The Color Black As Defined By Goth Subculture

Subcultures are a significant part of society, and they certainly play an important role in any individual’s life, helping to explain how each person develops a “frame of reference”. Subcultures can be defined as sub-communities that arise within the larger world of a dominant culture. Peoples’ personal experiences lead them to have their own unique perceptions about the world, the society they live in, their values, and their life in general. Values, attitudes, gestures, and sanctions tend to stem from the dominant culture in which a person belongs and spends his or her time in, learning and changing. People have a variety of interests, careers, hobbies, values, and identities; belonging to a subculture allows people who share similar interests

Goth subculture is a topic that is not acknowledged greatly enough, despite its continuing longevity and distinct style characterized by themes of the macabre, images associated with femininity, and an overwhelming emphasis on the color black. It was first noticed in Britain in the 1970’s and late 80’s stemming from the punk movement. In the early 1980’s the Gothic movement thrived, with bands like Sisters of Mercy, but the popularity of the movement started to dwindle within the late Eighties. (Porter,1999). The second generation of gothic bands emerged, and distinguished themselves by being the first to regularly call themselves ‘Gothic’. In the late 90’s, a third generation emerged and began to shape the future progression of the gothic movement. The third generation represents an explosion in the number of people referring to themselves as “gothic”. (Porter, A.1999) The Shroud, Rosetta Stone, and London After Midnight are all bands that exemplify gothic values, and many people have

Goths are often stigmatized by the remainder of society and this is often a significant underlying factor in consumption subcultures. (Schoute and McAlexander1995) state that a consumption subculture is “a distinctive subgroup of society that self-selects on the basis of a shared commitment to a particular product class, brand, or consumption activity” (43). It can be stated that the Goth subculture falls under this metaphorical umbrella of being a subculture of consumption, as Goths themselves are consumers, engaging in particular consumption activities, such as displaying loyalty to specific brands and product categories, often organizing their lives and identities with the use of such artefacts, and it is these artefacts that then become the object of stigma and negative connotations because of the overall stigma that is associated with Goth culture. Members of subcultures are often considered to be socially undesirable and face stigmatization because of how they seem to promote the defiance of mainstream society. Stigma negatively affects how possessors of an undesirable trait are viewed by those around them and by society; as such, it exerts significant influence over people’s identities. Simply put, stigmatization affects not only how one feel others perceive them, or will perceive them, but how individuals perceive themselves, and if their stigma is