:
|
This is a pretty cool debate that you guys have cooked up here. 
I have a question for you:
Some people have called me a goth before, but I don't identify myself as that. I don't identify myself as anything. My clothes are mostly black, and I tend to lean toward a more alternative appearance. But does that actually make me a "goth"? I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do you define yourself by what other people say you are, and if you're unique, do you simply adopt the culture that is the most similar to what you are?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I was trying to ask/say anyways. |
Although I don't consider someone to be "something" if it's just other people saying what they are, most people will make an automatic assumption of your class depending on how you look. Humans will always judge a book by its cover. That's all there is to it.
For example, if you wear lots of black and make-up, you're going to get called a goth by everyone, except (perhaps) your closest friends, no matter what you say you are. If you spike your hair into a green mohawk and wear a studded leather jacket, you'll get called a punk. Football team and sports jersey? Jock. So on and so forth.
Personally, I, like 99% of America (and with globalization/Americanization, most of the rest of the world), would like to think of myself as an incredibly unique individual. Like I said in my above post, "I've been there." However, the plain truth is that, no matter how "original" I consider my morals and ideals to be, there are probably thousands of people out there that think with a mindset very similar to my own, if not exactly alike. I try my damnedest not to fit into a particular facet of society, and that in itself makes me identical to scores of others in the world. Not only that, I could label myself with plenty of common tags if I wanted to: Artist, Gamer, Perfectionist, Independent, Extrovert, and even more embarrassing titles, like "Rocker" or something asinine like that.
In other words, I probably adopt aspects from more social sects than I would like to admit.