TikTok is Ruining Goth

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]We are so back. Hi. I have been yearning to sit in this seat ever since I left for Japan. If you don't want to hear just how bad the past week of my life has been, please skip over to this timestamp here where the video actually begins. I told you guys in my last video that I was going to Japan, but I didn't quite touch on how long I was going for.

[00:00:23]It was just a week and a little bit, so 10 days in total. I feel like I was only able to really enjoy 3 days out of the 10 days that I went. I was sick pretty much the entire time in Japan. And you know, I don't ever want to travel again.

[00:00:39]That's kind of where I'm sitting at. You know, like I'm good for a really long time. I think I think I went over, I touched some different grass. It's not that anything even necessarily that bad happened to me, per se. It was more so just coughing, hives, being sick. the entire time I was in Japan and I just like I feel like I'm still recovering from all of it. I got absolutely blasted drunk off my face last I want to say Tuesday night. Everything in my mind feels so all over the place. So why I'm sitting here even filming this video today, I don't I I just like I needed to come home and this is where my home is.

[00:01:24]This is where my house is. All right, YouTube. If I'm not making YouTube videos, there's no purpose in my life.

[00:01:30]Sorry. Might be a bit morbid, but it's true. It was a lot of fun. I'll say that. It was a lot of fun until 4 hours later, I was throwing up so severely. It got to a point where I was just like crying. All I wanted to do was go home.

[00:01:44]But I mean, hey, you live and you learn and you travel and then you feel like you don't ever want to travel again.

[00:01:50]Like so many different health issues whilst I was traveling. And you know, I'm I'm really really good in my own house, in my own domain, if you will, for a really long time to come. Back to the video because I just I want to forget about the past week. I really do.

[00:02:07]It's been too much. This is a video that I've been wanting to make for a minute now. And honestly, I was going to put it on my second channel because I feel like when I do videos like these, people sort of take them in a way in which you wouldn't expect, you know, and I think it's because all people want to do these days is just hate on every single little thing. And you would think being in an alternative subculture like goth, you wouldn't be seeing these problems all of the time. But unfortunately, we do because a lot of people have such an individuality complex when it comes to being goth. What makes them feel the most different and what makes them feel like most set apart from other people is being judgmental towards other appearances. I think it's very important to understand that Goth is so far from bullying people about the way in which they choose to present themselves. Since the dawn of Goth, or rather birth, it was encouraged that you explore and take on more of an expressive look, one that is quite opposite to the traditional beauty standard. Of course, goth is so much more than the cool makeup looks and the outfits and the appearance factor, but for the sake of today's video, that is what it's going to be about. as I'm quite sick of seeing people who literally were not there or even close to being there when it comes to 80s goth and what that entailed trying to banish goths from the community. Not because they are posers, not because they're bigots, not because they're terrible people, but because ugly nose contour.

[00:03:55]Another narrative that seems to be pushed quite heavily at the moment is this new way of trad goth makeup that's being done that's being coined modern trad goth. I don't [ __ ] care what you want to call it cuz at the end of the day like labels are nothing but that these makeup looks feed into beauty standards. Guys, what beauty standards?

[00:04:18]If you were to go outside and you had two pictures, one woman who has this modern trad goth makeup and you have another who has normal makeup, everybody would agree that the normal makeup look is the beauty standard. But it's because we spend so much time online that and it it's that, but it's also Sorry, first video back. I'm feeling a bit mumble jumbled at the moment. But it's also the fact that that is what we find beautiful. Obviously, these two women are absolutely beautiful in their own ways, right? But I more gravitate towards this woman. She's very, very gorgeous. Obviously, this woman is too.

[00:04:59]Now, the discourse surrounding what quantifies as real goth has gotten exhausting. And as somebody who doesn't always live up to this expectation of looking a certain way all of the time, it makes it really hard to want to continue to identify with this label that everyone wants to microleabel now.

[00:05:22]We are not goths anymore. We are modern trad goths. And it's a little bit confusing because I didn't sign up to that and I know to an extent that people try to microlleabel themselves so that what they're doing makes sense to them where it's kind of like for me, yes, I like so many different things, but it doesn't really need to make sense to anybody else. I can call myself goth and I can still be Caitlyn as well. Like I don't need to be like I'm this label goth. I'm that goth. No, no, no. I just am. And I think that's what can get confusing for so many newcomers. And I understand that like the term baby bat some people don't really like. I don't know if it's just because I'm getting a little bit older. I just see absolutely no value in labels, but I think especially because labels can feel so constricting and confining sometimes here on social media because you know the second you listen to a different song, suddenly you're not goth. And it's just like this online community, you know, sometimes it really does suck because it does feel like you have no place to belong. And I feel like that is a very online problem. But I'm yapping.

[00:06:37]I'm yapping way too much. Now, I was going to leave this topic alone until I started seeing [ __ ] like, "Does anybody else think that modern trad goth is like pug in breeding for goths?" Genuinely, what the [ __ ] are we saying anymore? I don't understand this new found hatred that people inside of the goth community seem to have for those who are doing a makeup style that yeah, it may not be completely traditional, you know, towards the the8s goths and how they used to look and how they used to do their hair and makeup and outfits and all that sort of stuff. But I I I think people seem to forget that these sorts of things evolve over time and Goth will not be the same in the next 5 years, in the next 10 years, and so forth, if we still even have a [ __ ] planet thanks to AI. But then I came across this as well, modern trad starter pack, and it seems to be making fun of actual goths because they're pretty. We need to separate the problems we have with people cosplaying goth to sell content to gross men. If you want a good informative video about that entire topic, refer to my second channel video.

[00:07:52]I'll link it in the description box below. Separating your frustrations with those women who do that sort of stuff than to women who you don't like the way they look, you know. Sorry guys, I'm trying to keep my throat lubricated at the moment. I always thought the Tik Tok trad makeup had something that made it look very modern, very 2020s, and I found what it is. It's the nose. People are adding the rhinoplasty eagirl nose contouring element to the original recipe. Well, the original recipe is sort of long gone, sweetheart. I'm not saying that there aren't any goths who still exist from the 80s and are doing the same thing that they once did. But my my point is is that we're in 2026.

[00:08:39]The appearances that goths take on is probably going to be a lot different than what we once saw years ago. We're talking about the8s in 2026. I don't know. It kind of hurts me when I see stuff like this. And it's not because I I tend to do my makeup like this all of the time. It's more so that it's it's self-expression that is being boiled down to rhinoplasty egirl nose. Like what the [ __ ] are we even talking about at this point? When you take a look at the originators of what constitutes as goth makeup, people usually think of the likes of Suzie Sue. Whilst Goth didn't quite exist early in the 1900s like we see today, The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter, The Adams Family, this was a glimpse to what we see as Goth today. These very important Gothic films inspired an entire new generation of young people embracing their inner darkness and the macab. Then came the late 70s, early8s when its pivotal time for goth to have really started to have a place in the world. It was androgynous, feminine, masculine, dramatic makeup looks, bats nests, dramatic jewelry, and a completely new type of self-expression. Think of classic goth icons such as Elvver, Vampira. The music was really taking off at that point as well. And there built a community of like-minded people who wanted to be a part of something different because they were different.

[00:10:20]They weren't confined by the chains and the shackles of what the label of goth is today, especially on social media.

[00:10:30]And I say on social media because when you are participating with this sort of stuff in person, it's not really quite the same. And then we obviously have the musical icons that we know and love today. Like I'm sorry if I'm going through all of this really briefly. I do want to try and keep this video on track. So if there is anything that you feel necessary to add, please add it in the comment section below. Then the 90s came and the subculture was evolving and kept evolving until people who desperately want to be the most different person in the room found out about goth and have made it into a label that's almost embarrassing to be a part of. I'm going to get real raw with you.

[00:11:16]It does feel embarrassing sometimes because then you have to contend with the fact that people sort of think that you're going to act like these very strange losers on TikTok who all they do is they just police how you look 24/7. I don't think I can just sit back and continuously watch women, especially young teenage girls who are being ripped apart for their [ __ ] makeup. I don't actually give a [ __ ] that it doesn't look anything like it did once in the 80s. You weren't there. It's really [ __ ] annoying to see people my age or a little bit younger or a little bit older. People who weren't [ __ ] there.

[00:11:56]This person's not goth because they do the eagirl rhinoplasty makeup look is not the entire point of goth makeup to be shocking, to be abnormal, cuz that's not normal. I personally think that a lot of the reason people have such a problem with the whole modern trad goth makeup look today is because it has somewhat positive appearances to those outside of goth. It's just not true. I don't want to ignore the fact that we're seeing a sudden influx of people who are adopting goth makeup and gothic makeup looks for whatever reason. be it that we're seeing a lot of that rise in women who are pandering to gross men on OAF by, you know, adopting the appearance of being goth, but not actually the mindset, not the actual being of goth.

[00:12:49]Like, they're just not that. Again, refer to my second channel. I got to stop yapping, otherwise this video is going TO GO ON FOREVER. But there is this specific problem I think a lot of people have within the goth community online. I have certainly thought about this kind of stuff too. You feel like you don't look goth enough because all your for you page is just sometimes you can maybe feel like you don't look goth enough and all that very online issue. I think something a lot of people have is goth blindness. So to you, you would think that a makeup look like this is appealing to the average person who is outside of goth, who doesn't know a lot about alternative subcultures. A lot of people within the online goth community seem to have this thing where they think doing this kind of makeup must mean that you want to be seen as beautiful by other people. Now, whether or not that is somebody's motive behind doing the kinds of makeup they do, who [ __ ] cares? I've been saying this tbh, I've never liked this style cuz it's just conforming to the same mainstream beauty standard. Quite ungoth of them, and it gets to a point where everyone just looks the same with the same makeup.

[00:14:08]Okay, I was honestly on board with this tweet until it got to the part of conforming and very ungoth of them. You know what you're allowed to do? You're allowed to dislike something. If you do not like a style of makeup, whatever the [ __ ] it is, you're allowed to dislike that. But then the conforming part doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me because, you know, I'm zooming into these pictures and what conformity.

[00:14:35]Because this is certainly not the normal and we're looking at the same photos, mind you. Now, I can't speak for these women and say that they're really goth and whatever. You know, I'm not the arbiter. I'm also not the police. I'm a 24year-old YouTuber who is just fed up, you know, especially because I see so many people here in my own community come to me and they're like, Caitlyn, what the [ __ ] do I do about constantly having my looks come for in this community? And it's just like, I don't really know what to say or do about these kinds of people, especially because it's like, obviously, you are entitled to your own opinion. You certainly are. And I'm not taking that away from anybody for a damn second.

[00:15:17]What I do have a problem with though, calling people ungoth on the basis of the makeup that they're doing because it doesn't look like the same [ __ ] three pictures that this community reuses on repeat. It gets to a point where it's a little like, are you really doing this for the right reasons or are you just saying that it's conforming because these are pretty women? make it make sense. Goth looks different for so many people, especially in person. You're never going to meet the same kind of looking goth. And I think it's more frustrating cuz it's like, is it because they all have, you know, black hair and they do the the white face makeup and all of this sort of stuff? Like, is that what we're really saying that's conforming now? Because that's just what you do when you go. Like I I don't It's just I feel [ __ ] brain dead talking about this. Now, this narrative that all tried Goths look the same nowadays couldn't be any further from the truth.

[00:16:20]You are stripping people of their identity based on them being into a specific style and not born in the 60s and 70s to be in the truest form of goth in the8s. Like, I totally get it. I've been there, too. When I was 13, I was so angry that I was still in my dad's ball sack and that I didn't get to experience alternative culture to its fullest extent. When my dad was growing up in, you know, the 80s and '9s, yeah, it looks like [ __ ] was a lot cooler back then, and arguably so, it probably is, but that's obviously not all there is to alternative culture. And I think that's what upsets me so much about, you know, seeing the younger generation trying to find their grips in the world and remembering that I was there once too, not knowing where the [ __ ] I belonged. I felt like I genuinely was not meant to to be living, you know, like not to get morbid or anything, but there was once a time in my life where I felt like I had no place that I belong to. And that's a very isolating. It's a very lonely feeling. I could imagine it's way lonelier and way worse these days. And it'd be mainly due to constantly being policed on what you look like. You know, you're not allowed to look like this if you do this kind of makeup and you do not look like a goth straight out from the8s. Like, you are not goth. Where the [ __ ] has this discourse even been born from? Like, it's confusing because you have I miss when all trad goths actually look different from each other rather than now. they all look the same. It's so disingenuous because I think what people don't like factoring in is the fact that they do spend 90% of their time on social media. Hand on heart, hand on heart, hand on heart right now.

[00:18:15]All right? And this is just my account, so you can take it with a grain of salt or whatever. I've met so many goths and not one of them have looked the same.

[00:18:24]Goths are so diverse and it's actually quite [ __ ] concerning that you think that they all look the same because you are stripping so many people down of their identities because three creators look like each other. Like, are we being [ __ ] for real right now? This community online, it just it feels so [ __ ] judgmental for a place that shouldn't feel this [ __ ] judgmental.

[00:18:50]Preaching individuality is so easy to do. But if you are constantly on the hunt for the next goth who looks like everybody else, I don't really think you're as anti-conformist as you think you are. Because I also think it's forgetting such a key part of being human. And it is the fact that quite literally everything has already been done before. Like you are not going to be as original as you think you are. It deeply saddens me. Of course I understand. And I've been there wanting to look the most different as possible.

[00:19:22]But the truth is, as cliche as it sounds, I say this to everybody that I meet. It really is just being yourself at the end of the day. Doesn't matter how many piercings you have. Doesn't matter how you do your makeup. It doesn't matter what clothes you wear. It doesn't matter how short your bangs are.

[00:19:39]It doesn't matter how different you look if you're just doing this kind of [ __ ] online. Do you know what I mean? Like I I couldn't ever ever imagine dragging the same five Tik Tockers over on Tik Tok because they all have black hair, you know? Of course they're probably going to look a bit similar due to that.

[00:19:59]Just like when you see blonde goths online, we kind of look similar, right?

[00:20:04]Because we've got one main component. I know that would make some people upset to hear cuz I've had people tag other people in my photos and be like, "Oh my god, she looks like you." and there being like, um, no she doesn't. I'm way prettier. And it's like, cool. Um, but we still look similar at the end of the day, you know, like we still got the same color hair, my loves. So, my camera is about to die and my coughs are coming back. So, I just want to end the video off with this. Can we also pretty please stop with the copy paste goth? Boy, I am so tired at this point. It must be so exhausting and an upsetting time to get into goth as a newcomer who is interested, especially being so young, seeing all the standards you have to meet in order to not be accused of being a lop or ungoth or whatever the [ __ ] Tik Tok comes up with that week. It's also wild because these same people use the same [ __ ] four pictures of, you know, these women from the 80s and have just been like, "Yep, I'm more goth than y'all because I found these four pictures of random people from Pinterest who are goth from the 80s." Like, I'm I'm I'm somehow better than you. It's just I'm done. You are allowed to say something simply because you don't like it. It doesn't make someone a poser. It doesn't make someone any less goth. And you know, it makes so much sense as to why some people just leave the label goth behind because you see it so often over on Tik Tok at the moment. Like you'll have pictures of the same five Tik Tok goth creators and then under the comments it'll be like, you know, they look so costumey. It looks so cosplay.

[00:21:49]Like [ __ ] bro. I just It's this really gotten me down recently. And it's not necessarily cuz, you know, anyone could say something about my appearance and it's whatever. It's when I see completely innocent teenage girls and women who are being torn apart for their appearances just because you don't like it, you know, just because you think they're eirls and you're better than them because you look more goth. It's like, no, that's not how that works. But whatever. Thank you so much for joining me in today's video, guys. I hope my voice wasn't, you know, too grading because I definitely feel like I have something in the back of my throat, but it won't come out. Not even with my trusty strawberry green tea with lyche pearls, um, bubble tea. Like, what the [ __ ] is going on there? So, with all of that being said, everybody, I do hope that if you are struggling with this at the moment, that this could give you some sort of confidence to just keep being yourself. Doesn't matter what other people say. You are all so loved and so so welcome anytime at Yappersville, guys. So, with all of that being said, I will see you all very soon. Take care of yourselves and most of all, love your [ __ ] selves. Wow, it's good to be back.