Goth Challenge, Day 11

Day 11 – Is Goth a lifestyle for you?

This is a really dumb question. It's the Goth Challenge, so I think it's a foregone conclusion that anyone participating is a Goth, and therefore, yes, the Goth lifestyle is for them.

Really, what is a Goth lifestyle? Does it mean living like a Goth? How exactly do Goths live?

Yes, my hair is dyed black with white streaks instead of my natural dark blonde.
Yes, I dress in mostly black and white - that's how I'm most comfortable.
Yes, I often wear accessories with bats, skulls, coffins, spiders/webs, etc.
Yes, my makeup is pale with dark accents.

Me

Yes, I primarily listen to Goth music.
Yes, I read Victorian literature.
Yes, my home is full of Halloween-themed housewares. My plates have spiderwebs, bats and skulls. I have skeleton-hand salad utensils and monster finger knives. My book shelfs have macabre dolls perched among the tomes. My walls have Pre-Raphaelite art hanging on them as well as paintings done by my grandfather.
Yes, I watch horror and sci-fi movies and television.
Yes, I participate in Goth communities online.
Yes, I do like going to the Goth club - when I have a sitter.
Yes, my favorite drink is really the Corpse Reviver #2, which combines absinthe and gin.
Yes, I did visit 13th century ruins on my honeymoon.

Kilmallock, Ireland

But...

I do have a normal full-time job.
I do participate with the PTA at my kids' school.
I do like some main-stream TV shows and movies.
I do have friends who are not Goth. In fact, my husband is not Goth.
I do normal family things with my children and husband.
I sleep in a normal queen-sized bed and not a coffin (though the coffin/couch/bed is very cool, and I would love to have one)
I drink things other than absinthe and gin.
I do go out to bars that are not Goth.
I live in a normal, town-home community.
I do sometimes hang out with my kids' frieds' very normal moms.
I do enjoy watching sports, like hockey and American football, and sometimes soccer or hurling.

So... Do I live a Goth lifestyle? I don't know. I am part of the Goth subculture. But I am also a mom, a wife, a full-time employee, a neighbor, a sports fan... People are not one-dimentional. We have many, many facets to our personalities, and therefore our lives flow in interesting ways that don't necessarily mesh with our chosen subculture. I think that a lifestyle is really just the way in which each person lives their life comfortably as themself. You can be part of a subculture, and live accordingly, but I guarantee not one person can fully eschew all facets of a conventional lifestyle.