Teen Gothic

This is probably not worth a discussion thread, but I find it interesting how the reverse is usually true for most people trying to get into goth (ie loving the look but not the music).

For me, it's very, very easy to like the many branches of goth music (death rock and ethereal wave being my favourite genres under the umbrella). As it's understood, you can't call yourself a goth if you don't like the music. But are you a goth if you ONLY like the music?

I'm not a spooky person, but I can't get enough of the reverberating guitars and dreary melodies. The style can look very beautiful, but I'd feel suffocated if I dressed in the same style everyday.

I'm not looking to categorize myself in anything, but I was curious to see who else was in the same boat.

In Tupiniquin lands, on the opposite side of the ocean there is a counterculture rich in arts in general! Shall we discuss?

I've been seeing a lot of overlap of works said to be Goth I often knew as other. Call it whatcha want depending where you stand, whatever. A great snot load of stuff I've always been into I'm discovering is considered Goth by the Goth community. Or Goth adjacent or of Goth in some way. I've always seen myself as somewhat Goth. More I explore the music from a Goth angle and, again, been listing to lots of it for decades now, I belong. Quiet cool. Looking for Goth compilations. Some I've already got. Life Less Lived – great tittle there!

by the way, if anyone can tell me: how rare is this CD? i tried looking it up online, and found a few results, but not a lot and most were secondhand listings. this was pressed (and seemingly distributed) in France; i live in the United States.

Maybe I'm just oversimplifying it, but it really seems like only one core tenant needs to truly be met to claim oneself as goth: listen to and appreciate the music. If the music isn't goth, there's nothing wrong with that, but the subculture is based around the music.

Bonus points for the makeup, the clothing, the philosophies, the books, the movies, etc. But being goth is really so straightforward, at least in my mind.

i've noticed on social media that the comment section on 90% of a goth-related post is just people arguing between about what is goth and what isnt, the difference between goth and gothic, what music is goth and what isnt, etc. dont get me wrong, i believe that it is very important for people to help educate others in a respectful way. but i feel like a lot of the times the way its done is either mean or straight up spreading misinformation.

i just watched a makeup transition video of someone most-likely outside of the subculture but i have no way to know. she did a "goth look" and it definitely wasnt trad goth but it looked very romantic goth. and almost every single comment was people correcting her – in a mean or passive-aggressive way. some were super condescending, explaining the difference between "goth" and "gothic" and others were saying stuff along the lines of "you arent goth do some research" but really, at the end of the day, does it matter? yes and no. most people outside of the community dont know the difference between certain words or phrases within the community, and its great to help inform others who dont know. but the way its done is just so… mean :/

also someone commented (and i quote) "you cant just do goth makeup. if its a one off thing, sure!". this was so weird to me because who is going to stop her? quite literally lol. like is someone gonna go up to someone and say "hey you have to take off that makeup look because you dont listen to the music"

i hope one day we all come together and fully respect others, and embrace this subculture as one. informing others who are curious, and not gatekeeping a beautiful thing. for right now i think im going to step away from the online goth community – and local community and embrace the subculture by myself for awhile.

what are people's thoughts? am i overreacting?

this album is really good