The Strength of Goth
Date Friday, March 29, 2024 - 04:46 AM PST
Topic Theories


Someone asked if goth is suffering from mainstream acceptance recently, being weakened by the hordes that flock to the goth banner. The idea struct me as truly strange.
Goth is about individualism, first and foremost. How can an individual be hurt by there being more individuals? (ok there are ways, Stalin being a nice example.)

Goth is about art, in all the forms of it that we can bring to life. Does art suffer from there being more art? Is that like air suffering because there is more air. Some air is better, and some worse, true. But art, and the creation thereof, is art.

Goth is about acceptance. Again this is something that helps people. Im not saying accept that all people are equal, they are not and it is silly and wasteful to try to make them be "equal". Im saying that all people are different and hooray for that. I dont have to like them, or they me. We just have to go around not killing each other about it.

A sidenote here. I dont mean tolerance. To tolerate is to judge, find wanting and allow to continue anyway. You tolerate the flu, bad teachers, and unpleasant food. You tolerate poisons like alcohol and nicotine. You may even tolerate bad bosses, if you need the money. You dont tolerate entire cultures, or arbitrary grouping of peoples. To tolerate is to denigrate (look it up). Everyone here knows that I am anti-xian. I dont tolerate them. I DO accept them. They are here, sharing my world, and must be dealt with on equal footing. They are my inferiors in all ways except sheer numbers (1 vs gawd knows how many) and capacity for violence. I will not pretend that they are less or more than what they are.

But back to goth. Does goth need to be "strong", or to flex that strength? Goth is as strong as it ever was, however "Strong" that maybe. How can we define this strength? by numbers? by visibilty? by teen pregnancy rates? How does the subculture of artists define thier strength? How does the subculture of surfers define its strength?

Does a subculture need to be be "strong"? It is a part of the main culture, a subset of prevailing beliefs and mores. It excludes parts of the main culture and adds a few bits that are unacceptable to the host culture.

I am one of those bits. I am counter-culture and goth. Goth is my venue for cultural acceptance. I can only accept the main culture through the filter of this subculture. I will never be accepted by the main culture of our country, nor will I accept it. We are ememies. Goth is where we come to parley, to work out temperary truces.

Goth is as strong as I need it to be. I am as strong as I need to be. 'Nough said

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