of a visual in my opinion and also that the word Goth came from the architecture because of its haunting structures. It sounds silly but that is what I think haha.  

5. What do you dislike about being Goth?

Just like all of the other subcultures Goth also has that elitism in its group. It just ruins everything for all of the new comers that are interested in knowing more about a certain subculture. This goes for all of the other subcultures besides Goth. Its like the elitist people will not give the new comers a chance just because they are new in the scene and do not have the proper knowledge about that subculture. It just makes me mad when the elitists complain that there are not many people appreciating the scene, maybe if they didn't shoo away the new kids that are interested in knowing more about the subculture there would be more people appreciating it. Everyone starts from somewhere that is what makes being in a subculture so much fun, you get to learn and absorb the knowledge that you learn one step at a time.
I also agree with Toria that being Goth can be very time consuming. Getting all of that makeup done and not to mention the platforms! If only magic really existed and we could get ready in a few seconds. A girl can only dream.
The last reason is that when you are an alternative person people are already assuming you are a weirdo based on your looks. Which I think is completely stupid, just because someone has different interests does not make them a weirdo. This is one that the entire world has to know, like seriously!

6. What Do your parents think of it?

Well when I first got into the alternative my parents (my mom mainly, my dad didn't have a problem with it) were not very fond of my music and fashion choices. When I first started I was in my freshman year I was all about stripes and skulls and black eye shadow and since I am Hispanic my parents just didn't understand any of it. It was mainly my mom saying it was weird and always asking me why did I like that type of fashion and music. Since she had never seen that type of fashion and aesthetic until I started to dress in it. It wasn't until 2 to 3 years later she got over it. It wasn't until when I graduated high school when I found out why my dad never had a problem with my music and fashion choices because he was also alternative in his youth though he was more of a Punk and also a bit of a New Waver and also he was one of those that listened to basically anything, kind of like me because I listen to a vast variety of genres, I probably got that from him. But of course most of the bands he listened to were in Spanish and a bit were in English. I was like oh my god! my dad was so cool in his youth when I found out and also when I had seen a few pictures of him in adolescence where he wore a leather vest and had the 80's hairdo. As for my mom she obviously was not feelin' the alternative wave because she was always around the mainstream fashion and music in her days. And when I saw a picture of her in her youth I saw why she had a hard time accepting that her daughter was into non-mainstream music and fashion. I guess she expected me to be like her you know normal and popular like she was.   

7. Eyebrow or no eyebrows?

Honestly I do not get the fuzz about having or not having eyebrows in the Gothic subculture. Since when do eyebrows play an important factor of making an individual a "Goth or not". Like how is a facial part of the human body so important because there are those elitist Goths out there saying if you have eyebrows then you are declared not a Goth. As for me I have my natural eyebrows because I like them and I have no need to shave them off. But for the others that do shave them off well if they want to and love it then that is great! I know many do it for artistic purposes and I think it looks amazing when they do art with their eyebrows because it shows even with eyebrows one can be creative not just with the eyes.

8. What is your favourite band?

I have many favourite artists from many different genres so I can't say one haha! The main ones that you will always find me listening to are (in no particular order): Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, New Order, Strawberry Switchblade, Pet Shop Boys, Aural Vampire, Cocteau Twins, Duran Duran, Front 242, The Psychedelic Furs, Clan of Xymox, and Ultravox.
Some of my other favourite artists include: Alanis Morissette, Bjork, Emilie Autumn, Kanon Wakeshima, 2NE1, EXO-K, 2PM, 4Minute, Ayria, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Blondie, KMFDM, and many more.

Depeche Mode

Siouxsie and the Banshees











New Order



Strawberry Switchblade







Pet Shop Boys







Aural Vampire





Cocteau Twins






Duran Duran








Front 242






The Psychedelic Furs






Clan of Xymox





Ultravox








And here are the rest of the other artists that I mentioned.

Alanis Morissette

Bjork



Emilie Autumn

Kanon Wakeshima



2NE1

EXO-K












2PM

4Minute













Ayria

Justin Timberlake



Backstreet Boys

*NSYNC

KMFDM

Blondie














9. Your opinion on Marilyn Manson?

I don't really have much to say on Marilyn Manson other than that I think he looks like a pretty cool dude. I also have noticed that he is very outspoken and eloquent whenever he is interviewed, I know this because every once in a while I have Marilyn Manson GIFs on my feed from my followers on Tumblr. And they way he replies back to those interviews is fantastic. He has my respects because he puts a positive outlook on the alternative subculture. Whenever those people that interview him they probably think that they are going to get some answer he replies in a way that leaves them stunned and speechless. As for his music I was never into it because it just didn't appeal to me in my interests.

10. What were your baby bat days like?

Terrible is one word to name my baby bat days. I was a half baby bat because I was into Emo things during this phase. The worst combination possible! Back then I thought being Goth and Emo was all about stripes, skulls, and ONLY black makeup. I would wear clothing like skinny jeans, converse shoes, and a striped top. I would always have my hair in my face all the time, now that I look back it, I don't even know why I thought that looked good, instead it made me look fat. -_- I don't even want to get started on the music I listened to.  In those days I would listen to stuff like: Evanescence, Korn (these two were my main ones although I still listen only to these two from time to time), Cradle of Filth, Slipknot, Three Days Grace, Papa Roach, The Devil Wears Prada, Suicide Silence, and the list can go on. But nonetheless I will always thank these bands for getting me into the alternative. But we all start from somewhere and I am so glad those days are over because let me just say those days were not pretty! 

Korn



Evanescence



Cradle of Filth

Slipknot

Three Days Grace

Papa Roach

The Devil Wears Prada

Suicide Silence

Hopefully you guys liked this post! I feel like this is the longest post I have written in here! I will start to make my weekly posts once more so I hope you guys will stay tuned! If all of you would love to make this tag  on a post as well go ahead and make it, I tag all of you!

See you soon,
May

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