I've been goth for 15 years now. I'm 28. I was a baby bat once upon a time, but these new baby bats think a white base makes a makeup look "trad goth" and I'm going insane. THIS. This is trad goth. Not 2020s e-girl makeup in black.

I have the Goth Bible. I was serious about not being a poser. These people don't care about being a poser and will openly admit it. I remember when you wouldn't even SAY you're goth cuz that made you a poser. UGHH

Has anyone else run into this? I dont know how to deal with the youth. That one e-girl running around with Drake has made this trend even worse and I'm so sick of it. We're supposed to be counter-culture.

These people would've made fun of actual goths in high school before it became a trend. Their makeup is all so cookie cutter. There's no DIY or personality in it anymore. I look like this to be myself, not to follow some stupid trend.

I'm sick of it. Okay sorry, rant over.

I don’t know why, but I have never posted in this sub just because I’m always a quiet watcher:,) but I feel like this hate is so forced, I have been active in the Goth community since my Tumblr times in 2015 and I feel like even on Tumblr it has never been that bad. I don’t know why but I feel like it’s just so weird to be judging people like yes I understand it’s wrong to call it trad goth or to like use Goth.

We all know the girls that like did the YouTube video where they just wear eyeliner and black lipstick and act super weird and sexual to just use it for their only fans we all know that’s wrong..

but I just feel it’s so weird that people are so judgmental like yes you don’t see a lot of 80th trad goth anymore, cause you are just on your phone on TikTok in real life in the clubs you see them all the time. I don’t know if I’m wrong but for me a big part of being goth/alternative it was always to let people live how they want to live or look how they want to look unless they are obviously harming people or are shitty people. I would really like to hear what you all think about this.

I'm not as involved in the subculture anymore, but this is something I feel like people in it should see. JLynn is a reasonably sized Goth YouTuber who has made some really popular videos about the subculture and her content does focus a lot around it. Yesterday she made this post on BlueSky and Instagram going on to compare Charlie Kirk's assassination response to George Floyd's murder protests. I'm assume that bigotry is still not allowed around here.

I'd be interested to see what everybody's take is on the more recent trend of hyper-sexual goofy "Goth Girl" thirst trap creators on TikTok and YouTube. I mean, is this the future of Goth? Burning the aesthetic down to a cosplay template?

In my own experience, ALL of the Gothic Women that I have dated since the '80s have been well read, intelligent, and elegant. Several were musicians, poets, or writers.

Personally, I feel that some of these creators are creating a stereo type thatdoesn'tt exist. Am I wrong?

I have come across several younger Goth Girl creators that delve into the history of the music, interesting new bands, or the culture, but they don't seem to get the same high view counts.

Thoughts?

Also, I intentionally cut off the creator's info on the stills.

Hi everyone , I have been a baby bat for the last 8 months now and I just want to know if you get to give 3 advices to me and other baby bats in this community, what would you like to say?

UPDATE:

Hi everyone , I have read all the comments and thank you to those who gave me and other people who are new in the community advices and to those who get hurt by the term, I am sorry if it offend you in any way, I am still learning and a lot of my goth friends and mutual use that term to describe me since I am new , so I thought everyone agrees with it . But now I know it not a prefer term to use for most of us here, so I will be more mindful from now on. Thank you again to everyone who leave your opinions below. appreciate everything you have said!!!

Today I had the bad idea to scroll on Instagram while I was returning home and I stumbled across this video. I just find it obnoxious when this so called goths say the most obvious lies about goth subculture and, just because they put the picture of a gothic girl, everyone in the comments agrees with them. Saying "You're not goth because you're a leftist that listens to gothic rock" is just missing the point of the all subculture. Also people don't seem to distinguish goth and gothic: the first one is about music, while the latter is about fashion, literature and cinema and even if the goth aesthetic is deeply inspired by gothic style, they're still two different things. Let me know if I'm being wrong.

https://www.elle.com/fashion/shopping/a65595150/goth-fashion-trend-fall-2025/

It saddens me to have to write this, but here goes. A few months ago I saw this person post about her salon located Temecula, California. I live in a not so far away city and after looking over her Instagram profile I decided I would love to take my business over there the next time I’m in SoCal. I had never seen a goth/alternative themed med spa salon before. Through an unfortunate rabbit hole that I ended up going down tonight, it turns out that this salon owner has been liking various posts from an extremely far right nazi instagrams account. Included are all of the screenshots of posts from this person she has liked. There are things that I can certainly agree to disagree on but this is not fucking one of them, especially if she is advertising her business on goth pages. Everyone here deserves to know what she is really about.

Im not goth i dont know much about gothic music and those stuff i just never thought that goth is into politics

First of who does this person think they are, going to a goth concert with these stupid meta glasses, and why does Twin Tribes seem to endorse them? I know they‘ve used AI art before but seriously this is a new low, even for them

I was at a club a couple of weeks back, I invited a friend from High School. They brought their bf. There were a few other friends that came by. We're all chilling, getting along great with the dude.

Then he says a joke about transpeople, whatever the mood was up. Some edgy jokes had been made already, a little prodding at the boundaries is fine. I don't mind an edgy joke. Then he did it again. And again. I'm talking to him trying to steer the conversation somewhere else. Then he just bluntly asks me.

"What's up with the t*****. What do you think of them."

That whole group, goes silent. Even with Andrew Eldritch yelling about how everything sucks.

I'm like "I DON'T think about transgender people. Like at all."

One of the guys there looks at his GF and is like. "You guys should go. Well, you can stay (to his gf), but you (her bf) are not welcome here."

He stands up and signals to his gf that it's time to go. "Yeah, I don't want to hang out with some p***** ass liberals."

Thank god the two of them actually left and we could hear them start bickering amongst themselves as they walked off into the crowd.

That really killed the vibe of that night. The rest of it was everyone talking about how much we hated that dude. It took a while for the mood to pick back up.

Gatekeeping is not okay, I will make exceptions for people like that.

I do apologize ahead of time, I know this is a common discussion here.

But I absolutely hate how mainly goth/alt women are portrayed. As kinky partners or “I would love it if she ruined my life”. Not every goth person is kinky or a toxic person. Why would someone want to seek out unhealthy relationships???

I have childhood trauma but that does not mean that I would be abusive to my partner. I take care of my issues and my mental health because that’s MY responsibility.

Seeing how mainstream or how it’s memed with this stigma is frustrating. We’re human beings, not your fetish.

Allow me to submit:

1) The weird ahh old guys

2) Not being able to tell any of my clothes apart without taking them off the hanger cuz theyre all black

3) The need to look up Every Single Band in case theyre nazi pxdos or something (I guess this goes for alt subcultures in general tho)

came across this persons tiktok account and they’re claiming you can’t be goth if you don’t dress the part, even if you listen to the music ??? is this not nonsense? (Edit: I don’t use reddit often, so sorry that this was an annoying post. I wasn’t asking genuinely, more rehotorically because I’m in disbelief people like this exist haha.)

Im sorry if this question has been asked before but i wanted to see if someone has an answer to my question. I keep seeing more conservatives saying that goth and punk was originally conservative or that they have become conservative such as the whole "conservative is the new punk" thing. I find this to be really strange as youll usually encounter conservatives making fun of alternative people but now out of no where they create their own rules for random sub cultures. Is there any reason why these people are attempting to re-define these sub cultures?

I've been browsing online and stumbled upon a disturbing comment where a guy is referring to a goth girl as a "goth dommy mommy". It really bothered me, even though I'm not part of the goth community myself. There's just something about the way he said it that made me feel uneasy. It's like, why do guys feel the need to objectify women in this way? And what's with the constant refrain of "I want a goth dommy mommy"? Can't they just leave these poor goth women alone?

And when they post pictures of the kind of woman they're looking for, it's always some generic E-girl or super attractive woman with long black hair and red lipstick. It's like, hello, those aren't even real goths! It's just another example of how men reduce complex and multifaceted people to shallow physical characteristics.

I came across another guy who was sharing his 'expert' advice on how to get a goth girl as a girlfriend. His so-called 'tips' were basically just stereotypical nonsense. He said something like, "Hey guys, if you want to impress a goth girl, send them pictures of your skateboard. Trust me, they love skater boys!" Uhm...where did he get this from? Does he actually know any goth girls? It's like he's trying to reduce an entire subculture to some generic, one-size-fits-all profile.

And honestly, who are we to assume what goth girls are into? Newsflash: they're not all the same! Maybe some of them do like skateboards, but that doesn't mean all of them do. And even if they did, would they want some dude hitting on them because they like skateboards and only that? Probably not.

What's wrong with just being genuine and respectful? If you're interested in someone, approach them like a normal human being and have a real conversation. Don't try to fit them into some predetermined box or stereotype. Compliment them on something meaningful, like their music taste or art style. It's not that hard. That's all I have to say for now.

Edit: It's okay to have a preference for goth girls, but remember to respect their boundaries. Don't harass or pressure a goth person who isn't interested in you. Instead, be respectful and considerate of their feelings. If they're not into you, that's okay!

EDIT: AHHHHHHHH, I WASNT EXPECTING SO MANY MESSAGES. thank tou so m​ich for replying amd being so kind. Now I know that you guys are fine with being approached respectfully (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) lysm guys

Dear goth people, I have a question,

How do you guys feel about being approached? And after reading my anecdote... Was what I did inappropriate?

I'm 17F and I dress normie-ish/basic. (If you would like to know, when this happened, today, I wore an off the shoulder white bodysuit with baby blue jeans and Vans, carrying a folder and a book, etc...).

Today I was walking out of the mall and saw two goth girls. The moment I saw them, I was like: "Wow, mesh sleeves? It looks so freaking whimsical!!!". It looked so curated, I can't explain, but so much layering, it looked so cool. And the eyeliner was great. I love black. And I also love how goth people dress and express themselves.

I said: "Excuse me, guys", but they were a bit guarded and didn't reply. Then I said: "Sorry, I just wanted to say that I love your style (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)". And their faces lit up and they said thank you. I asked them how it was called and they said that they were goths.

After the convo I asked myself if I had done too much?? I'm neurodivergent and because of that I might not get the social cues. I love complimenting when there's a chance and of course when it's not awkward for the other person. I would love to know what you guys think, because I wouldn't like to make anyone uncomfortable.

Tysm for reading!!

(idk about flair its my first time posting here)

This one is basically using Desi culture as reference, feel free to apply the tips for your culture.

1) Ethnic jewellery!!!: be it silver or gold, you can always incorporate ethnic jewellery with your goth aesthetics. I personally love wearing tribal Indian jewellery for my style

2) Cultural makeup and piercings: many cultures have their own makeup arts and important piercings, use ethnic jewellery to highlight those piercings.

3) Henna!!!: as a Desi goth, i would love to incorporate henna in my aesthetics one day.

4) Take inspiration from your favourite goth music and favourite cultural elements, brainstorm ideas and come up with something new! Afterall we're all tired of same old trad goth aesthetics and killstar goth stuff. Be unique that's what goth os about.

5) Cultural dresses!: i personally love wearing Kurtis and Sarees with my corsets and spiky jewellery.

6) Find your culture's horror and gothic literature! I incorporate ideas like Pishach, dayan and Tantra in my goth music , art and style.

7) Be unstoppable! Never feel insecure about being a Bipoc goth, always love your roots and culture and decolonise yourself to find your true self 💕💕

8) Create community based on similar culture and interest and help each other out! Sometimes it can be hard to find genuine people especially in goth circles online and offline, a lot of internalised racism, nazism, hate etc still prevails, taking actions against these and helping each other out is the way to build your own small communities in your country (if goth is not very major in your country)

a song you always go back to.