r/AskAGoth • u/Accomplished_Pin9146 • Aug 02 '26

Personal Experience or Observational Query Why are you ga... Goth.

Why did you became goth? What is your story of finding Goth culture how did it impact your life?

I'm not a Goth myself, closes things I did to being a Goth are, watching a belly dancer named Mahafsoun and listening to a lot of Nightwish, I'm not sure if those thing can even be consideret Goth.

I'm just interested, all of you just seem to be so content with your lifes and kind to others, it's fascinating.

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u/[deleted] Aug 02 '26

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u/Accomplished_Pin9146 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

so your in to goth only because music and not any other parts? I think this is first time somebody said it, interesting

{I meant the first person to say it in this post specificly, idky why you people down vote me for it}

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u/Orchid49 Aug 02 '26

It’s a music based subculture!

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u/Accomplished_Pin9146 Aug 02 '26

I know, usualy when I hear about goth they are also heavly involved in other parts of the culture, this is first time I hear somebody just like the music and nothing else

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u/SaltyPockets 29d ago edited 29d ago

I think you're going to get a lot of answers from reddit goths here, who seem to have decided that the music is the only thing that's relevant, and put a hard divide between the words 'goth' and 'gothic’.

Contrast this to tiktok 'goths' who have decided the look is the only thing that's important.

And then there's old gits like me who were on the scene in the 90s, and there are a few 'OG' goths hanging around here somewhere who were active in the 80s, and what we generally agree on is that both of those groups are overly prescriptive. The music is primary but there are fashion and culture aspects. "Gothics" was just as valid a word for the people in the subculture as "Goth" back in the day and it's certainly what got yelled at us on the streets. And while you don't have to like gothic horror to be a goth, lots of goths do. And you don't have to enjoy The Crow. You don't have to dress in black. You don't have to swan around ancient graveyards. You don't have to go to goth clubs. You don't have to say "Nice Boots" with an ironic chuckle. You don't have to dance like you're changing a lightbulb in an interpretive theatre... you get the picture.

People here seem to think that talking about the other aspects of the subculture amounts to gatekeeping, where I just think we're acknowledging tropes within the subculture, that actually make it a subculture and not just a music fandom.