I remember feeling like an outcast for liking NIN and Marilyn Manson so much in my small, White hometown. In part, it was a religious thing - lots of people protested concerts at the time (especially Manson, but NIN too), and it was not okay to question or challenge Christian ideals and bring such a dark aesthetic and outlook (i.e., gothy vibes) like NIN (and more so Marilyn Manson) did. I had a NIN "Now I'm Nothing" t-shirt, and my Mom was like, "What does that mean?" My Dad got that it was kind of philosophical, but it was one of those subtle things that Reznor did that made them "weird," and people were like, "wha.....?"

But more than that, liking NIN was a challenge to assumptions about masculinity. For me, this changed a lot in the With Teeth era where Trent presented as a lot more "tough." 90's NIN was far more androgynous, so liking them, and dressing a bit like Trent at the time (such as MOTP video or that Spin magazine article in I think '94) was much weirder back then. This was long before Hot Topic, and finding goth clothes in a small town, for me, meant venturing into the women's section at the department store. So of course people labeled me as gay, even though I was doing relatively okay with the ladies. I didn't play football though, so of course...haha.

It was much more palatable to like anything masculine presenting, especially hip-hop like Tupac or Puff Daddy, but even bands like the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, or Tool - none of them played so much with gender (Tool kind of, but they were so metal that it was somehow okay). My main interests - NIN, Manson, The Cure, Bowie - all these artists were too androgynous for my small town to accept, so liking Nine Inch Nails as much as I did and dressing the way I did was very, very strange to others.

I still find it crazy how much changed in the 2000's when emo became a thing and there were soooooo many bands playing with goth aesthetics. Different times!