ABSTRACT

This chapter begins by discussing the negative responses to author’s claims about goth's relation to sadomasochism (S/M) in Goth's Dark Empire. It elucidates the problematic nature of declaring S/M inevitably resistant by discussing its inherent ambiguousness, exploring how it plays with existent concepts of difference and sameness while at the same time insisting on taxonomies that would seem to work against fluidity of identification. The chapter shows how goth identities, even when they are not recognizably referencing S/M, on the one hand reinforce traditional views of sex/gender, and on the other so flood them with ambiguities that they become paradoxically legible as resistance. It argues that goth identifications, as articulated through personal stylings, reflect a desire to fit into existing identity categories both inside and outside what is accepted as traditional. The chapter ends with discussion of a song from the band many believe was one of the primary inspirations for goth music and fashion styles: The Cure.