Is There An Undercover Goth In Your Workplace?
For this week's Show & Tell, I spoke to Ebony Tara Scurry, a Silver Spring career counselor who caters to the work woes of goths and other alterna-types. Pick up a paper or read all about it here.
In addition to Scurry's one-on-one counseling through her newly launched "Eidolon Career Services," she's also prepared a couple of handy goth career manuals. One, Corporate Goth 101: Top Strategies for Bludgeoning to Death the 7 Most Common Workplace Problems, collects Scurry's advice for the 9-to-5 goth set. One of the most common problems Scurry addresses in the book is the stress associated with going "undercover," or hiding one's goth personality from employers and coworkers. For those who do choose to fly the goth flag, the manual also includes help with fielding prying questions from co-workers, such as "Do you drink blood?" and "Do you cut yourself (and drink your own blood)?”—and offers up strategies for directing workplace banter into neutral territory. “Talk about your cat,” suggests Scurry. “If your cat’s name is Stigmata or Detriment, maybe you should talk about something else.”
For the goth-tolerant employer, Scurry has recently completed a companion piece to Corporate Goth 101, titled: How to Keep Your Gothic Employee From Putting a Satanic Curse On You (priced at $12.95). The manual, released yesterday, includes advice on eliminating goth teasing, dealing with corporate brass who wonder why an employee is “always wearing black,” and understanding the Eleven Satanic Rules of LaVeyian Satanism, which help explain strange behaviors in a Satanist’s workplace, or “lair.” Rule eleven: “When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them.”
Employers hoping to avoid destruction can read on to find other common mistakes. “Nicknames based on stereotypes are neither professional nor appropriate,” the manual reads, urging employers to avoid calling their employees ‘dead guy,’ ‘vampire,’ ‘Skeletor,’ and ‘Satan.' Another word to the wise: “Please do not hide your gothic employee. No exceptions.”
Photo by Darrow Montgomery.
3:04 pm
Is "Eidolon" supposed to be some backward Latin, like "nolo die" or whatever?
12:56 am
It's Greek, Pop. It's where the word "idol" comes from.
11:46 am
No, it's not suppose to be backward Latin :)
In Theosophy, an eidolon is the “astral double of a living being”, it’s ghost, an astral projection or double of a living being. Professionals within the Dark Cultures and Alternative Lifestyle scene often take on “double lives” in many ways because the risk of not reaching their career potential (due to stereotypes etc.) is often deemed as too high when compared with “going undercover” at work.
Also, here's a quote from the "How to Keep Your Gothic Employee From Putting a Satanic Curse On You" report:
"When it comes to the title of this special report, I’m being sarcastic. Your Gothic employee probably isn’t a Satanist. They could be a Neopagan, Christian, Atheist, Unitarian-Universalist, or of some other spiritual background or belief."
The assumption of Goths as Satanists is one of the *biggest*, most frustrating, irritating, and bogus stereotypes out there - that's why I undertook this topic in this way. I've found not everyone "gets it" when it comes to the sarcastic title, but I felt it would spark enough curiosity to get someone to read it who otherwise wouldn't, and then in turn help them get rid of their assumptions about it.
Thanks for your comments Pop and KCinDC!
~ Ebony
http://www.EidolonCareerSolutions.com
10:11 am
Congrats Ebony! (I know, a bit late!)
I gotta say, while people are, (for the most part) respectful, I actually always got a little kick when someone would (occasionally) playfully call me "Lord of Darkness".
The thing I thought was most funny is that when I moved offices and met my new boss, he saw right through my attempt at a conservative disguise. Must have been the rings/earrings.
Funnier still is when I put on a suit and an old coworker I haven't seen in a while sees me and thinks something's wrong or that I look 'weird' (compared to how they remember me.)
-V-
6:48 pm
Outstanding,
Ebony has found a gap in our professional society that needs much attention. For us to move forward as a people, we must move past the stereotyping and capitalize on the skills that anyone has to offer thus enhancing the quality of work in the corporate environment.