First things first! what's a Goth??

What it's Not, is a bunch of satanist life haters who wear black and paint black stuff all over their face and nails.. and it's definitely Not people who want to die and suicide and listen to death metal... those are all stereotypes and that's not what goth is.. and not what I am...

What is Goth?

This is probably the hardest question any goth could try and answer, one may as well ask 'what is society?' as it has so many facets it defies any definitive explanation.
Goth in its simplest form, is a subculture.
A group of people who feel comfortable within each others company. There is no specific thing that defines what you need to do or be to fit into the goth scene. People in the goth scene all have different musical tastes, follow different religions, have different occupations, hobbies, and fashion sense.
What they do have in common, is the love for the old Victorian age, in all it's content.. the houses, the furniture, the clothes, the vibe!

Why do people become goths?

Most goths become goths because they have been spurned by 'normal' society because the way they want to live their lives does not fit in with how most people are told to live theirs. Goths are free thinkers, people who do not accept the moral rules of society because they're told 'This is just how it is'. Rather goths tend to listen to what you have to say, and make up their own mind. This kind of free thinking and rejection of dogma earns only rejection in today's society.
However because of this rejection from 'normal' society, goths have banded together to associate with other free thinkers. This has a beneficial effect on both the individual and society as a whole. For the individual they have a sense of belonging, and friends they can associate with. For society it removes one more misfit filled with rage from society's streets.
This of course is not the case for all goths. Many goths today are goths for a variety of other reasons.

The gothic stereotype

Many stereotypes of goths exist these days. It seems everyone has their own way to define 'what is goth'. From the stereotypes based on clothing to music right up to the stereotypes of all goths being satanists or part of some kind of cult. Categorically, all of these are false.
The goth scene is just as widely varied as society in general. There are many different professions represented in the scene, from highly skilled professionals like doctors and lawyers, to tradesman, to technically minded people to clerical workers. Many different musical tastes exist (and not all of them goth, there is a HUGE 80's following in the goth scene for some reason). The fashion varies vastly from goth to goth from the traditional flowing Victorian style garments to the buckled and studded style regalia (also called industrial style, which is often closely related with goths, and have come to an understanding of co-existance, if uneasily at times).

But they think weird!

Ah, but this is the beauty of goths. Most subjects that are taboo in 'normal' society are freely discussed and debated about. Death, religion, magic, mysticism, and many other topics that are only roached carefully outside of the gothic community. Most goths have realized that fear is only a reaction instilled in us by dogmatic propaganda, and once you realize there is nothing to fear from the topic, whats to stop you discussing it?