people want to be so morally superior that they become performative

I got called a larp for not doing trad goth makeup every day lol

also with the cost of craft materials going up and most on the market probably being manufactured by companies that exploit their workers, it's getting more expensive and harder to even DIY stuff "ethically." the only thing people have absolute control over is not throwing out and not overconsuming things

Istg every alt person like this has some serious skeletons in their closet, they have no right to be so harsh.

i once got called a poser for liking spiderman you just really cant win with some of these people

As someone who survived on thrift stores as a kid due to being lower class, rich kids have made thrifting expensive in my area. I got ridiculed to hell and back in 2023 at college by "alt" kids for buying a cheap pair of Shein pants instead of thrifting or saving up for a $120 "ethically" made dress like they could. I just needed a pair of pants for winter and they insulted me to the point of tears😭 Luckily near my new apartment there's lots of yard sales and people selling their old stuff so I've been buying a lot of second hand from neighbors and haven't used Shein in years, but the moral policing is out of control. The rich are pricing lower income people like me out of thrifting and crafts, and then yelling at you for not being morally righteous enough. I'm a metalhead, so I just focus most of my energy on trying to be kind to people and donating to causes I care about.

This is why that whole ‘you need to have tattoos/piercings to be alt’ debate really irks me because it completely disregards the people in the community who can’t due to disability, sensory issues, their living situation etc.

I hide under alt as an umbrella term, because I dislike being boxed into dressing/behaving a particular way. I value my individuality, so I’m not going to subscribe to any groups’ set of beliefs. I take bits and pieces of things that resonate with me, and I leave the rest.

Alternative (fashion) doesn't just consist of dark type stuff such as goth and emo. People forget that stuff like Decora, Sweet Lolita, etc is also technically "alt" even though its not dark. I feel like we've been mentally conditioned to only consider "alt" styles as dark and edgy stuff. As a Lolita fashion wearer in Melbourne, it's nearly impossible to find anything like that in the shops here lol, so nobody's shaming anyone for not thrifting all their pieces.

I got called a poser on Reddit because my battle jacket features mainstream punk bands from Yugoslavia. Apparently I’m a poser because I don’t have underground bands from a country that HASN'T EXISTED FOR 35 YEARS. I do have lesser known bands but it’s damn near impossible to find anything that’s underground.

Or in my case as an older Gothic alt girlie, I can't DIY my own stuff anymore, my tremors, tics, and nerve damage are too severe and it is not safe for me to use scissors/knives anymore. I've had people literally tell me I "sold out" because I cannot wear the makeup anymore, and never got piercing and tattoos SPECIFICALLY because of immune and allergy issues despite desperately always wanting them. It's exhausting and I do think a lot of the modern activism in the Goth/Gothic and even other alt scenes... it does come off as elitism, racism, and ableism quite often. As the elders in the communities, we should be embracing the youth and helping them become better, not shaming them for trying.

As an old alternative person these people have lost the plot. We thrifted because we were poor, you could get unique peices there, and you didn't have to think too hard about whether to buy a $2 skirt. We never excluded people for NOT thrifting, we got our peices from everywhere I STILL DO. Yes, definately politics are a feature of subcultures, but this current scene is bizarre. I can't even compare now to times in my living memory. Conservatism was usually what pushed back against subculture. We didn't hate them, but they certainly overreacted to us, and that was fun to be frank 😂

I’m so glad you’re talking about this topic. Specifically around here 6:27

THESE ARE TEENAGERS. Like what is this moral high people are having, acting like they’re better than a teenager.

Yes fast fashion is awful. But I feel like it’s way better to wear it until it’s worn out than to keep on buying tons of fast fashion clothes. I’ve seen people buy shein clothes from thrift stores not realizing until later and then throwing it away because “it’s SHEIN.” NOOOO YOURE NOT FIXING ANYTHING. And also, I haven’t seen this mentioned much, but mental health also stops many from diy-ing things. I barely have motivation for it some days tbh.

I get called a larger and a h0e for whering fishnets with a skirts and a band T  , this world is sad

one quote from a one YouTube video "Dear Tiktok, you are not the police."

A lot of my clothing is fast fashion, because it is all I have acess to. "Thrifts" are not common where I live and are there for people who cant afford basic necessities. I can afford things, so I don't buy charity shop clothing because I know it can instead go to people that need them. Scene tiktok is insufferable because ALL they talk about is how fast fashion is bad, and thrifting is good.

As a teenager that’s just now getting into emo and metal music/fashion(?), I’ll be honest, the “Alt Tik Tok” mindset has gotten to me. I am, sadly, a “knowitall” teen (it’s a bad habit). And it’s very confusing, I just want to live without worrying if this is ethical or if that is ethical. I constantly worry about morals and it genuinely bugs me. The last thing I want to become is a performative alt officer, and I fear that I’ve nearly become one. I just want to express myself in a way that isn’t genuinely harmful. If anyone has any advice I’d be glad to hear it, I am very open to learning more. Tbh this video is helping me out a lot so far though, so thanks for that

also i swear the people who police alternative people either don't face public harassment that alternative people face or don't even consider it. there are some people don't even label themselves as alternative but still get harrased for being alternative, and yet there are people that want to exclude people finding an online space where they can fit in, feel comfortable and be included just because they don't match their perceptions or alternative fashion either aesthetically or judging their actions. they never take the time to  consider people don't have to wear black or dark makeup (or even do makeup!) to be alternative. I feel like a good example for this are people who wear lolita fashion get harrased or approached all the time for their outfits but these tiktok alt police are too busy thinking you gotta wear all black to be alternative. alternative is an umbrella term for anyone who dresses ALTERNATIVE to normal, accepted or popular FASHION. it's in the name.

people are online so much they've lost the plot completely.  all of this is laughable.

Got called a poser because I'm a younger teen... We just be calling anybody a poser atp 😭 💀🥀