About Modern Alt/Subcultures and Instagram

When I was growing up in the alt scenes, it was never about being aesthetically pleasing or attractive. You could be attractive within the alt community, but nobody outside the communities considered you hot. You just made your appearence yours, whether you followed the trends of the subculture or making your own rules. It was never about the aesthetics, more about the music. 

I'd like to say that in order for different subcultures to flourish going into the future, they must change with the times. We're always moving into the future, new alt kids grow up into themselves with the cultures and influences of their time. We can never look to the past, we have to move towards the future. 

However....

I feel like some new subcultures are so obsessed by being conventionally attractive to people outside the subculture. We can be weird, but not too weird. We can be individuals, but still need to be marketable and presentable to the mainstream culture. I believe all of this stemmed from Insta, where the effects of Instagram's toxic aesthetic culture have had lasting damage on young people. Even Meta admitted that they knew Instagram's algorithm and userbase was causing lasting mental health issues on young people. (They didn't change anything btw, they held onto this knowledge until they got sued). 

Because of this, I think that some alt youth are scared of being percieved as "unattractive" by people who are not part of their subcultures. When going against the mainstream is one of the points of alt. Almost all subcultures are based in reactions to cruelty and sadness in the world. It's what the music is about. By refusing to look desireable to the mainstream, it is a direct response to the world we live in. The mainstream has entire industries around making you feel like shit for not being "beautiful" (aka young, white, hetero, cis, ect...) So dressing in an outlandish manner and doing crazy makeup is rebellion. It doesn't make sense to have an alternative subculture without the core premise of what makes a subculture.

I think that social media has had an awful effect on youth in subcultures, and sometimes even older members who choose to follow the new trends. It feels like one step forwards and two steps back. 

It's ok to be cringe, unattractive, eccentric, and individualistic. It is the perfect rebellion to make yourself unattractive to the general populace.

You weren't put on this earth a doll. You're a human, who can look any way they want to. We don't have to put the same aesthetic boxes on ourselves that the mainstream does. It goes against what the point of alt is.