hot takes?? about gatekeeping

weeks ago, while scrolling through instagram, i saw a reel talking abt a person saying "thanks to ya'll gatekeeping haters we have cops at punk shows, influencers sexualizing gothic looks and alt pieces at fast fashion stores." (or something, i don't quite remember it all)

just to get this clear since the beggining, this is just the opinion of a latina alt half punk half goth half emo teenager girl that likes diy listens lots of rock and indie pop and hates conservatives and genocide with her soul. i don't have any truth, i'm privileged in some aspects and not that much in others. asking this to get different opinions bc i know practically most of the people on this page are alt.

recalling my past, four years ago i would never ever consider myself alternative. didn't know a thing abt politics or fast fashion, AI wasn't that relevant back in those times (at least compared to current times,,); into the physical! had totally natural hair and wasn't even thinking about getting tattoos nor piercings. i was a total newborn.

suddenly, practically my whole life changed when my, in those times, crush showed me one of his favourite bands: Gorillaz. knew abt them before bc of a few songs but back in my 13 years old mind, getting into that musical and lore rabbit hole that was a whole revolution. their sound was totally different from what i listened to in any point of my life, they had so odd looking characters that did anything but normal band stuff. when i noticed, i didn't even listened to them because of my crush, but because i discovered a new face of myself.

when i started to open my mind, i looked that virtual band in a whole other light: they weren't cartoons, i started to look at damon albarn and jamie hewlett. two creatives that literally invented a whole universe, music included just to flip MTV and the plastic musicians off. 

and then i see myself, four years later, and think "geez, that kiddo couldn't even think about kids starving while she was eating cookies and rewatching gravity falls for the 40th time." and yeah, i was a kid, but that kid didn't born a punk nor a goth. as every personal trait, it has to wake up someday.

now, after that fulfilling story, let's get into the thing. for me, there are two kinds of gatekeeping:

1- the keeping of the actual cultural meaning and objective in each subculture, the actual shielding of our fighting. this is the kind i will always stand by. cops are literally the people we're fighting against, we are demanding government to act for human rights, we are standing against genocide, against femicide, against ICE, against any kind of repression. all this fightings also carry a lot of cultural weight, music, art, philosophy, etc.

i know this is where gatekeeping cames from. this IS necessary. we can't let this plagues to infest us, to make us guard down, forget what  started all of this we currently embrace.

and 2- and this is the one i can't, and will never stand. those grumpy assholes asking "uuuuhhh name 3 songs" to a teenager wearing a nirvana t-shirt. i think it isn't necessary to type any more examples.

as a young girl that is still learning and tries her best to fight against with what i have, i still finding so STUPID those kind of people. i don't even get it. as a person on a country where subcultures are never understanded and where third places are basically dying out, i literally die of joy everytime i discover a person that shares one of my likings. you like waterparks? GREAT! does that person not know a fact or is very new in the fandom? i'm gladly helping out, making them feel welcome!

because, as my ex did showing gorillaz to me, that person maybe just needs a bit more of information. and not just talking about nerdy facts huh! they don't know what's wrong with fast fashion? they don't know what is boycotting about? they don't know what this particular artist did that doesn't stand with us? well, at some point i, either you, didn't know abt it. we needed to know about it to become what we are now.

stop gatekeeping the newbies, help them to get the experience they need, and better gatekeep the cops and the misogynistic bitches that call themselves "alt".