One or two are all right, but some folks that's all they know [meme]
2d 11h ago by piefed.social/u/Sergio in gothindustrial from media.piefed.social
Original meme. Based on a true story. Images are from X: the Man with X-Ray Eyes.
If anyone wants proof. There's a thread on 4Chan right now lol. Incels arguing that something/someone isn't goth because it doesn't match their fetish.
There was discussion on vampfreaks about this too: https://vampfreaks.com/threads/fake-goth-girls-and-onlyfans.1466/
Sounds like they talk about it a lot on r$ddit too.
Yes Reddit is typically bad about it as well. There is no uniform or single look. But watching people try to create simple labels and categories to shove everything in can leave you feeling a bit like this.
In a way, I find this one worse (I haven't read that 4chan thread, just going off of the description). Because they are complaining about someone simply going for the aesthetic.
Like, using the attractiveness of the aesthetic for purposes of attracting people - instead of signing up for a whole "anti-establishment" (their words) lifestyle.
They choose a lifestyle, choose an aesthetic, and then they feel entitled to nobody else using that aesthetic without the same lifestyle.
At least complaining about using a lifestyle label without actually doing that... Well, details matter, but it has some merit. E.g. someone saying they're vegetarian while they eat meat, that's just stupid.
Yeah it sounds like there are a couple different things at work:
- visual aesthetics
- "anti-establishment lifestyle"
- listening to the music
- hanging out in "the right kind of" clubs
Apparently some people will expect you to do ALL of these? And some people will be like nah you just have to listen to the music?
I have real mixed feelings about the goth influencers. One of the vampfreaks drew a useful analogy to sex workers - a lot of times they're just doing what they need to survive; likewise, the goth influencers found a niche that works for them economically, so the exploitative system is the culprit. Also there's a longish tradition of people who adopted a dark look as entertainers, e.g. Elvira and Vampira (and the Addams family and the Munsters) not mention the dark woman storytelling trope. But I totally understand how goths dislike things like "date a goth" videos, those are really cringe, and reinforce stereotypes that are then applied to people who are just into the music or scene.
DISCLAIMER: Personally ImNotAGoth.jpg I listen more to industrial.