Gothic Charm School (31 page)
Read Gothic Charm School Online
Authors: Jillian Venters
“But what about the Lady of the Manners's
hopes
for the future of Goth?” you may be asking. Oh, that's an easy question, Snarklings. The Lady of the Manners hopes that Goth gains more understanding and acceptance in the mainstream. Enough acceptance that people realize showing a preference for sumptuous black clothing, dramatic makeup, and wanting to hold a picnic in a graveyard are not signs of a dangerous and deranged mind. Enough understanding of what Goth is and where it comes from, so that when the mainstream media or fashion industry decide to dip their collective toes into our dark waters, they don't feel the need to plaster everything with disclaimers about how
their
cur
rent version of Goth-influenced whatever is “Goth, but elegant” or isn't about “angsty teens.”
The Lady of the Manners also hopes that the Goth subculture keeps growing, keeps coming up with new and fascinating interpretations of the idea of dark glamour and otherworldliness. That all the fledgling
babybats
or
gothlings
who realize they feel at home in the Goth world are accepted for who they are and who they
want
to become.
In the end, it all comes down to the Lady of the Manners's fervent hopes that Goths and non-Goths will no longer view each other with suspicion or raised eyebrows, and that the Goth subculture will always be around, no matter what the future holds for everyone.
An enormous bouquet of black and pink roses and sparkly bats are owed with gratitude to the following people:
Lauren Abramo, Acid PopTart, Allyson Beatrice, BlueJay, Doug Carter, Jennifer Luckman Carter, Drew Dalzel, Donna Davies, Sarah Durand, Juliana Egley, Lisa Van Every, Barbara Caridad Ferrer, Neil Gaiman, Amy Garvey, Brittany Hamblin, Kij Johnson, Kambriel, Evelyn Kriete, Emily Krump, Beverly Leoczko, Jennifer Lovely, Thea Maia, Marc17, Darren McKeeman, Lillian “Princess Tickybox” Marcontell, Pleiades McRae Marcontell, Lisa Mesplay, Katie Mineke, Monsignor, Lee Neugebauer, Elena Okrent, Heather Pate, Queenie, Alexia Roy, David Smay, Stax, Kristin Taylor, S.A. Throop, Alex von Hochtritt, and the various and sundry creatures of the night in the Gothic world that have written to me throughout the years.
Jillian Venters
was a fairly spooky and morbid child. When she discovered the existence of the whole Gothic subculture, she clapped her hands with glee and fell upon it like a babybat upon a box of Count Chocula cereal. Since then, the Lady of the Manners has spent a not inconsiderable amount of time trying to gently persuade others in her chosen subculture that being a polite Goth is much, much more subversive than just wearing T-shirts with “edgy” sayings on them. She lives in Seattle.
www.Gothic-Charm-School.com
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Cover design by Pete Venters
GOTHIC CHARM SCHOOL
. Copyright © 2009 by Jillian Venters. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition May 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-188431-3
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