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Monday, December 19, 2005

Gothic Night Revelations

Last weekend was my friend's, Barefoot in Blue, birthday extravaganza. The actually day of her birth is today, but since you can't really party on a Monday, we decided to spread the celebration over three nights of dancing and frolicking. We did the typical hip-hop and Caribbean music on Friday and Saturday night, but on Sunday night seeing as to how most everything else is closed, we wound up partying in a club on their gothic night. It was one of the most awkwardly amusing nights ever. The anthropologist in me was appreciating the gothic culture, but the still conservative, close-minded part of me was simply repeating "what the hell" all night long.

I was pretty uncomfortable right from the get go, so I was forced to get a drink, like a coward, so I wouldn't have to be so self-conscious. I used to hate those people who simply must have a drink before they could dance and let loose, but I'm starting sympathize with that sentiment because sometimes it helps if you're not all there.

Anyway, everyone in the club was rocking their look, with the dyed black hair, the very pale white skin, and the very black eye makeup. Black trench coats were swaying to Rob Zombie and the occasional glimpse of vampire fangs almost made me piss my pants, but I refused to be intimidated by the pure spookiness of their rattling chains. I was determined to have a good time, and I truly did.

What I found the most interesting about the gothic look was how it makes everyone look genderless. All that long black hair and face painting really made the men look feminine and since the men looked so feminine made some of the girls look a little masculine. I would say that at first glance at least fifty percent of the kids in that club had ambiguous gender markers, which kind of made me lose track of my own femininity and just be a genderless creature the entire night. Plus, I don't fit into the gothic aesthetic of beauty so I didn't have to worry about being hit on or coming up with lame excuses why I couldn't give anyone my number. It's so freeing to be unconscious of your sex even if only for a few hours. Our gender is something that we are forced to conform to more often than not, so I enjoy the few occasions when it gets lost in the shuffle.

Gender ambiguity aside, I had a ball. I absolutely adore rock music so I was feeling the heavy sound. Most of the songs I did not recognize, but they did play some good Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, which I was really dancing hard to. I was so excited by the change of music because my dancing world is all about salsa, reggae, and hip-hop. Anything outside of that is like a foreign movement language to me. Plus, I've never thought about going out and dancing to alternative rock before. I thought that sort of music was only for screaming to in your car or while cleaning the kitchen, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it so fun to dance to as well.

In the end, I can truly say that I can understand the whole gothic trend a little better now. It's not at all as scary as I thought. I even began to like those vampire fangs ever so slightly. I'm far from buying a trench coat or piercing my entire body, but at least the gothic sub-culture is not so foreign to me anymore and not so frightening.