I'm not goth nor have I ever dressed truly outlandish, but I have an ENFP step-sister who is goth, well into her 30s, married, a mom, with a good job, etc. I will answer this from my impression of her & things she has said.
Do you think it is truly more attractive?
Yes, one of the main appeals is aesthetic. "Attractive" may not be the word, but interesting, creative, and individual are often the motivations. Although, a lot of people do find the dark & mysterious aspect of goth to be "sexy".
Do you like shoving it in people's faces?
This is a loaded question! I don't get the impression my step-sister sees this as an affront to people, or that it's a motive of hers to offend people.
Do you think it expresses your inner self? Is it an artistic statement?
I think this is the key for many, yes. Goth clothing can amount to a "new romantic" mindset - celebrating human fragility (hence the morbid aspect) being part of that. It's a communication of your viewpoint & ideals in a visual manner. My sister likes all of the symbolism tied up with her appearance because it reflects how she feels about the world. For other people, they feel different inside, so they want their outside to reflect that. They may identify with other goths because they see those people as being similar internally, so they are comfortable looking similar to them.
Do you feel unattractive already, so if you dress in a distracting way, no one will look at the real you?
I don't think this is the case with my sister. She's a pretty girl & I think she knows it to some extent. I read a book once where the author described such appearances as "armor" for the emotionally sensitive. It scares people off, which protects them in a sense. I see some truth in that for some. It's a test to see if someone can deal with an equally unusual inside; if you make it past the outside, then maybe you can handle who they are. If you judge their outside so readily because they are odd, then it weeds you out from getting to know their inner person, which they may feel you cannot understand (maybe because it is also strange & dark).
Do you like the attention?
I think it is a passive form of communication. I think they do like some attention because it acknowledges that people are listening to their "message" about themselves or the world. My step-sister seemed to like attention as far as making people think. Some may stop & wonder "why" and then explore "why", and that is a triumph for her.
Everyone sends a message with their appearance, so I don't see this as attention-whoring so much as acknowledging & making use of another communication tool. It's no different from someone who "dresses for success" or whatever. They manipulate their image to send a message, knowing people take note of appearances, even if subconsciously.
A girl I talked to once was saying that people had no right to look at her like she was weird, just because of the way she dressed. I thought that was kind of ironic - why dress weird if you don't want people looking at you like you are weird?
I think such people may mean they are not weird as in "defective", even if weird as in "different". They dress differently because they feel different, but they don't feel defective. They don't want to be judged negatively, finding that unfair.
As mentioned, my step-sister is a functioning, working adult with a happy marriage & cute baby; there is nothing particularly weird about her in a bad way. She just dresses Goth because she identities with ideals associated with the subculture more than the mainstream and because it appeals to her visually.