curiousSince October's theme is lolita communities, I thought now was the perfect time to pose a question that has been on my mind for a while now.
Generally, at least in scholarly discussions, when someone uses the term "community", it implies a sense of kinship, understanding, and togetherness. For example, in one of my classes, we were discussing how certain communities follow the old adage "it takes a village to raise a child," and how one of my classmates entire towns helped fund her college tuition, because it would benefit the whole village. This particular discussion made me rethink lolita communities as a whole.
As lolita communities are right now, to my understanding and experience, we don't really fit the standards of a "community", as the definition is used in scholarly discussions. We do meet with each other and are supportive in some venues, but we generally limit our kinship to matters involving lolita fashion, and not about our lives as a whole.** It also made me think - if a member of a community was to experience some sort of disaster, such as a house fire, would her community band together to support her, or would they generally ignore it since it isn't directly related to fashion?
This made me wonder - in an ideal world, what would your "perfect" lolita community be? Would you prefer it to stay as it is, where we limit ourselves generally to discussing fashion and lifestyle elements related to lolita, or to become more "community"-esque, where we fully support each other in all facets of life? Do you think this would be a helpful idea, or would it be a waste of time? Please share!
**Disclaimer: there may already be some communities that are more all-encompassing, but I believe, to the best of my knowledge, and in my experience with various communities, that most lolita communities are focused almost solely on lolita, and not on the member's lives in general.
In my opinion, I can see the benefit of both ways. I think that the way lolita communities are now are fine - it may not be necessary to further our relationship with each and every member, especially in communities that are particularly large. But also, I think that becoming more of an in-depth community could be beneficial, especially for members who don't feel a sense of community in other facets of their lives.