"I am so goth, I was born black."

The blog Coilhouse ("A love letter to alternative culture, written in an era where alt culture no longer exists.) recently posted "I am so goth, I was born black.", a post which asks "Is the goth scene unfriendly to people with dark skin? What do non-white goths think about the fetishization of paleness in the gothic subculture?"

The title of the post refers to the motto of the site DarkSKIN which is a Tumblr site featuring a variety of photographs of black men and women. Some are very old featuring Victorian/Edwardian couture/haberdashery while others are very recent snaps of goths and steampunk fashionistas. There's also the odd animated GIF from a movie as well as Grace Jones in action. More samples below but do check out the site.



Does Madison have much of a goth scene? I work on campus but rarely see any goths. A few years ago when I thought of goth I thought of pasty white kids clad entirely in black with black eyeliner, black lipstick, and black nail polish. But today I tend to think of the culture as having commingled with steampunk as well as placing a greater emphasis on the BDSM aspect. I am thinking of Dane101's Fire Ball here. But surely there are just old school goths dressed in black and listening to Joy Division or its contemporary equivalent.

Of course I am way out of the loop being a progressive rock nerd who prefers The Malt House over The Inferno ergo my observations are terribly limited.

So does Madison have a goth scene? If so, where is it and what is it like? And how many people of color are involved? What are the bands of choice?