OPINION
Why is it So Common for "alt" People to Bully Each Other?
For as long as they have been around alternative groups like punks and goths have been ridiculed for their beliefs, way of dressing, and taste in music, so why do those same communities feel the need to bully other alternative people? It is almost guaranteed that anyone who has been on the internet since 2020 or prior has witnessed the rise in alternative kids online.
The internet has always been a place for freaks to feel welcome whether that be a subreddit about DND, a website dedicated to goths, or a therian discord server those labeled as weird have always been able to find peace on the internet. However, do they really have to hide themselves away in corners of the internet just to avoid ridicule? Well the answer is technically no. There is no one forcing the unwelcome to avoid mainstream media, they are just shaming them into it.
When Musically, now TikTok, was first introduced it was the home of all flavors of weird. One of the first widespread trends was the gamer vs. furry war followed by cringe worthy things like the Fortnite cosplays and dream smp roleplays. No matter how hard one tries to deny it, TikTok started as a home for the weirdos that it now shames.
With all of that said, one of the worst bullies of these weirdos are the very people that should be welcoming and educating them. More experienced alternative people have made it their duty to try and bully many newer alternative people out of their individuality. Though it can be irritating to see a 12 year old dressed head to toe in Shein claiming to be alternative, it truly isn’t bad enough to excuse any sort of direct hatred.
One of the most recent things that alternative people on the internet have been raging over is weather or not scene and emo people can wear baggy jeans. Insane right? Why would anyone allow themselves to become so upset by something as irrelevant as the pants of an emo kid, it has got to be the most chronically online thing a person can do.
Emo and scene people have been known to wear skinny jeans more than baggy jeans. The main reason for this is because emo started in the 90s and 2000s when skinny jeans were more popular and therefore easier to obtain and style and since scene is a subsection of emo they also wear the notable skinny jeans. Despite all of this the argument that scene and emo people cannot wear baggy jeans does not make much sense.
The scene style is heavily influenced by rave culture and other bright styles like Gyaru. Emo is influenced by punk and rock culture. All the other older subcultures that scene and emo are based on have no specific denim tightness required, so why should scene and emo.
If a person feels more comfortable and confident in baggy jeans then why does it matter that much? Yes, if someone is wearing baggy jeans and an Amazon Domo shirt with a cheap belt and wolf-cut they probably aren’t scene but that doesn't mean that every scene kid that prefers baggy jeans is a poser.
If for some reason you just can’t handle the thought of a scene or emo kid wearing baggy jeans then it would be a lot more helpful to attempt to educate them, and yourself, instead of leaving a hate comment insisting that they are brainless.
Modern internet culture has many people feeling as though they have to comment on everything that they dislike. People are beginning to lose the definition of an opinion and force it upon others as fact. For this reason people struggle to simply just scroll away from a person that they don’t agree with.