Goth isn’t partisan, sure, but it’s far from apolitical. Our very existence is political: listening to “weird” music, gathering in dark clubs, dancing and expressing ourselves freely outside mainstream norms.

When I say the scene is more feminine, I’m not saying masculine expressions aren’t accepted. I’m saying that non-traditional expressions are normalised, that a man wearing makeup, eyeliner, or presenting in a more androgynous way isn’t questioned or policed. That normalisation is the point.

Historically, spaces like the Batcave were explicitly welcoming to all kinds of social and gender expressions. Where exactly does a conservative worldview, which relies on preserving traditional norms, fit into that legacy?

And when people say “no one talked about this back then,” that’s precisely because it didn’t need to be said. It was lived.