Goths are so bourgeois...

Do Goths age better than members of other subcultures? And is that a good thing?

Paul Hodkinson, another Goth sociologist and sociologist of Goth, has some good points here about the adaptive nature of the Goth community. Responding to an aging membership creatively and positively is an obvious strength but are Goths changing the practices and structures of professional and family institutions or are they simply conforming?

We can debate the revolutionary merits of body art all we want but what does it mean when Goths are willing to drop piercings for the sake of a job? That act suggests 'selling out' to mainstream norms. If Goths follow that trend as they age, then any subversive potential in the movement disippates; and Goth becomes just another lifestyle option like yoga and golf.

Of course, it is easier for academics like Hodkinson and instructors like me to wear what we want and look as we please in the more relaxed and open-minded atmosphere of the university. It is also equally incumbent upon us to do what we can to promote the countercultural and radical aspects of the Goth community.