i am goth. i just don't dress like it. (long)

i don't know if people know this, but being goth is about listening to the music. you can wear the brightest clothes, the most basic outfits, wear no makeup, etc. but if you listen to goth music and want to use the label 'goth' then you can! because you listen to the music.

i'm not able to wear gothic clothes for personal reasons and there are many alternative people who go to my school. i try to become friends with them by telling them that i'm apart of the goth scene, but they struggle to believe me because i wear hello kitty everyday and pink is my favorite color. although this doesn't bother me as much as i'm framing it to, i just want to rant about how dressing 'goth' has very little to do with the goth subculture. 

gothic v goth (v emo)

'gothic' is an adjective that is relating to the Goths or their extinct Germanic language and the style of architecture prevalent in western Europe in the 12th - 16th centuries. it can also be used to describe something that is characterized by mystery, horror, and gloom. as you can see it doesn't have much to do with the actual goth subculture other than the fact that it can be used to describe the way that many (not all) goth people dress. 

goth is the name of the actual subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s and it was developed by fans of gothic rock. while an appreciation for dark and gothic things is typically apart of the goth subculture, it's not the main thing that you need to be goth. many members of the goth community (including myself) believe that all you have to do is listen to the music and bam. 

every goth person has been called emo before. it's a canon event that cannot be avoided, but i just wanted to make sure that everyone reading this knew the difference between goth and emo even though i'm sure most of you do. emo is the name of the subculture that sprouted from fans of emotional hardcore, or emocore, a style of punk rock in the 1980s and is associated with youth who are dispirited and angry with society, other people, or themselves. while the goth subculture is about the appreciation of the darker things in life, emo subculture is about emotional expression and authenticity. this is another subculture where if you listen to the music (and there are philosophical beliefs that most emos have), then you would be consider emo. 

goth music for baby bats

i've been listening to goth music since i was a child, but i never knew it because i was never actively searching for the genre of the music that i listened to. i only found out about 2-3 years ago that not only have i been listening to goth music my entire, but the people in the goth community are honestly people that i would love to be around. i'm going through a big period of change in my life and i think that being able to find a community that is bonded by their love of something, especially music, is something that i needed desperately. i want to open up more people to the goth community, accept them with wide open arms, and give them a safe place to be themself. i want people to listen to the beauty of goth music and join the subculture. later this week i'm gonna make a post about some goth subgenres, artists, and a couple of my favorite songs, so be sure to check it out! i'll also try to link it to this post :3

it's not that serious.

before ending this post, i wanted you all to know that labeling, especially in this case, isn't all that important. some people don't feel comfortable using certain labels and others love to use microlabels. it all depends on who you are as a person and don't let other people dictate what labels you can and can't use. i'm not saying be ignorant to the actual meaning of certain labels, especially if there are some that just don't apply to you at all, but in this case it doesn't really matter if you identify as goth, emo, scene, punk, alt, etc. sure they're all different subcultures and there would probably be people within the subculture that would label you a "poser" but it's not that serious. i honestly just made this post because i was mad someone told me i wasn't goth because i didn't dress like it lol. 

thank you to everyone who actually read me yap about this and i hope y'all have an amazing day!

from your pookie, cairo <33