Goth: Alternative Hip

Excerpt from “Goth: Alternative Hip”: a midterm research paper for CSES 400 Holy Hipsters:

Spiritual Heterodoxy in Postwar America

III. Goth as Performer

To perform, I believe, is to exist in a higher space of consciousness. Performance requires

a desire to subvert a state in which people think of  “themselves in terms of their duties as

workers and consumers.” Aided by this hyper-awareness, one can begin to transcend the barriers 1

to this new consciousness, which Thomas Frank calls “Consciousness III.” It can be reached 2

only if people “pursue their own liberation from the imposed values of the ‘corporate state.’” 3

The Goth subculture inherently understands this power struggle as it sees the “entire outside

world, life itself, as a common enemy.” This struggle is the foundation of Goth’s existence as a 4

“transgressive” group which is “fascinated by the feelings and actions that [misery and drama]

can bring.” By tapping into the dark parts of the ego and the realm of life that is most widely 5

feared, the Goths exhibit their comfort with the uncanny and thus a sense of pride emerges.

The performance, then, can be found in the showy nature of their appearance: the adopted

crucifix imagery, often multiplied to an extreme; flowery lace; medieval imagery; and a limited

color palette dominated by black. There is also a certain industrial quality which is pervasive

among Goth fashion. Goth style adopts an aesthetic of labor with tenets such as cargo pants,

1 Frank, The Conquest of Cool, 14. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Young, “Dancing On Bela Lugosi's Grave,” 81. 5 Ibid., 78.

respirators, all things leather and latex, and long chains attached to belt loops. Similarly, the

Goth style of dancing is often referred to as “industrial dancing,” which seems unsurprising

given the “[c]onvulsive movements” that are performed so that the body becomes a machine:

devoid of any visible emotion, yet caught in states of being “[a]lternately limp and rigidly erect.”

This style, combined with a non-natural color palette, rejection of “typical” instruments, and primal 6screams, has formed a cohesive and shocking imagery that is central to the creation of identity.

Other specific behaviors are even more patently performative. Consider, though

anecdotal, a young woman dancing with her reflection in a mirror on the edge of the dance floor

at Partner’s Cafe during “Night: Darkwave – EDM – Industrial.” She appeared to be completely

uninhibited in her flowing movements, unbothered by the dancing couples and groups scattered

across the fog-filled floor and the occasional free agent bouncing among them. She was, at once,

performing for no one and performing for the entire room—by setting herself in opposition to the

“typical” manner of dance adopted by the rest of the crowd, she isolated herself and built a stage

beneath her chunky black boots. Her seeming disregard for any spectators was perhaps

hypocritically performative, yet deeply unpretentious, for there is always someone who will

watch regardless of one’s body language.

On that note, Goth is also known for its deconstruction of the body through

experimentation with sex and gender. Simply put, much of Goth dress—both traditional and

New Wave—is heavily androgynous, consisting of clothes that are either baggy enough to hide

traditionally sex-revealing features, or form-fitting so that they minimize these same features.

Makeup is proudly worn by any and all participants, hairstyles know no bounds, and dance

6 Ibid., 82.

moves are generally not gendered. There are, however, heavily gendered motifs and ideologies 7

adopted from BDSM which often appear in Goth contexts, ranging from restrictive leashes and

collars to submissive/dominant or master/slave relationships (I find this particular language to be

a bit insensitive, but alas). Of course, this is neither uncommon nor surprising: subcultures often

borrow semiotics and codes as they evolve to incorporate more diverse populations.