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“Dim the lights, slather on the eyeliner and get ready for World Goth Day on May 22,” declares CNN. “Every day is Halloween to devotees of the Gothic lifestyle, but this special spring celebration is a chance to shed some light on an often-misunderstand subculture.” So let’s probe a bit deeper …
Today’s distinctive, global Goth culture can trace its black-clad lineage back several hundred years,” notes Time magazine, “to a revolutionary series of literary works, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818 to Edgar Allan Poe’s poems like ‘The Raven,’ to of course Bram Stoker’s 1897 psycho-sexual horror masterpiece, Dracula.”
“In the middle part of the last century,” Time continues, “England’s beloved Hammer Films kept the Goth spirit alive with a slew of dark, erotic film gems. In the Sixties, Goth received a slightly lighter treatment with the hit TV comedy, The Addams Family. And in the 1970s, the romance of Goth culture revived in a big way when British band The Banshees—fronted by dark diva Siouxsie Sioux—appealed to misanthropes and misunderstood teens everywhere.” Fitting, then, that sullen yet sultry Siouxsie continues to be the face (and form) of the holiday!
And it’s also logical that World Goth Day began in her native England, when two DJs—Martin OldGoth and the cleverly named Cruel Britannia—broadcast a BBC radio show dedicated to Gothic Subculture on May 22, 2009. The very next year, the celebration went international. “We are so surprised how well this has taken off,” marvels Cruel Brittania. Popular alt model Masuimi Max takes off in tribute below.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Cruel Brittania boasts—are we sure he’s a Goth?—and believes that while Halloween would seem the more obvious choice for the holiday, “that’s only if you want to share the day with half the world who think it’ll be cool to wear black for a day just so they can look ‘spooky’ after we’ve gone to all that effort to look that good all year round.” And, unlike the stereotype, many Goth gals do look that good (like Angel and Azrielle below)!
And better still, it seems many like to sexplore the dark side…often with each other! “Bisexuality is the misunderstood Goth teenager of the world,” feels San Francisco Weekly. “Is it just me,” reads a popular queer•y at Yahoo Answers, “or are most Goth people bisexual or gay?” And the ‘Best Answer’ given is: “Gothic lifestyle is about defying social stigma as the individual sees fit. Part of that includes breaking sexual taboos, in order to better understand and explore sexuality, intimacy and sensual pleasures.”
“It’s not strange to see two woman kissing on the dance floor at any Goth club,” observes an article titled ‘Queer and Goth.’ Adds its author: “If I grind with a girl, make out with a chick up against a wall, dirty dance with a babe, it doesn’t even get on the radar. That’s what girls do in Goth clubs.”
Though many Goeth both ways: “Goths Make Better Lovers” is the title of a 2003 video, while You Tube features a 2013 rant about the “Sexual Objectification of Goth Girls.” And this past Valentine’s Day, a cult site listed “The Top 13 Songs to Have Steamy, Sensual Goth Sex To.” So things are looking up …
“What is your favorite shade of black?” is a frequent question between Goths…but the genre has now become quite fashionable—with covers on magazines like Gothic Beauty and even French Vogue (as supermodel Kate Moss explores her ‘Noir’ side).
“Gothic looks are very cool,” observes one fashionista. “A lot of celebrity women have embraced the Goth look because of the enormous popularity of vampire movies and shows {like Twilight, True Blood and The Walking Dead}, making it the “In” thing at this time.”
Sounds like the perfect time to honor World Goth Day by getting “in” to the dark desires of 10 top ‘black’ beauties.
So please enjoy! (But no smiling allowed.)
CAROLYN JONES – The ‘Godmother of Goth’ won a Golden Globe as Morticia on The Addams Family
CHRISTINA RICCI – ‘Be afraid. Be very, very afraid,” daughter Wednesday warned visitors to the Addams movie mansion
FAIRUZA BALK – Went from Dorothy in 1995’s Return to Oz to ostracized in The Craft’s coven 3 years later
ANGELINA JOLIE – Now called ‘The Mother Theresa of Hollywood,’ she used to wear hubby Billy Bob’s blood in a vial around her neck
PAULEY PERRETTE – A true Goth, her forensic scientist character on NCIS was created to be an ‘alternafreak’—a role she’s clearly able to mesh with
ROONEY MARA – Her mother’s dad founded the Pittsburgh Steelers and dad’s dad the New York Giants. Neither parent was thrilled when she got her lip, eyebrow, nose and nipple pierced for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: “I’m naked quite a lot in the movie, and I thought she should have it showing.”
KRISTEN STEWART – “Vamp queen K.Stew is a brilliant Glam Goth inspiration,” writes RebelsMarket.com, “because of her link to Twilight and rebellious lifestyle” {she recently came out as gay}
LAURA PREPON – The teen model now plays a lesbian inmate on Orange is the New Black, and may be the only Goth Scientologist in the sect
TAYLOR MOMSEN – The angelic child in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, she’s gone from ‘Gossip Girl to Goth Queen’ in the words of The Mirror newspaper…and admits she ‘scares fans”
DITA VON TEESE – Dubbed “The Leader in the Modern Glam Goth Arena” by one alt authoress, the former Mrs. Marilyn Manson has set the gold standard as “The Queen of Gothic Sexuality”
“With certain callbacks to a time gone by,” concludes RebelsMarket.com, “many of the current trends in the Glam Goth genre can seem like they were pulled straight out of the past—with gorgeous dark corsets and laced leather. No wonder so many celebrities have been sporting this lovely and lusty look, with its mysterious edge and classic beauty.”
Indeed, summarizes Rolling Stone, “The dark future of Goth remains vibrant.
"You might even say … bright.”
The END
