Goths In Different countries.

[Gothic Muffin of Doom]

I hesitated a lot before adding this thread, but here I am.
I just want to know how is it like to be goth in your country?

I mean, In my country (Egypt) Goths are a really a minority and we don't have all those labels. I'm a cross between a goth and a metalhead but here I'm considered goth. Also in Egypt you can't express being goth through looks it's not allowed in colleges and it's looked at weirdly in public and usually goths are treated unfairly in college so you have to hide it well if you want to keep your good marks.

Enough with my talking already, I want to know how it's like in different countries.
I'm so sorry there is no poll, i couldn't come up with anything.

Edited: I would like to add another question , What does your boyfriend/girlfriend think of being Goth?  

[Henneth Annun]

Well....in America, you can pretty much dress however you want, even in a way that will attract odd sorts of attention. In some areas/enviornments certain fashions don't attract as much attention as they would elsewhere, and people of different age groups may have different opinions on you. In school, you have to follow a dress code, they can be anywhere from very loose to very strict. They can tell you how long or short your skirts can be, how baggy your pants can be, what kind of shirts you can/can't wear and accessories that you can't have, mainly spiky things.

My friend's school doesn't allow you to wear hats or to clothing that are over three sizes too big for you, and no exsessive chains/straps dangling around, among other things. Some school tell you what you have to wear, a uniform, and that can be a white/green/blue polo+monochromatic pants (no jeans)+plain sneakers+a plaid/monochromatic miniskirts for the girls (for example). Some school enforce this to the extreme, and others let you play around a little. There are also some schools that keep you from having 'too' extreme hairstyles, but I've never seen this enforced at all in my life. Tatoos and peircings are allowed and tolerated, but you can't wear anything thats offensive to any race,gender,religion,sexuality, excetera...

How's it like to be a goth? I know many people in different little subcultures all around the school/neighborhood, and I'm respected for who I am, we all have respect for eachother. Some people have a problem with me, or think I'm a devil child, but I just brush it off because it doesn't really affect me much. Older folks who don't know me and some others steer clear, but I like to show them I'm not what I seem. I don't really know of any "goth hangouts/bars" around me though, but I get around a lot so I see a lot of the scene. I grew up/am living in a city with many movie studios, production companies, actors, and basically just a large entertainment buisness, and I'm not really an oddity when you cruise around the place a little. I have a lot of fun wandering around with my friends and participating with all different people in different projects we work on at school. The people I know all appreciate/respect eachothers talents, and are very fun people who look beyond what you look like. I consider my self fortunate to live where I do, but there are some people who make it slightly unpleasant.

The downsides to being goth here are summed up in on word: stereotypes. I put up with them and dispell them every single day, and don't let them stop me from doing anything. The worst that's happened was almost being arrested and having some shop owners stare suspiciously at me before they figured out I meant no harm.  

[DreamerSpirit]

Wraith's post pretty much sums up thow school dress codes are in America.

As far as being goth in America, how you are treated for it probably depends a lot on where you live and such. I live in a very cosmopolitan and fairly liberal city in New England, and apart from being hit on far too much by older men (despite my conservative attire), I have had very few problems with being maltreated because of how I dress. I do get a lot of questions from my peers about where I get my clothing and how my parents react to my choices of clothing, music, and such (my parents are totally cool with it.) I sometimes get postive remarks about my clothing from strangers. It seems like elderly ladies are especially fond of my dresses.

In schools here, your grades have nothing to do with your attire. It makes me sad to hear that in Egypt, teachers and professors can discriminate against students based on how they dress; such behaviour would never be tolerated at an American college.

Goths here are a minority, but they are not completely unheard of. In the Southern New England region alone, there are at least a dozen clubs with goth nights, two gothic clothing stores, and numerous other general alterntive clothing shops which carry some goth friendly lines. I personally have met at least eight other goths over the past few years, none of whom I had met at clubs or concerts (since I'm still under 18, and cannot go out to clubs yet.) Most people around here precieve goths as being strange and eccentric, a small amount of people think wee are evil, and others believe that we are for the most part sensitive and intellectual, albiet rather eccentric.

Overall, goths are not treated badly at all in my area. Those who have met me tend to see the girl who lies beyond the black velvet and ornate silver jewellery; people have the decency to see me for who I am. Even strangers generally do not judge me; unlike others in the guild I have never had store clerks watch me closely; expecting me to shoplift. I have never had people glare at me coldly as I entered a church, half expecting me to burst into flames. Others just seem to live and let live.

I suppose that the cities of Southern New England; Boston, Providince, Salem, New Haven, and others, are a good places for a goth to be. The region is rich in culture and history, it seems to have a thriving goth scene in terms of club nights and such with over a dozen weekly goth nights in the region, and people are not generally ostracized for how they dress. I personally love it here, and would not want to leave the region.  

[xStephanx]

In the UK, I'd have to say its fairly easy. In bigger cities, especially London, you could walk into a typical market with full Goth makeup, lacey black fishnet top, bondage trousers and platform New Rocks and nobody would bat an eyelid.

Even in the more rural parts of the country it'd be unlikely to get much attention for being Goth anymore, unless you manage to do it so flamboyantly anybody would notice.  

[Spooky Wasabi Princess]

Australia doesn't care how you dress.

In Melbourne, my city, there are Goths-a-plenty. You're hardly a minority if you're in the city.
Everyone is used to it so no-one cares. It's great!  

[Gothic Muffin of Doom]

I'm glad Goths have better luck in other countries.
As for the dress code, In all school we have uniforms although not all of them are strictly bound to it. College don't have a uniform, but their dress code is pretty weird, you can dress as tight or baggy as you want, we even have girls that come in slutty clothes, our only condition, no Goth (or metalhead) clothing. I'm really sad it's that way, but that didn't stop me from being Goth, I make sure I don't look like one in college (Or anywhere else).
Another annoying thing here is that if you listen to anything that's not pop or local music, people accuse you of having a very bad taste in music (especially once you mention Metallica).
In my first post i for got to say something, Goths are mostly boys here so being a goth girl is even more rare.  

[xStephanx]

Vampyr Heartagram

I'm glad Goths have better luck in other countries.
As for the dress code, In all school we have uniforms although not all of them are strictly bound to it.

In the UK we also have school uniforms. I prefer that, I don't want Goth kids and other subcultures coming to school fighting.

Quote:

people accuse you of having a very bad taste in music (especially once you mention Metallica).

I'm not a big metal fan. I prefer Goth rock, darkwave, EBM and industrial. I don't know many people who have different music taste to me lol. I know a few metalheads.

Quote:

In my first post i for got to say something, Goths are mostly boys here so being a goth girl is even more rare.

That is pretty stange.
eek  

[DreamerSpirit]

Vampyr Heartagram

Another annoying thing here is that if you listen to anything that's not pop or local music, people accuse you of having a very bad taste in music (especially once you mention Metallica).

People here accuse you of having bad taste in music no matter what you listen to. The most prominent genres of music in America seem to be hip-hop, rock, and pop. Most people listen to almost solely American music, and deem foregin music as being lessser than American music. There is constant bickering about which is better among the fans of each prominent music genre, and if you like other, less prominent genres, then people think that you are odd and that your music must suck (even if they have never even heard of the genres you listen to). People here are wierd about music.  

[MysteryCross]

Same old here as well..... ppl don't like how we dress @ work but in college the could giv a fly'n ******** about it stare

sux a**, and wish i was working in a more urban laid bac place xp  

[osozaki girl]

I don't usually dress goth, or what is steriotypically goth most of the time.
But I know that here, in the Southern US, if you say that you're one, you get steriotyped on spot.
People automaticly thing you're a badly dressed mallgoth who doesn't know how tp dye their hair or put makeup on right. they assume you listen to music like slipknot and him, and are into hardcore metal. they think that you must ber obsessed with nightmare before chrostmas and skelanimals and basicly live in hot topic.
this is what goth is here.
according to this, i am not "goth".  

[Gothic Muffin of Doom]

Diabolica-III

goths would be RARELY seen in my counrty... in my counrt they like to label a lot... majority of my counrty dont really approve/accept people being goth or any other subculture related to goth (diff types of goths/ but they accept punk) You wont even find ANY goth music in stores (most of the music here is alternative rock) ... so i just go to you tube or imeem. stare burning_eyes stare

Where do you live?  

[Henneth Annun]

DreamerSpirit

Vampyr Heartagram

Another annoying thing here is that if you listen to anything that's not pop or local music, people accuse you of having a very bad taste in music (especially once you mention Metallica).

People here accuse you of having bad taste in music no matter what you listen to. The most prominent genres of music in America seem to be hip-hop, rock, and pop. Most people listen to almost solely American music, and deem foregin music as being lessser than American music. There is constant bickering about which is better among the fans of each prominent music genre, and if you like other, less prominent genres, then people think that you are odd and that your music must suck (even if they have never even heard of the genres you listen to). People here are wierd about music.

Yeah....many "music fans" out here in America are terrible. Just because I'm not a fan of your genera doesn't mean I'm going to insult you and tell you that you listen to complete noise, I'll respect you as long as you have respect for others. I listen to "foreign music" and don't cosider it lesser at all, but I do know some people who think that it is sadly...Personally, I'm a fan of punk rock, goth rock, metal, and some grunge. I like some other stuff here and there too....You know what I really hate though? The "celtic doom metal is better than your speed metal crap" or "thats such an emo band you loser" conversations.... stressed  

[Veruniel]

xStephanx

In the UK, I'd have to say its fairly easy. In bigger cities, especially London, you could walk into a typical market with full Goth makeup, lacey black fishnet top, bondage trousers and platform New Rocks and nobody would bat an eyelid.

Even in the more rural parts of the country it'd be unlikely to get much attention for being Goth anymore, unless you manage to do it so flamboyantly anybody would notice.

I'm in a more rural part of England and I completely agree. The only real difference in attitudes I see is that people around here are less likely to go all-out gothy because they tend to dress more practically. So New Rocks and a bit of fishnet are common, but it's unlikely you'll see anyone walking around in a corset and ball skirt (unless they're me)!  

[TheWhiteRaven2501]

I live in the US in NC.
For the most part people here look but they have a calm attitude about it. I usually wear Rave pants, Black band shirt, and a full assortment of trinkets (collar, bracelet, rings, and glasses Ozzy style.)

For the most part, when im wearing all that stuff people tend to be respectful towards me and I in turn to them...like aying yang sort of thing.