And they are. I’m just pointing out that goth has become a meaningless aesthetic and people who dress like that nowadays usually don’t care about the entire goth subculture.
People were saying this 20+ years ago because goths could talk online in chat rooms, see other goths on TV, had specific nights in goth-friendly bars, etc. It was always a mixture of both - unique, but not enough.
I’m comparing it to the punk subculture which despite of almost 50 years of attempts to commodify it has stayed true to its original values and actively rejects those who only care about aesthetics and not the punk rock DIY ethic as posers.
Hence pop-punk is a separate genre and is growing more and more detached from the punk subculture that it grew out of, but the original subculture remains active and popular.
That’s why buying a leather jacket and pre-torn pants would get you laughed out of a punk rock gathering where everything is thrifted and modified DIY but buying every part of a goth outfit brand new is acceptable.
Being goth has completely lost any of its countercultural value since its emergence in the 80s. It has been completely absorbed by capitalism and regurgitated as a commodity, cool clothes you can buy at shopping malls.
And they are. I’m just pointing out that goth has become a meaningless aesthetic and people who dress like that nowadays usually don’t care about the entire goth subculture.
It has become completely commodified.
People were saying this 20+ years ago because goths could talk online in chat rooms, see other goths on TV, had specific nights in goth-friendly bars, etc. It was always a mixture of both - unique, but not enough.
I’m comparing it to the punk subculture which despite of almost 50 years of attempts to commodify it has stayed true to its original values and actively rejects those who only care about aesthetics and not the punk rock DIY ethic as posers.
Hence pop-punk is a separate genre and is growing more and more detached from the punk subculture that it grew out of, but the original subculture remains active and popular.
That’s why buying a leather jacket and pre-torn pants would get you laughed out of a punk rock gathering where everything is thrifted and modified DIY but buying every part of a goth outfit brand new is acceptable.
Being goth has completely lost any of its countercultural value since its emergence in the 80s. It has been completely absorbed by capitalism and regurgitated as a commodity, cool clothes you can buy at shopping malls.