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Honestly, I mean no personal offense, but you're conforming to typical stereotypes and idiotic misconceptions yourself. You're being elitest as well.

A person's interests do not affect their personalities. I know a lot of kind, selfless "preps", and a lot of self-absorbed, pretentious goths. I'm not saying that all preps are nice, nor am I saying all goths are bad. I'm saying that any given culture will good and bad people in it. If you're going to make the argument that those who deviate from society are the best people, would you consider nazis some of the best people? They too deviate from society, are different, and don't conform to normal social standards.

Also, just because someone isn't of a counter-culture or subculture (goth, punk, etc.), that doesn't mean they're a prep. Prep and mainstream are two different entities.

Now, I'm not saying that you don't have valid points. Many times, people who deviate from the standard are useful, unique, and good people. However, making the sweeping statement that (to paraphrase what you said), "Anyone who isn't normal is superior" is ignorant and discriminatory.

Your friend may need to remove his piercings before going to work - even though he has a professional persona, it's not taken as a sign of professionalism when piercings and/or tattoos are visible.

That people look at my strangely and give me the silent treatment. Mostly because I think a little more logicaly then they, I'm silent in class, wear black most of the time, black hair and make up, Metal fan and I'm slightly depressed.
Why must we be treated differntly just beacsue of how we act, how we dress, and the music we listen to. Are we not people just like they. I just makes me feel discusted that people can be so cold hearted to one another just because they're different in a few ways. I mean yes I am sligtly mean to people but only if they give me a reason to and trust me most of them have.

In all honesty, I don't find preppies all that 'normal.' The vast majority of people I meet -- the people I'd classify as normal, since they show the types of behavior I see most often -- are nowhere near as brand-conscious as the stereotypical prep.

I've never really noticed any corporate prejudice against goths either -- as long as they stay within the dress codes that are appropriate in the workplace. You wouldn't wear bondage gear to work, any more than you'd wear everyday clothes if you expected to get in the door at a fetish club. One of the things involved in getting and keeping a job is having the interpersonal skills to work well with a large group of people, and an important aspect of interpersonal skills is acting in a way that will put other people at ease in your presence. Really unusual clothing is distracting... and though there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, there are times and places where it's not polite to distract people.

I'm pretty gothy and don't consider myself a sell-out, but I do tone down my fashion sense at work. Cotton knit instead of velvet, plain straight skirts instead of netting, etc. I consider it a courtesy to others.

Well, engineers are professionals. Professionals do not get lip piercings and eyebrow piercings.

Professionals should... look more like people in Esquire magazine, or GQ.

And don't go off about stereotypes. It's a professional environment, if he wants to be valued in the workplace, he shouldn't wear his piercings. The "preppie" gets the job because the "preppie" LOOKS PROFESSIONAL.

Agreed.

This summer I'm going to have to go out job-hunting, and I KNOW that I'm probably not going to be allowed to wear my much beloved velvet gowns and victorian mourning attire at work, nor to job interviews... work usually isn't the place for that sort of thing.
Most of the people in the guild are teenagers, and thus are more likely to have a job working with people (ex. retail, waiting tables, etc.), and a lot of people will not want to be served by somone who, by thier standards, looks like a 'freak'. For work, dress pants, strainght skirts, and button-down tops are usually the way to go.


As for common misconceptions about goths, there are many, but as a culture we should work to overcome those misconceptions, and show people that goths aren't nessecarialy bad people.