Gothing the rural lifestyle: Gothabilly

I'm a holistic person. I need a leitmotif to bring all the bits and pieces together. Without one, I get all angsty and fragmentary-y and such. But fending off the centrifugal forces is not as simple as selecting a theme and going with it. No, it has to feel right. It has to fit with the moment and the environment and every petty obsession and fixation. So what is the theme du jour?

Well, I'm a Goth who lives in rural northern Alberta. It's about as rural as it gets without living in a shack in the woods. My home is practically at the end of a gravel road surrounded by bush and farm fields. Not as romantic as it sounds. The nearest town is only 5 miles away but it only has a population of 4000 on a good day. This is the heart of hillbilly redneck Alberta. Or 'little Texas' as some of the local yokels call it. And we are the mirror image of the cowboy/oilpatch Lonestar State.

While Goth is primarily an urban lifestyle, there is a romantic trend that connects with the country and nature. Goth and the rural lifestyle are definitely compatible. What is more spooky than traipsing through freshly cut hayfields under a harvest Moon? Yes, the woods and creeks and pathways and abandoned buildings provide many a dark delight for the intrepid gothling.

And I enjoy them but I'm also no romantic. I tend to appreciate the ironic side of Goth far more than the glimmer of doom and gloom glamour. Besides, the country up here is not of the manor and the moor kind. Think Southern Gothic more than Wuthering Heights Gothic. And what ironic style of Goth is easily countrified in the 'Western' sense? Nothing less than Gothabilly with its playful reinterpretation of 50s/cowboy culture via monster movies, comic books and camp?

So Gothabilly is the theme that ties and binds. The Goth style I keep returning to. Gothabilly just works in the Wild West. The 50s/country punk undertones of Gothabilly bands like Ghoultown, the HorrorPops, the Creepshow, etc. provide the perfect soundscape for the landscape of cow pastures, paddocks, muskeg (bog), willowstand, etc. The dark take on cowboy hats and boots, jeans and work shirts, provides the perfect subtle and ironic compliment to the 'normal' gear of rural life. Chili cook-offs, bbqs, harvest and seeding feasts, are activities just demanding to be Gothed up. Gothabilly is country Goth.

I have some issues with Gothabilly, however. The fixed gender roles bother me. Gothabilly is supposedly for macho men and feminine women. The gender stratification in clothing, behavior and representation is certainly far higher than in most other Goth styles. And the apolitical focus on kustom kulture, kitschy monsters, burlesque, etc. is also a turn-off. Yes, unlike punk Goth is generally apolitical but most other styles of Goth at least challenge the norm. Gothabilly is too much like a fun version of the norm.

But the ironic style of Gothabilly is full of subversive potential. Cowboys represent a male chauvinist white supremacist archetype but when they're Gothabillified they become something else entirely.

This is not your traditional cowboy:




Source: Shrine Clothing

 Nor are these gents:



Source: Ghoultown

 Even if you can picture them at a rodeo dance...in a novel by Joe R. Lansdale.

You can also see a similar dark metamorphosis of the 'greaser' style of Gothabilly here:

Source: Lip Service

Or in the shape of zombie greasers like this mini-horde:

Zombie Ghost Train Source: Auxiliary Magazine

Oh yes! It's spooky! It's fun! It's camp! It ain't your grandpa's rockabilly bobby-soxing!

But what about the ladies? Does Gothabilly offer nothing but conformity for the grrl?

Well, yes and no. Gender bending style is not Gothabilly. Strict gender stratification is the norm. But there is a certain whimsical cheekiness even here:

Source: Jennifer Linton

And here:

Source: weheartit

That's gotta count for something, right?

Of course, because that cheekiness is part of a Gothabilly mindset that allows grrls to be grrls--that is strong, independent women in control of their lives and their bodies. Gothabilly grrls aren't just ornaments, they're agents. Singer Devil Doll exemplifies this attitude and the autonomy behind it.

Source: myspace

She is not just another sex object. No way!

The sexiness of the Gothabilly style is also open and inclusive. Against the mainstream female body type monoculture of skin and thin, Gothabilly sexiness is available for every shape and size; indeed, it even caters to the voluptuous woman.

Source: offbeatbride



Source: Sourpuss Clothing

 In our misogynist culture, that adaptability is far more radical than it should be; and it goes beyond helping women recapture and re-occupy their bodies. It is about rebellion against a repressive and reactionary society. Singer Jamie Bahr of rockabilly band Danger*Cakes makes all the right connections:

Source: His Ruin Photography

"I think the recent interest of Pin-up and Rockabilly styles has come about because people are tired of the same old routine. The economy is lousy. We’re cynical and untrusting of our government and each other. We’re over-worked, under-paid and under-insured. And on top of all that, we’re constantly being bombarded about the obesity epidemic. Yes, the measurements and weight of an average woman today are larger than past generations, yet the average print ad model is smaller than ever. This reflection of our society just adds a second helping of discontent and self-loathing onto our already full plates. So what can you do to spruce up a day of discontent? Get dolled up and go dancing! Pin-up styles are best suited for women with full-figured physiques and ample curves. I know I feel good when I look my best and I’m sure that goes for other people as well. It may not change your situation, but it’ll definitely change your outlook, which could potentially lead to a change in situation. And isn’t that exactly what we’re all hoping for right now?"

Yes, obesity and austerity, body type tyranny and authoritarian social control, they all have the same source in our ultra-commodified lives. We are dominated by abstractions like 'healthy body size', 'debt', 'terrorism', 'intellectual property rights'--you name it! Against all this ether madness, Gothabilly brings it all down-to-earth in a re-worked mish-mash of working class greaser/punk and middle class Goth/beatnik. All forms of youthful rebellion against the status quo.

And the rebellion is real...Surprisingly, the subversive potential of Gothabilly really does still cause problems in the mundane world. I know. I've seen it happen up here in cattle country.

Let me take you back...no, not to the 1950s. Although it seems like we entered a time warp. No, back to the McCarthyist present of 2010 where a group of local Peace River psychobillies decided to put on Rust 'N' Lust, a combo kustom kulture/burlesque/bellydance/hellbilly show featuring the Phantom Creeps, Lascivious Burlesque, Halo Dance and the Scarlet Coquette.

Source: Rust 'n' Lust

The burlesque portion (while I am aware of the debate, I won't go into the issues of burlesque in this post) of the show caused controversy from the start among some Bible-thumping locals but that was minor until the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission decided to clamp down on burlesque by re-classifying performers as 'exotic dancers'. I have nothing against exotic dancers but the problem is that they are subject to all kinds of laws and regulations that govern what they can and cannot do on stage and with the audience. Burlesque performers need the freedom to play with their audience; and the new designation as 'exotic dancers' kills the fun and chills the performances across the province. So we have the return of creeping McCarthyist control of women's bodies in the 21st century. And Gothabilly is there front and centre against the state...well, that's a little exaggerated. Rust 'n' Lust has not come back in full force yet. We anxiously await its return.

In any case, you can see how the Gothabilly style is a natural fit with the rural life, especially up here in north central Alberta. And its rebellious tendencies and downright spunky irony only add to its appeal in 'little Texas'.

...and with that I ride off into the sunset, my fellow Gothabilly desperadoes...

The music of sex

So many descriptions of sex just don't quite hit the spot. Kinda like sex acts themselves. Many of us know how sex sounds and feels--but how do you re-present the experience of sex?

Like death, sex is largely ineffable. It is more than human; and so in many ways beyond our comprehension. So attempts to make sex speak often just sound plain silly...

(Or in the case of J. G. Ballard's Crash, deliberately disturbing in their repugnant and minute detail. Sex=smegma. That's all you need to know.)

But sometimes art equals the epiphany of really good sex. 'Love Triangle' by Australian experimental noise trip hop band HTRK is a totally immersive soundscape that penetrates, enfolds, envelops and obliterates precisely because of its minimalism.

Listen to the song. Read the words:

he on she on me
me on she on he
he on she on me
me on she on he
bermuda bermuda bermuda
tropical storms wash over me

So much in so little. Listening to this song is actually having the sex.

The first four lines are a full body massage of sounds and words that prep you for the literal climax:

bermuda bermuda bermuda
tropical storms wash over me

Exactly...this is 'erotic destruction'. What Catherine Waldby defines as 'the temporary, ecstatic confusions wrought upon the everyday sense of self by sexual pleasure...Destruction seems an appropriate term for these states because it captures both the tender violence and the terrors involved in sexual practice..., the kinds of violence this does to any sense of self as autonomous. Erotic pleasure arguably requires a kind of momentary annihilation or suspension of what normally counts as 'identity', the conscious, masterful, self-identical self,...lost in the 'little death' of orgasm (p. 266).'

And back...

bermuda bermuda bermuda
tropical storms wash over me

The personal is political

I haven't seen the Hunger Games yet. Nor have I read the book. Maybe next week when I'm on vacation. So I am definitely being presumptuous here in writing about it. Or about other people's reactions to it.

Jezebel has an article on the horrific racist response of some 'fans' of the Hunger Games. It seems that some white people were SHOCKED that characters described as black in the book actually...yes ACTUALLY...turned out to be black in the movie. Absolutely SHOCKING!!!

None of this would be remarkable except for the fact that it is totally and completely unremarkable. The casual, automatic and unconscious nature of the racism pervading these comments is truly amazing. Hatred of black people is just an implicit and intimate part of who these people are. They can't even think of black people as 'persons'.

Just think of how this kind of all-encompassing racism poisons everyday life. As Jezebel quotes the tumblr blog author:

              These people are MAD that the girl that they cried over while reading the book was "some black
              girl" all along. So now they're angry. Wasted tears, wasted emotions. It's sad to think that had they
              known that she was black all along, there would have been [no] sorrow or sadness over her death.

              There are MAJOR TIE-INS to these reactions and the injustices that we see around the world
              today. I don't even need to spell it out because I know that you're all a smart bunch.

              This is a BIG problem. Think of all the murdered children. Think of all the missing children that get   
              NO SCREEN TIME on the news.

              It is NOT a coincidence.

No, it is not a coincidence. White people only ever seeing other white people. Only ever caring about other white people. Only ever valuing other white people. Other people don't count on a day-to-day basis. You can see how inequality is perpetuated at the most personal level. If white people get angry about being tricked into caring about a fictional black character, just imagine how they react to the black people they actually experience in real life.

Every casual negative comment. Every automatic negative response. Every unconscious negative reaction. Even the most tiniest itsy bitsy teeny weenie one. This is all a big deal. There is an obvious connection between reading a book and not seeing the black characters and the mass incarceration of black people in the USA, for instance. No one cares because no one sees them. They don't exist as 'persons' for the majority of white people.

That is inequality. That is power. That is racism.

We see it in the Goth community, too. When goffs say there's not such thing as a black goth. Or make disparaging comments about black goths.

That is inequality. That is power. That is racism.

The personal is political. That's where the fight starts, my dark comrades!

Objectification and objects

In my last post, I objected to the objectification of women in various sexist cliches like the 'evil demon seductress', the femme fatale et al...In an earlier post on 'object-oriented philosophy', I explored the positive aspects of objects. So objects are good and bad...? How is that consistent? Well, my dark comrades, it depends on what you mean by the word 'object'.

Graham Harman's object-oriented philosophy uses the concept of 'objects' in a specific way. As he writes, an 'object cannot be reduced to the definitions we give of it, because then the thing would change with each tiny change in its known properties (p. 16).' The object is specifically not limited to human limitations and purposes. It 'partly evades all announcement through its qualities, resisting or subverting efforts to identify it with any surface. It is that which exceeds any of the qualities, accidents, or relations that can be ascribed to it (p. 16).'

Therein lies the difference between an 'object' in a positive sense and how we use the word 'object' when we talk about the act of objectification. Harman's object is a deep structure. Stereotypes and cliches, on the other hand, are reflective surfaces returning the preconceived notions of the gazer. In the case of sexist stereotypes and cliches, the reflective surface reveals the misogynist ideals of the male viewer: "Mirror mirror on the wall, what woman is not a femme fatale?"

So clearly a surface like the 'femme fatale' is not an object in Harman's sense. And the act of objectification is precisely (and paradoxically) to reduce a multidimensional object into a one dimensional point in a control system where meanings and qualities are strictly defined and limited. In the case of the 'femme fatale' by men. For men.

Goth stereotypes: the femme fatale et al

Goths often develop a personal style by modeling or re-modeling a dark archetype like the vampire, the witch, the zombie, the femme fatale...But archetypes can decompose into stereotypes and then rot further into cliches. Once cliches, these archetypes succumb to rigor mortis and decay away...

The femme fatale is often represented as a figure of powerful female sexuality. But who made her a representative? Who gave her the power? And who has the power to take it all away? Is the femme fatale a potent archetype or little more than a porn cliche?

Trope or cliche, that is the question posed in this short video on the Feminist Frequency titled: 'The Evil Demon Seductress'. Admittedly this video isn't specifically about the femme fatale. Only her supernatural evil sister. But the same criticisms apply. The evil sexy woman is a cliche. And one that reinforces sexist and misogynist notions about women and female sexuality.

As Anita Sarkeesian says, this common theme always shows women [to paraphrase] 'using sexuality to manipulate poor hapless men.' They 'use [their] sexuality as a weapon.' The evil demon seductress is never portrayed as actually 'enjoying or exploring her sexuality.' No, it is always about power and control. Sex makes women powerful. Gives them power over men. That is all the sexy demon seductress wants. She always has an 'ulterior motive.' And her 'sexuality is [always] dangerous.' All the sexist and misogynist stereotypes of women and their sexuality are present in the evil demon seductress. So men get to enjoy her sexy body while getting their sexist patriarchal attitudes towards women and sexuality confirmed.

And that is the crucial role of the evil demon seductress. And the femme fatale. She is not some great villain or awesome theme. She is an ideological construct fulfilling an important role within a patriarchal culture.

The femme fatale is a male fantasy. And in a sexist society, male fantasies are tools of male dominance. Male desire constrains and choreographs the femme fatale as a sex object par excellence. She has all the cruelty, coldness and self-transcendence of an object. And as nothing but an empty mirror, a relentless monster of male projection, she is a cautionary tale and a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The battle between the sexes is stil on. Sex here is about power. The femme fatale uses her sexuality to dominate men. But it isn't about her sexuality at all. No, she personifies male fantasies and fulfills male desires. Even as she is supposedly controlling them, she is catering to their every wish and whim and fancy. She is completely their creature, modifying her being for them. To fit their 'dark' idealization. How is that empowering? How is that about self-expression?

Another issue with the femme fatale is the one-sided nature of her power. The femme fatale only has power because of her sexuality. The F Word puts it perfectly 'The problem is, that within our pornified culture, women seem to only be able to find power in their sexualized bodies.' Women can only assert themselves as sex object. The femme fatale isn't risque or norm-defying. She is a porn type. And if it is in porn, it is mainstream and safe for the male viewer. The femme fatale has been totally defanged and declawed for male consumption. And worse, her power is utterly fake. Based as it is on catering to what men want.

The strip-to-control-the-drip scenario: Show me some skin and I'll listen to what you have to say. Show me a boob and I'll even buy you a drink. Pull up your pvc skirt and, well, baby...I'll give you whatever you want. That is the femme fatale's sexuality. That is the worst version of female sexuality in our culture. Goth girls behaving badly. The femme fatale is no radical. No real threat to the male order.

The femme fatale is the projection of the perfect woman from the standpoint of patriarchal ideology. She justifies male dominance while looking fabulous because she is nothing more than a predator. She can never be an equal. She can never be a full participant in society. She is a "threat" that must be neutralized. The shrew must be tamed and converted into the complete submissive. That is the bottom line of the femme fatale.

Happy International Grrls' Day!

Yes, it is officially called International Women's Day. But shouldn't this day celebrate challenges to that gender construct? Why not be an Unwoman? And let this be the anthem for unwomen everywhere!

The life of objects

A mark of literary success is the independent existence of the work. For example, China Mieville's Perdido Street Station isn't just a novel, it is a living world. A real multidimensional landscape populated by real things that we can continuously imagine in different poses, actions, reactions and combinations. Much of this activity occurring off-camera as it were. In a plane much wider, longer and higher than the papery confines of the novel itself. That is what a work of art should be. Far more than the thing itself. An object. With a life all its own. One we cannot ever fully grasp. Or its creator the possibilities exhaust. The fathoms plumb. The depths illuminate.

Mieville's second book in his Bas-Lag trilogy, The Scar, is equally a success by these modest measures. This object illustrates another facet of the living world that is an object of art. This object is animated by objects. Each character here is an object with its own virtual life to live free from Mieville's machinations (I could say the same about Perdido Street Station but I find the objects in The Scar even more stunning out of pure personal preference and nothing more!). Uther Doul. The Lovers. Kruach Aum. The Ghosthead (who are these things from their freezing fiery world harnessing the wild, wierd and haunting powers of possibility?). The gryndylow. All the cast. We can fill out their backstories in our own imaginations. And give them destinies beyond the page. They exist in the same way anything exists...

How is that? Speculative realism is a new school of philosophy which is, well, too complicated to summarize briefly but let's just say that one part of it can be defined as 'object-oriented philosophy.' It is realistic, that is, it wants to return philosophy to speculation on the nature of the real world instead of getting lost in language. Looking at the nature of objects as non-human aspects of reality is a thing speculative realism does. And philosopher Graham Harman is one of the main proponents of this object-oriented approach.

Now really looking at objects is harder than it sounds because it means trying to think of them as independent and non-human things, which means going beyond the anthropocentric view to see the thingness of things. The Wikipedia article on Harman says it well when it describes how he 'affirms the autonomy of objects while aiming to 'allude' to their shadowy underground life and covert interactions by means of metaphor.' So allusion and metaphor are ways we can describe the indescribable objecthood of objects.

And literature as the main domain of allusion and metaphor can then be a tool to help us find a few hints and clues as to the nature of the objects around us. Harman definitely uses literature to do this. And he looks to literary characters as well. 'Characters, in the broadest sense, are objects,' he writes. 'Though we only come to know them through specific literary incidents, these events merely hint at a character's turbulent inner life--which lies mostly outside the work it inhabits, and remains fully equipped for sequels that the author never produced (p. 15).' Objects are more than what we do with them: 'Let 'object' refer to any reality with an autonomous life deeper than its qualities, and deeper than its relations with  other things (p. 16).' They 'cannot be reduced to the definitions we give of [them], because then the thing would change with each tiny change in its known properties (p. 16).'

Objects define reality. Harman applies a simple reality test: 'unless a character gives rise to different interpretations, unless a scientific entity endures changed notions of its properties, unless a philosopher is entangled in contradictory assertions over one and the same concept, unless a new technology has unforeseen impact, unless a friend is able to generate and experience surprises, then we are not dealing with anything very real (p. 16).' So...now you know how to tell whether the things around you are real or not! Good to know.

Irony aside, the inclusion of characters in this list of objects is fascinating. It fits with our earlier stated intuitions about real works of art and literary success. The great work is a living world with an independent existence inhabited by unique objects. China Mieville's Bas-Lag trilogy is full of this sense of autonomous existence. Think of any of your favourite books and characters and you'll feel the same thing.

What is really interesting here is the link between fiction and reality. That link is a facet of one of Harman's main arguments: 'My thesis is that objects and weirdness go hand in hand (p. 16).' Fiction and reality are, in short, equally weird: 'Reality is made up of nothing but substances--and they are weird substances with a taste of the uncanny about them, rather than stiff blocks of simplistic physical matter. Contact with reality begins when we cease to reduce a thing to it properties or to its effect on other things (p. 17).' When we see it as having an 'autonomous life' and indescribable thingness. That is the core of its weirdness. It is something beyond our ken.

So reality itself is very weird. How very gothic! But then we already knew that, didn't we, my fellow gothlings?