Being Goth in the workplace can be very tricky, especially if you are new to the office or if you are the only Goth in the office. This is mainly because people have messed up ideas about what it means to be Goth. Over the past while I have composed a list of why it is so difficult to be a Goth in the workplace.
Endless “Jokes”
As usual, your colleagues think they are so funny with jokes that are tailored just for you since you are so “dark” and “weird”. Ninety percent of the time these jokes are absolutely not funny and often quite disturbing. Some people might think they are “just teasing you a little bit” but are actually just being hurtful. Comments like “Be careful, push her too far and she might kill herself” are far from funny and, according to me, are very insulting. The amount of times people have thought I’d be interested in a video of someone being beheaded is just ridiculous. Most of the Goths that I know are happy and kind people. They do not want to kill themselves and they do not want to see other people being murdered.
Religious Interventions
This will happen more often than you could ever imagine. It always begins the same with an unexpected and uncalled for “Do you believe in God?” question. Religion has nothing to do with being Goth. There are Goths in all religions and still people don’t seem to realize this. Other than that, the fact of the matter is that is none of anyone’s business what religion you choose to follow. In fact, I find it quite shocking that some companies still specify that they are looking to hire Christians. Unless you work for a church, your religion should not impact your ability to get a job. For some reason I do not understand most people assume that Goths are all Satanists. This is not true and even if it was true it should not impact the way you are treated at the office.
Touching of hair/clothes/face
This happens at least twice a day. Someone will come up to you and grab your jacket or your pants and go “oooh so interesting, where do you even find all this stuff?” Anyone that knows me personally knows that I am rolling my eyes as I type this. You cannot just touch someone. How is this still not common knowledge? Just because someone dresses differently to you, does not mean that you can just walk up to them and touch their clothes or their hair etc. If you have visible tattoos it becomes even worse. I am not sure if people think that tattooed skin feels different to untattoed skin but when they see a tattoo they just wanna touch it. It is really weird.
Assuming you are heavily depressed
This really really bothers me. Why would someone who struggles with depression suddenly decide to start wearing darker clothes? This does not make sense. So why then assume that someone who prefers to wear darker clothes is depressed? And what if they really are depressed and you keep making “jokes” about it?
I think one of the worst questions that I get asked over and over and over again is “What is wrong with you?” This is really insulting and degrading. There is not some brain or birth defect that makes you Goth. We are the same; we just enjoy a different part of life to you. There is nothing wrong with that. There doesn’t have to be something wrong with you in order for you to be Goth. We just express ourselves differently to you and as long as nobody is getting hurt, what difference does it make?
If you are a Goth in the office then a lot of this is probably very familiar and if you are not the Goth and you know a Goth in your office then STOP DOING THESE THINGS. It is not funny and it is not kind and do you know what? We think you’re the weird ones.
