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Benefits of Being a Lone Goth

Benefits of Being a Lone Goth

I get a lot of reader mail especially from younger Goths bemoaning the lack of a scene where they live or an avenue to meet other Goths. It used to be something I worried about more, but as Ive grown older Ive come to be more comfortable in my identity as a lone Goth. Not to give the impression that I dont have friends, but I dont actively seek out other alternative types near me to hang out with over, say, someone who is non-Goth but has other similar interests to mine. Sure, there are some downsides to this, but overall I think there are also some benefits of not being terribly involved in the local scene.



Note: most of these are generalizations and if you have a great group of Goth friends, these might not apply to you.

No Pressure to Perform

Maybe you dont feel like dressing to the nines in your spooky attire one day, and thats perfectly fine. When youre around a community of other Goths, even if youre quite close to them, you can feel the pressure to be Extra Goth all the time to either keep up or compete with them. Lone Goths dont have this problem as much and can feel free to run to the grocery store without needing to tease up their hair or slather their face in makeup unless they really want to.

No Drama

Its certainly not impossible to avoid in-scene drama as a Goth, but where there are other people there are bound to be spats about who is dating whose Ex or who spread some rumor about someone else. Being a lone Goth means avoiding all of that drama from the get-go.

No Elitism

Hand in hand with Drama comes Elitism, his best friend and mentor. Since the beginning of the scene there have been people in local Goth hangouts who judge other people for not living up to their definition of Goth. Luckily, lone Goths dont have to deal with Elitists clucking their tongue at them for being a "poseur" for liking so-and-sos more recent album, or whatever.

No Defending Other Goths

This happened to me in high school when I felt like I had to take responsibility for the hoodlum-like behavior of a number of other alternative types. Being more of a lone Goth in your small town or community means not having other people saddle you with the behavior of people who share your fashion sense and not having to defend the entire Goth in the eyes of the general public. As long as youre well behaved, its much easier to give the entire subculture a good rep on your own.

Do you consider yourself part of your local Goth scene? If not, what are your favorite and least favorite aspects of being a lone Goth?

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