Dressed head to toe in black, with black lipstick and eyes like a cat. What are these creatures roaming the halls of Arcata High School? Goths!
But what is “goth”? Goth emerged from the punk scene of the ‘70s. The subculture focused on countering societal and gender norms of the ‘80s through music and fashion, taking influence from the dark romantics of the 1800s to form the music that started the whole look.
Susan Janet Ballion, or Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees, is often referred to as the mother of goth fashion and makeup. Ballion’s style includes the use of BDSM wear and Egyptian-inspired makeup to achieve a darker aesthetic. Ballion’s music and fashion were inspiring to many young girls around the world, and they soon began replicating Ballion’s looks.
Many male goths of the 1980s took inspiration from Robert Smith of The Cure. Smith’s makeup looks were simpler than Ballion’s, often just black eyeshadow and smeared red lips. Though goth isn’t just one thing, many other gothic subgenres feature their own music and fashion such as cybergoths, deathrockers, victorian goths, gothabilly, and many others.
The Cure, Siouxsie, the Banshees, and many other bands started the post-punk movement of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but goth didn’t stop there. In the 1990s, goth became mainstream with many celebrities such as Marilyn Mason dawning the aesthetic even if they themself weren’t actually goth.
This phenomenon started a huge discourse inside the Gothic community. Gatekeeping was at its all-time high, and if you didn’t know every single Bauhaus song you were a poser. 30 years later, social media has made goths open their arms to newer goths again.
Wyatt Kazarian-Lauder is a freshman at Arcata High, but more importantly, has been a goth for about a year. Kazarian-Lauder found their love for the subculture from goth influencers on social media and enjoys putting a punk twist to his looks as he shares a love for both the punk and goth subcultures. “Why not be myself even more,” Kazarian-Lauder said.
Goth in its purest form is about being yourself no matter who opposes you. Gothic music, fashion, literature, art, dance, and architecture form the beauty of the subculture, but goth is what you make of it. Besides engaging with the subculture, there is no correct way to be a goth.
