Autonomy, Authenticity & Eyeliner .Why So Many Neurodivergent Souls Find Home in the Alt Scene

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how being neurodivergent shapes not just how I think, but how I exist.

For me having PDA, or as I prefer to call it, a Persistent Drive for Autonomy, has always meant craving freedom in every sense. The moment something feels expected, my instinct is to question it. To pull away. To find my own way through.

Looking back, it makes sense that I never clicked with the pop scene or mainstream trends. I didn’t want to dress like everyone else, listen to what I was supposed to, or pretend to fit into boxes that felt so alien. I wasn’t trying to rebel... I was trying to breathe. I rejected what was expected of me so I could.

And I’ve realised I’m far from alone in that. So many of us in the alt communities are neurodivergent. I think it’s because those of us with this wiring this deep, instinctual need for autonomy are drawn to spaces that don’t demand masks or conformity.

The alternative world is built on authenticity. It’s unapologetic, creative, and questioning by nature. You’re encouraged to express, to feel, to look however you want no justification required. For neurodivergent minds that crave truth over performance, that’s magnetic.

It’s not about being contrary or chasing rebellion for rebellion’s sake. It’s about alignment. The alt scene doesn’t tell you who to be it gives you permission to be.

I think what makes it even more meaningful is that I only learned I was neurodivergent later in life. For years I had no idea why I was drawn to these spaces, or why that sense of difference and freedom felt so vital to me .... it just did. Now I understand that it was part of how I’m wired. That need for autonomy, that pull toward authenticity. And it reminds me that we’re always learning, always evolving, even about ourselves.

At VE Cosmetics, that belief runs deep that beauty, identity and self-expression are acts of autonomy.

We celebrate the ones who question, who create, who colour outside the lines, not to stand out, but to stand true. Because sometimes, the most rebellious thing you can do… is simply be yourself.