Geek = Goth?
I had an interesting question posed to me on a forum I’ve been a fairly active member on for a couple years’ now. I was asked if I am, or ever was, a “goth“. The poster was so sure of my present or past-goth status that he asked when I’d last worn black lipstick and black nailpolish. If you know me, I’ll allow you a couple minutes to pick yourself back off the floor and catch your breath…
Better, yet? Okay, I’ll give you another thirty seconds…
So, yeah, Shannon as a “goth chick”? *cough* Although in the interest of full disclosure, I did have to confess I went through a brief black-hightops-with-neon-laces phase in early high school (to which Justin can attest–yes, we’ve known each other that long!) But that was mostly just to piss off the “cool kids”, and because the shoes were damned comfortable, thankyouverymuch!
What’s perhaps oddest of all is what prompted someone to form a mental image of me as a “goth chick”. My handle is “Geek Gal” on the forum, but I generally don’t post much about my geek habits or interests, beyond what fits with the forum’s theme (gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, like our Ford Escape Hybrid.) I like the handle because it’s self-explanatory (I thought) and also indicates I’m female on forums that, even in this day and age, tend to be male-dominated –at least when it comes to active posters vs. lurkers.
Apparently, at least for a (very?) small subset of non-geeks online, “geek” + “female” = “goth”. Weird. I always sort of thought of goths as anti-geek/anti-technology? What the heck do I know, I only vaguely knew of any goths in high school, and the only goth I can name off the top of my head is Amy Lee of Evanescence (I do love her voice, and enjoy her music, so maybe I have a tiny bit of goth DNA?)
