As someone who has been a part of the goth scene for 26 years I can’t express how wrong you are. The posers who were in it for the aesthetics constituted a fraction of the people in the scene. The majority of goths remained goths as the music, aesthetics and community genuinely resonated with them. Maybe go to a goth club and spend some time talking to goths and see what it’s actually about.
You're not wrong exactly, but I think your experience paints a different picture. In the 2000s/early 2010s, goth/scene/emo are all an aesthetic that kind of melded together in the consciousness. Of course, you might say that these are all distinct groups, and you'd be correct in many respects, but that isn't how they were all perceived back in the day.
I'll say, as someone who grew up loving those aesthetics (and still does), I didn't really have a clear distinction between them at the time. I tried to look and dress like them, and I liked some emo music, but I couldn't truly tell you what the community was "about." I was in a rural area and my primary exposure to them was through the Internet; there were no local goth clubs or anything I could go to.
None of this is to say that you're "wrong" by any stretch, but just the perspective of myself and how I believe others perceive it. "Goth," to the general public, has always referred to a style more than a subculture for a large part of the public. I can easily understand why that would be annoying to someone actually in the subculture, but it's one of those language hiccups that has unfortunately been cemented in common parlance.
If you read my post, you might be surprised to find out I didn't say they were the same or even that they were related literally anywhere. My comment is largely about public perception and use of common parlance, not an analysis of subculture identities.
I have a genuine question and I mean in total sincerity because I genuinely want your perspective as someone who’s been in the scene nearly as long as I’ve been alive.
I don’t dress “goth” but one of my favorite bands for both their music and aesthetic is Ghost.
What am I? A poser? A goth-adjacent fan? Or just a regular person? Again, I’m not trying to be snarky or anythin, I’m genuinely curious.
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u/gr1mmcr33p3r 15h ago
*Hotel Transylvania cosplayer Pinkchyu.
There, I fixed it