✨A soul-spilled guide by a goth queen (me) for anyone who’s ever asked if they’re ‘doing it right’✨

I keep seeing the debate:

> “Am I really goth if I don’t listen to the music?”

“Do I have to dress a certain way?”

“Can I just be gothic in spirit?”

Let’s clear the cobwebs, shall we?

🖤 First off: What is Goth?

Goth is more than black clothes. It’s not just eyeliner and spooky aesthetics. At its blood-and-velvet heart, goth is a vibe, a culture, and a feeling.

It’s about:

🕯️ Beauty in darkness

🩸 Romance with ruin

🕸️ Longing, mystery, passion, decay

🦴 Art that aches and fashion that bleeds elegance

🎧 So... Do You Have to Listen to Goth Music?

Yes and no. Here’s the truth:

🕷️ If you’re claiming the goth subculture →

That started with music. We’re talking:

Gothic Rock (Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy)

Post-Punk (Joy Division, The Cure)

Darkwave, Deathrock, Ethereal Wave

Listening to this music shows respect for the roots and keeps the culture alive. You don’t need to be a walking goth encyclopedia—but knowing where it started matters if you’re repping the movement.

🕯️ If you're gothic in spirit, in soul, in self →

You don’t have to listen to the music to be part of the aesthetic, the mindset, or the gothic way of being.

You may vibe more with horror, old cathedrals, Victorian fashion, or moody art. And guess what? That’s valid too.

👑 So What Makes You Goth?

✨ You romanticize the dark.

✨ You feel deeply—maybe too deeply.

✨ You find beauty in shadows and poetry in pain.

✨ You express yourself with intention, whether it’s through lace, lyrics, or longing.

✨ You honor the dead and dance with your own inner demons.

Goth is NOT a uniform. It’s a frequency. If you’re tuned in—you’re in.

💅 Final Word from Your Goth Queen

I’m both.

I love the music and the mystique.

I care about the roots, and I bloom in my own shade of midnight.

You don’t have to pick a lane—you just have to be real.

So whether you’re a deathrock diva, a cabaret witch, a haute couture goth, a mall goth, or a poetic vampire soul...

You belong here. 🖤

It values the creation of art without societal constraints and bigoted ideals that restrict true creation. Exploring and learning to love what is considered macabre or morbid. As an offshoot of punk it is about escaping the restraint of filtering the aspects of oneself in order to not be disturbing to our society. It’s about throwing everything out to the world whether that be alternative music, poetry or prominent eyeliner.

Goth music and literature explores deep emotional expression through guttural and gory imageries, dark sound and human fear, its about acknowledging what frightens us in order to create and be in full trueness.

Bigotry is against the nature of goth as true art is created when all people can be a part of it as who they truly are. That is why I think a person cannot be racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexiest or any other kind of discriminatory and also be goth. It goes against what goth is built off and what it represents

Goth holds many of the same political views as punk, however I find by seeing the recurring themes and messages in goth media, literature and music it centres around identity and therefore art in all trueness, regardless of how society reacts or whether it is frightening. That and copious amounts of melodrama.

If people appreciated the person who lies within the grave,

as much as they did towards the flowers that grow from their remains,

the world would be a more enjoyable place.