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Ah, summer…. The heat and humidity in the air, the warm breeze
tousling hair, and the beautiful bright sun shining down from the clear blue
sky.
Now when the hell does that blazing thing set?
Summer is
an interesting time for us Goths. It’s a bit of a conundrum. Yes, snow and
cold weather sucks. But for many of us, so does the heat and sun. We wear
black. Black + sun = a really hot Goth—and I don’t mean good looking.
Goths despise most stereotypes pitted against them, because for the
most part, they’re not true. But the one solid stereotype is that most of
us don’t like basking in the sun. Tans are abhorred. Indeed most of us
tend to slather ourselves with healthy doses of sunblock in the summer in order
to preserve our precious pallor. The SPF of the sunblock you’ll find in
most Goth bathrooms is so high, that when you squeeze the bottle, a (black)
sweater comes out.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we have
a fear and loathing of the sun. In fact, we really do enjoy the summer weather.
But we like to enjoy it in the shade. The avoidance of the sun is merely to
maintain that alabaster sheen, nothing more sinister than that. (There are the
two or three people in the scene who proclaim themselves Vampires. “Ack!
My skin will shrivel and burn! My eyes will bleed! Must remain indoors until
the dreaded sun expires!” Think what you will about these ones. I’ll
just leave the extremists lie in their proverbial crypts…. But I
digress….)
I will openly admit to you that I am an aberration when
it comes to being Goth and enjoying the summer. While some of my friends
anxiously plant themselves under an umbrella while enjoying the patio at a
local haunt, I sit in all of the sun’s glory. I love the sun. And I love
to bask in it. In fact, as I write this, my normally alabaster skin is the
colour of cinnamon toast. Why do I do this? As cheesy as it sounds, I love the
warmth and the peace I feel when I’m soaking in the rays. But before you
discredit me, try walking through Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on a hot and sunny
summer day, and you’ll feel and see the beauty.
Now when it comes
to summer nights, we Goths truly come to life. (Insert obvious joke here.)
Clubbing is never more fun than between May and September. It’s my
favorite time of year. Wandering down the street as you hop from club to club,
you encounter dozens of dark denizens on the sidewalk. And they aren’t out
for a cigarette. They’re out because it’s warm. We are inherently
social creatures among our scene, thus the reason why we go out to clubs so
frequently. In the summer, the pleasure factor multiplies ten-fold. That’s
because our precious clubs spill out onto the sidewalk. And being able to spend
parts of those evenings lurking the Queen Street corridor is something we love.
It is a precious experience limited to those few warm weekends. We greet our
friends, make out in graffiti-marked doorways, we giggle at the tipsy, and
flirt with the cute, all under the magic elixir of sweet, humid air.
And I ask you this, dear readers- is there anything more strangely satisfying
than seeing the sun rise over our fair city at 5:30 am as you walk home after a
hot night of drinking and dancing with your beautiful dark friends?
I think
not.
posted June 25 2005 |
Darq Angel has been living in
Toronto for 15 years. An avid reader, writer, club-goer, and music lover, she
has been a lurker in Toronto's gothic scene, floating around quietly, casting
her dark shadow over various clubs and events in the city. 