Teen Gothic

I've been listening to goth music since I was 11, and I love it and the goth subculture. Tragically, I began to lose my hearing at 12 and just had a cochlear implant surgically installed 4 days ago (i am 17). I was talking to one of my "friends" who is very much a goth. She said that she thinks I'm not really goth because I hear artificially (I've had hearing aids for 5 years) and I can't really enjoy the music or experience it like a normal person can. I am very insecure about being deaf and this just makes me feel like shit. Do I have to give up the goth label? I'm sorry if this is dumb or the wrong sub, it's the most relevant one I could find.

I've been obsessed with it for a couple days or so now. I need more bands that are Switchblade Symphony adjacent.

They played one show recently but haven’t put out new music since 2020 and their social media is fairly inactive. Wondering if anyone knows if they are still together? Loved their last album!

people pretty much love the goth look with pale skin, would i look weird??

There's a gulf between Sisters of Mercy and something like Twin Tribes or Forever Grey, but we all intuit them as 'goth' and i'm just wondering how this developed, historically.

EDIT: Misspoke here, did not mean to imply that synth or darkwave is a modern thing, but more that it's far more prevalent now as a dominant goth sound and was curios as to how we still consider this music to be goth (not that i disagree with that at all).