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Meta
Author Archives: Lady of the Manners
Goth or Not: the Question of Marilyn Manson
Many, many faithful readers have sent missives taking the Lady of the Manners to task for her seeming dismissive air toward a current musical icon; “Why are you so down on him?” these faithful readers cry. “Here, read this interview with him! He seems Goth, why do you keep saying he isn’t?!” In light of these touching questions, the Lady of the Manners decided she had better take a stand and answer the question once and for all. Continue reading
Posted in General
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That Old-Time Religion
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another month’s worth of Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of the Manners is going to hold forth about a topic that she really didn’t think she’d ever need to; a topic that is such a cliché that the Lady of the Manners just assumed everyone knew what was the truth behind it. The topic? That there aren’t any particular religious beliefs you need to hold to be a Goth. No, really. There aren’t. The Lady of the Manners isn’t joking. Continue reading
Posted in Stuff & Oddments
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Labels Really Aren’t Just For Clothes
So! What burning issue has roused the Lady of the Manners from her months-long seclusion? Why, an issue that no one has actually come out and asked for advice about, but needs addressing none the less. You see, there’s a certain type of mail the Gothic Charm School seems to get quite a bit of. There are swarms and swarms of readers out there who are compelled to write to the Lady of the Manners to complain about being labeled Goth; they don’t want to be labeled, labels are restrictive and so limiting! Sure, they may wear all black, be interested in graveyards, gargoyles, horror fiction, vampires, or just prefer a darker aesthetic then most people, but they refuse to be labeled, and they’re terribly, terribly resentful when people try and apply a label to them. There’s So! Much! More! to their personalities and lives than can be encompassed by a (gasp, shudder of revulsion) label. Continue reading
Posted in Stuff & Oddments
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Too Old To Be Goth, Revisited
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to your monthly peek into the Lady of the Manners’ brain. This month, the Lady of the Manners is going to re-visit a topic from Years Gone Past. The Lady of the Manners has been receiving ”¦ well, not quite a flurry, but a light dusting of mail from new Faithful Readers who write earnest and charming letters about how they never considered themselves Goth, but they wear all black (or dark jewel tones), they like to read horror and fantasy fiction, they like bats, they collect gargoyles ”¦
Thankfully, this batch doesn’t ask the Lady of the Manners to validate their gothness, or complain that whatever online test they took doesn’t think they’re Goth. No, what is troubling these poor readers is very simple: they think they’re too old to start calling themselves Goth. Continue reading
Posted in Growing Pains
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Raising A Goth
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another fun-filled Gothic Charm School column. (The Lady of the Manners certainly hopes it’s fun-filled for you Faithful Readers, because she has fun writing them.)
Recently, the Lady of the Manners has been getting a lot of mail from parents; encouraging mail. Mail that asks questions like “How can I as a parent support him in the Goth life, without seeming like I’m pretending to be “cool”, or fake? Should I just let him experiment with it?” The Lady of the Manners is thrilled that parents are reading her columns and sending her mail, which naturally leads to the Lady of the Manners writing a column just for them. But before she starts holding forth about “So you’re the parent of a fledgling Goth?”, there’s one eensy other thing she has to address ”¦ Continue reading
Posted in Growing Pains
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“Not a Goth,” Revisited
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another fun-filled lesson here at Gothic Charm School. The Lady of theManners has been getting quite the flurry of correspondence lately, what with Gothic.net inviting everyone inside the shop (as it were) and the Lady of the Manners’ archive site being selected as a Yahoo! Pick of the Week; the Lady of the Manners is quite spoiled for choice in terms of subjects to Hold Forth about, bless your spooky little hearts.
Remember, just a few months ago, when the Lady of the Manners addressed the concerns of a young lady who insisted she wasn’t a Goth (anymore), but kept being referred to as one? This month, the Lady of the Manners looks at two different sides of the Not A Goth dilemma: So You Want to be a Goth but Aren’t One, and My Friends are Goths, but I’m Not. Continue reading
Posted in Stuff & Oddments
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On Being Mean
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to yet another month of the Lady of the Manners shaking her lace-gloved fist and ranting (in a ladylike manner, of course). Now lets see ”¦ last month, the Lady of the Manners mentioned a topic she’d been thinking about. It’s a topic that she even covered in brief a few months ago, saying something like “The Internet is not Real Life, but you still should be nice to the people you meet there”. Well, yes. Apparently the ”˜be nice’ part of the message didn’t reach some people or make as much as of an impact as the Lady of the Manners had hoped for, so she’s going to indulge herself with an ENTIRE COLUMN about why being rude, unkind, or inflammatory towards people you meet online Should Not Be Done. Continue reading
Posted in Being Social
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“Not a Goth”
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another dizzying month of Gothic Charm School. This month’s topic is a puzzle, one that the Lady of the Manners has had to think a long while about, because she kept having so many different answers to the question. One of you dear Faithful Readers wrote in with an earnest quandary, but one without an easy, off-the-lace-cuff answer. The poor dear even asked to not have her email address and name used, because she’s worried about facing ridicule from people. What has her all in a flutter? Funny you should ask that ”¦ Continue reading
Posted in Stuff & Oddments
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Meeting New People
Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another month of etiquette fun with Gothic Charm School. Now, what was it the Lady of the Manners was going to natter on about this time? That’s right, surviving the holiday season. Oh well, so much for that! Instead, the Lady of the Manners is going to answer a heartfelt plea from a reader, one asking for advice on a very important subject: Meeting new people. Continue reading
Posted in Being Social
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Goths and School
Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to the long-promised “Goths and School” column. Yes, the Lady of the Manners is following through on what she promised last month, no more wild tangents about weddings or other social events.
So. Right. School. Hmmm. Continue reading
Posted in Growing Pains
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