Yet, if you had to put a label on it, you could call me alternative. I find gothic and punk fashion quite beautiful. I frequently dress in such a manner, even to go about my normal daily business. Even if I’m not leaving the house that day.

The problem with this is that I, like many people (although not, apparently, as many people as we would like) have a job. It’s that annoying thing that ruins your social life (not that I have one. I really don’t, but that’s another issue.), but pays your bills. And, if you’re like the rest of us “weirdoes”, it’s the one place where you have to assimilate.

When I’m at work, I have to hide many things. I have to hide my hair color (which is why I now keep it dyed a bright, but passable as “normal”, red. It used to be blue, green, and many other colors). I have to hide my figure (dress code for overnight work? Jeans & a collared shirt.). I have to hide my symbols of faith (being a star of David.) because, I never know who I’m going to work with. And there are times, ladies and gentlemen, when you have to work with right wing Christian nutbags, neonazis, and other people who are generally rude to one another simply for the sake of excluding people. You have to work with them because they are the ones who sign your paycheck, at the end of the day.

Isn’t it a shame that these people are welcomed with open arms, but we (collective group of sub-culturists) are not?

I try to find creative ways of getting around the dresscode at my job. I wear dark wash jeans, and shirts in rainbow colors (neon teal, or dark purple.). I wear combat or motorcycle boots when I can, and black sneakers when I can't.

But I still feel like I’m hiding who I am, for the sake of the almighty dollar. The bills have to be paid. There are dogs to feed. The car needs gas. I need kerosene (or gasoline, in the case of using a chainsaw to cut firewood) to heat the house in the winter. There must be food on the table, clothes on my back, and soap in the bathroom. And all these things cost money, which essentially depends on how I look, and other’s opinions of me.

I’m curious though, as to why people who look like us (and I use the word us as a collective group of Goths, punks, hippies, surfers, and every other subculture out there, no matter how much I might disagree with your life choices and fashion choices) are always the subject of discrimination. Why is there a stigma about people who happen to have blue streaks in their hair? Or people who choose to wear things with skulls and bats on them, as opposed to cupcakes and puppies?

No one as yet answered my question, and I doubt anyone ever will. But let me say this before I leave; As a nation, we preach tolerance. As a nation of mostly Christian bias, we preach love. Love thy neighbor as thyself. In practice, we only love our neighbors, if we agree with their political, religious, and lifestyle views and choices. I’ve known more pagans, wiccans, shamanists, and atheists with more love for their neighbors (or non-neighbors), than almost any ‘normal’ person I have ever met.

That is the main reason I flat out refuse to assimilate into society. If we are going to be known as a sub culture, I propose this; let us be known as a subculture of love, peace, and tolerance of one another. Because in the end, isn’t that what everyone needs?

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About the author: Rogue Holly is an avid knitter and crocheter. She has been knitting for 6 years, and crocheting for 2 years. She has recently taken up Tatting, as well. She also enjoys reading epic fantasy books, hiking, swimming, and sewing. She waits eagerly for the county fair to roll into town every year, and works her fingers to the bone with her crafting in order to prepare for it.

She lives in East Tennessee and blogs her (mis) adventures in knitting, sewing, and everything else at http://rogueknits.wordpress.com. You can contact her via Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/froguin), or email at Rogueishknitter@gmail.com

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