Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences 
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I’m not Goth but have dealt with a few Goths while in graduate school. I found this site via American Library’s Teen Hoopla Site: http://www.gothics.org/subculture/ It is quite interesting and has some very good articles.
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Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,OK, I went to the web site because I had no clue what you were talking about. It turned out to be a difference in terminology. Around here, people call those haircuts ‘bi-level.’ I have no clue why a lot more ‘dykey’ lesbians sport these things. Personally, I find them unattractive, as does my partner. I think it’s a matter of taste. I have found that bi-levels seem to be more popular in rural areas (more redneck areas) around here, as opposed to the suburbanites and city girls. But this is not carved in stone: It was a very “in” thing in the ’80s, and not just among lesbians either. But some people just do not change their style. Perhaps they find it convenient, so that they have some hair to play with but can wash and dry? I do know I’ve been seeing less of these, and the folks I hang out with hate them! I think it’s more a fashion thing, really, to have a ‘jockish’ haircut that is still long in the back. Now a lot of people just either go long or go short. You certainly don’t have to follow suit if you don’t like the style. Don’t let it scare you.
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Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I think not. I think part of the problem is a confusion between the religious portion (some would say sacrament, others ceremony or covenant) of marriage and the civil (legal) contract of marriage. I do not care about which churches allow marriage. That, by law, is up to the individual churches. Some perform the ceremony only for members, some only for believers. The legal aspects of marriage is an issue separate from church/religious beliefs. Our country was founded on a separation of church and state; our forefathers did not conceive a nation to become a theocracy. The legal contract is between two people to share responsibility for one another – care for one another. This alleviates the burden of illness and old age on society. That is the portion of marriage that benefits society. In exchange, married couples are afforded numerous benefits, mostly monetary, such as cheaper rooms; there are the social benefits such as knowing that the primary person in your life is the one who will be with you and make all decisions in the event of catastrophic illness. Polygamy is another ball game. I think it would entail a much more complicated contract structure. What truly offended me is how you (and you are not alone, unfortunately) dared to throw in pedastry. Children are not psychologically nor legally able to give consent. That is why, even in the case of consent by a teen, a person can be prosecuted for statutory rape. I was sexually abused as a child; it had nothing to do with love for me, nor was it an equal sharing, an expression of both parties’ love. It was not in any way beautiful; it made me feel dirty and ashamed. There is a group called Man Boy Love that continues to attempt to lessen the effects of adult/child ‘love’ (it’s not love because of the inherent power imbalance) and attempts to include themselves in the gay-lesbian-bi-transgender community. It should be noted that in Baltimore a few years ago, they were not allowed to march in the Gay Pride Parade. They are not the same. I think people need to stop throwing everything into two categories: acceptable and unacceptable, and start realizing that there are things that are acceptable to them and things that are foreign to them, and then there are those that are unacceptable to them and yet other things that are harmful to all parties involved.
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Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I agree with the posters above, for the most part, the ages are arbitrary. It is a sort of ‘average’ age at which someone seems to be able to ‘handle’ the responsibility involved. I’m curious if the driving age harkens back to the fact that when cars *first* started to show up, they were few and far between, did not go all that fast (compared to modern cars, although certainly faster than a horse)…and so just about anyone *could* drive. There weren’t licencing laws in the beginning. I would also have to wonder how much of it came out the fact that a large area of the US was farming country, where children had already been driving farm equipment. I imagine it would be strange to say…sure you’ve been driving a trailer for 5 years, but you cannot drive a car. However, in the end…it is arbitrary. The drinking age was dropped to 18 for a while, and folks felt the saw an increase in problems. My sis was one of the kids who got stuck in the change over, since she was born in Oct and the law changed in the Summer….therefore when she turned 18, it was not legal, even though her friends who’d turned 18 just months before were legal, talk about arbitrary! A point tho, since this came up in your Civil Class. Originally voting age was also 21, until 18, 19,20 year olds started protesting that it wasn’t constitutional to draft them, when they had no say in the political matters that were leading to war. Needless to say, they won and the voting age was dropped!
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Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,First, I want to say this is not as simple of a question as it may first appear! Since I was raised Lutheran, many of my family members were/are Catholic and I am currently a Wiccan..I’m going to attempt an answer from my own perspective. Mind you, one *the* biggest differences is that w/in the Wiccan Community there is not ‘one’ way to perceive the god/desses. Some believe, like me that all the gods and goddesses are emanations/perceptions of the All which is beyond our capacity to see and relate to. Thus, for me, when I worship the archetype of the Lord and Lady, God as Jehovah is included in that. Other Wiccans are more Dualistic in that they see the Lord and Lady as seperate beings. Yet others, percieve all gods and goddesses to be seperate, being pure polytheists. None are said to be right or wrong. I’m simply presenting the variations here so that you might see where each might view the Judeo-Christian God in the scheme of things. Another essential difference lies in where we percieve the Holy (God/dess) to exist. For many Wiccans, like me (again not all, there is no one true way to percieve the world w/in Wicca), the Holy is present within everything. I truly believe there is a spiritual esssence in all the earth, animal, vegetable and mineral. Mind you I’m not talking about a consciousness or neccessarily a soul..an energy that has a kind of life it’s own. My understanding from my years as a Christian is that God is percieved as being Outside and over all. One must reach outward and upward to find God. I find the Lord and Lady within my own self, within nature, within any place that has been blessed as holy….. I realize I am making generalizations here! As I said, this question is more difficult than it seems at first glance. While it helps bridge people to see the similarities, there is a certain respect in the ability to say we are different, but that is ok. Thus, the short answer is no. The long answer is, in a way…yes.
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Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,
