Vampire Community Progress - Discussion

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Posted By: D351
On: January 26, 2008, 05:28:00 PM

I guess this is going to be a/the place to discuss how the community could/might move forward...

Personally, I think that a good bit of the community's behavior is pathetic. The smarter (generally more silent, with a few exceptions) part of the "community" could benefit greatly from stricter definitions and a few outspoken people shouting (as loudly as possible) "NOT ONE OF US!" at a few key moments. I also think that, despite the prevalence of certain cultural intersections, the community could benefit from putting more focus on the exceptions; the vampires who don't tend to wear all black (clearly excluding myself from the "exception" category), the vampires with ("normal") day jobs, and (most of all) the vampires who have lives outside of the fact that they're vampires (and being a pagan doesn't count). We have a lot of stereotypes to break, both internally and externally, and if we want to break them, it's going to take a whole lot of diversification. And I think that'd be great.

« Last Edit: February 04, 2009, 11:03:24 PM by Merticus »

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Posted By: WingedWolfPsion
On: January 27, 2008, 02:04:34 PM

So basically, more of what people are already trying to do?  I honestly haven't seen many areas where this isn't occurring, and I've been in and around the community for a very long time.

The only trend I can see that could use some work is this prevailing association with the BDSM culture.  I think that could stand to go away.  There's nothing wrong with folks being into BDSM, but it needs to be seperated from the vampire community--at the moment, someone taking a quick browse through some areas could easily come away with the impression that vampirism is all about BDSM.

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Posted By: D351
On: January 28, 2008, 12:33:46 AM

Maybe this is just because of my being in the southeast (particular when the only local meetup is primarily OSV ), but it seems that a lot of vampires may have normal lives but try to goth it up whenever the vampire issue comes up. Also, I think the internet is filled with very gothed up vampire sites. And I know people are trying to get out of this to varying degrees, but that doesn't change the fact that we've still got a good ways to go. For instance, here's a short list of words that should be avoided in net handles as well as web site and organization names...

Dark
Black
Raven
Crow
Crimson
Lord/Lady
Heart

I'm not saying that use of these words is bad, just that it should be far less common. Personally, I'd go so far as to say that I find the whole "house" thing quite silly, which is exactly why I founded one.

Oh, and I can not overstate the publicity issue. I've yet to see a single person on a non-internet public forum (tv) talk about being a vampire not make fools of us all, except for Michelle Belanger (who was still a tad gothed up :, in what I saw). (And no offense to Don, but his involvement in Mad Mad House, though quite entertaining and semi-informative, still made us look like a bunch of coffin-inhabiting goths, )

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Posted By: WingedWolfPsion
On: January 28, 2008, 03:20:33 AM

This may be true, but at this point in time it's also entirely possible that a majority who are active in the vamp communities actually are goths, all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.  You can't exactly ask them to stop being goths so that the vamp community can look different. <g>

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Posted By: D351
On: January 28, 2008, 07:30:01 PM

This may be true, but at this point in time it's also entirely possible that a majority who are active in the vamp communities actually are goths, all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.  You can't exactly ask them to stop being goths so that the vamp community can look different. <g>

sad but true... sad but true...

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Posted By: NyteMuse
On: January 31, 2008, 04:04:08 PM

This may be true, but at this point in time it's also entirely possible that a majority who are active in the vamp communities actually are goths, all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.  You can't exactly ask them to stop being goths so that the vamp community can look different. <g>

Goth and proud

But I'm actually more of an attitudinal or by-interest goth, not a fashionista.  I CAN dress goth, and do when going out socially, but I pass very well for mundane (to the point where some folks have a hard time thinking of me as goth).  Why don't I help out the community by going more public like Michelle?  Simply put, I can't and continue being employed...I work with children, and you can't really deviate too much from social norms unless you want to take the risk of being blackballed.  If I were to come out publicly as a vampire, I would be labeled crazy and/or a predator, neither of which can work with children.  I do what I can, behind a safe false name of anonymity, mostly online.  I write classes and articles for wherever I might be and make myself available for questions.  I wish I could do more actively, but not with my current resources/place in life, so I do the best that I can and work on putting forth the image that I would like the rest of the community to take.

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Posted By: D351
On: February 11, 2008, 02:33:10 PM

I'm not sure if I said this in my previous posts, but I don't mean that everyone should go out and fix the vampire image. I just mean that some people should. Hell, I don't think I'm all that ready to go on national television for the cause either, and though I don't consider myself goth, I'd be hard-pressed to find any clothes in my room that aren't black (excluding my work uniform). I am not asking you to be my example... I'm just pointing out that emphasis needs to be taken off of the things that have become cliche for the community.

And on to the real reason I started this post, a simple question... And before I ask, to clarify, I am not being sarcastic when I ask this question. I am seriously curious. What does "attitudinal goth" mean? I don't exactly live in a place where there is much of a goth scene and if there was a goth scene, I wouldn't be of legal age to be involved (In South Carolina, or at least this county in South Carolina, the legal age for being in a bar/club at all, drinking or not, is 21. I won't be 21 until October.) But I thought the whole foundation of the goth subculture was a combination of music and fashion and little more. Please explain.

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Posted By: NyteMuse
On:  February 11, 2008, 03:55:49 PM

And on to the real reason I started this post, a simple question... And before I ask, to clarify, I am not being sarcastic when I ask this question. I am seriously curious. What does "attitudinal goth" mean? I don't exactly live in a place where there is much of a goth scene and if there was a goth scene, I wouldn't be of legal age to be involved (In South Carolina, or at least this county in South Carolina, the legal age for being in a bar/club at all, drinking or not, is 21. I won't be 21 until October.) But I thought the whole foundation of the goth subculture was a combination of music and fashion and little more. Please explain.

The music and fashion is only one aspect of the subculture.  I listen to the music and I occasionally dress up, but that's the equivalent to lifestylers for me.  San Francisco has a pretty serious goth scene, so to separate from the ravers and such, it's more of an attitude/philosophy thing, as explored in this article by a friend: http://www.gothpunk.com/articles/not-about-death.html

We have the power, in every moment of life, to make a friend of death — and, by so doing, we have the power to live so deeply and richly and passionately that not to do so is a crying tragedy.
And being a Goth is not about death. Enjoy the paradox — with our black and our paleface, our skulls and our coffins, being a Goth is supremely about life.

(No, that's not a universal "truth" of the community, but that's how I see it, and that's how we live it around here.)

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Posted By: D351
On: February 12, 2008, 12:44:09 AM

Interesting... As I skim that article (it's a bit long), I detect hints of hedonism, decadence, and epicureanism (I had to look up the name for this philosophy). It doesn't seem like a very productive philosophy, but it certainly sounds harmless and fun.