My personal blog as a 'grown-up' Goth and Romantic living in the Highlands of Scotland. I write about the places I go, the things I see and my thoughts on life as a Goth and the subculture, and things in the broader realm of the Gothic and darkly Romantic. Sometimes I write about music I like and sometimes I review things. This blog often includes architectural photography, graveyards and other images from the darker side of life.

Goth is not just about imitating each other, it is a creative movement and subculture that grew out of post-punk and is based on seeing beauty in the dark places of the world, the expression of that in Goth rock. It looks back to the various ways throughout history in which people have confronted and explored the macabre, the dark and the taboo, and as such I'm going to post about more than the just the standards of the subculture (Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, et al) and look at things by people who might not consider themselves anything to do with the subculture, but have eyes for the dark places. The Gothic should not be limited by what is already within it; inspiration comes from all places, the key is to look with open eyes, listen carefully and think with an open mind..

Friday 20 January 2012

Gothic & Lolita, Globalisation of Culture, and Femininity

I've just read a really interesting article/essay on Gothic & Lolita internationally. It is part of a peer-reviewed journal published by the Japan Foundation, and as such is a bit academic, but it points out a lot of interesting things that people in the Lolita subculture probably already know, but those who are interested in it but have an external point of view may find interesting. It is ::here::  It's mostly from a perspective about the flow of culture globally, and how the view of 'Amercian-based culture taking over everything' is not always true, but it makes interesting points about how Lolita fits a niche in the West, and it is a subculture where femininity is not taken from the patriarchal perspective - cuteness and demureness aren't a symbol of weakness and inferiority and as the mainstream see cuteness as reserved for children, whereas in Japan the concept of kawaii is apparently more of an all-ages thing, although I'm not sure Japan is the idyl of tolerance a lot of Western Lolitas dream it is, although personally I think this is because it is still ridiculed and marginalised by the mainstream, and believing that 'somewhere it's better than it is here' gives a glimmer of hope. Anyway, if you have time to read it, I think it is interesting. 

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