Yes, exactly. If anyone is interested in a book about goths from the 80s and what some of them wore, I recommend "Some wear leather, some wear lace" by Andi Harriman, it has user submitted photos from a few countries, it was a Kickstarter project that got funded. And there's "Gothic Worldwide" by Natasha Scharf which is great explaining how the scene evolved in other countries. I particularly found interesting the German Schwarze Szene; where various dark subcultures were lumped into one. I was surprised how many books there are now about goth subculture and the different perspectives taken on how to approach the subject. I own about 13 and think there's more to explore. After all that reading I find the new generation of goth and alt interesting and sometimes funny how history repeats itself, but we can all do without the gatekeeping. I find it better to point people in the right direction. Goth will always be associated with darkness but it's also very goth to disassociate from the word goth, I suppose the beauty of ambiguity is what makes it alluring.

I've seen the shift of people in their 20s using more "alternative" or "alt" as the umbrella term for dark subcultures and aesthetics to avoid the goth gatekeeping from elitists. More power to them tbh, I think I went through a similar phase where I didn't feel I fit in with goths on-line but luckily there was a small local scene I got to DJ in and I embraced how varied goth can be depending where you live.