EMO

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EMO
How to Be Emo
Parents warned over the new EMO goth danger
The Difference between Emo And Goth
Dress
Grammar
History - Opinions Differ
The Music
Self-Injury
Go from Emo to Goth
Be Emo when You Hate Rock Music
Be a Goth, Punk and Emo at the Same Time
Turn Emo Without Anyone Noticing
Dress Emo for a Hot Summers Day
Be Emo in Middle School
Get Emo Hair
Appreciate Emo Music
Look Emo
Example of emo music
Emo - Setting its definition straight
30 emo bands that prove emo isn't dead.
An article about band's mislabeled as emo from MTV.
Emo musicians share thought on the term "emo".
Related Issues:
Self Injury, Self Mutilation

EMO


Emo /'i?mo?/ is a style of rock music characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics. It originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement of Washington, D.C., where it was known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore" and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace.

As the style was echoed by contemporary American punk rock bands, its sound and meaning shifted and changed, blending with pop punk and indie rock and encapsulated in the early 1990s by groups such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate. By the mid-1990s numerous emo acts emerged from the Midwestern and Central United States, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the style.

Emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the platinum-selling success of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional and the emergence of the subgenre "screamo". In recent years the term "emo" has been applied by critics and journalists to a variety of artists, including multiplatinum acts and groups with disparate styles and sounds.

In addition to music, "emo" is often used more generally to signify a particular relationship between fans and artists, and to describe related aspects of fashion, culture, and behavior.

Stereotypes

Emo has been associated with a stereotype that includes being particularly emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angst-ridden.[156][157][158] It has also been associated with stereotypes like depression, self-injury, and suicide.[159][160] Emo has also been constantly confused before with Goth.

Gender bias

Emo has been criticized for its androcentrism.[161] Andy Greenwald notes that there are very few women in emo bands, and that even those few do not typically have an active voice in the songs' subject matter: "Though emo—and to a certain degree, punk—has always been a typically male province, the monotony of the labels' gender perspective can be overwhelming."[162] The triumph of the "lonely boy's aesthetic" in emo, coupled with the style's popularity, has led to a litany of one-sided songs in which males vent their fury at the women who have wronged them:[162] Some emo bands' lyrics disguise violent anti-women sentiments in a veneer of pop music.[163]

However, despite emo's frequent portrayal of women as powerless victims, fans of the style are from both genders, and some acts have even greater popularity with women than with men.[164] One explanation for this is that the unifying appeal of emo, its expression of emotional devastation, can be appreciated equally by both sexes regardless of the songs' specific subjects.[165]

Suicide

Emo music has been blamed for the suicide by hanging of teenager Hannah Bond by both the coroner at the inquest into her death and her mother, Heather Bond, after it was claimed that emo music glamorized suicide and her apparent obsession with My Chemical Romance was said to be linked to her suicide. The inquest heard that she was part of an Internet "emo cult" [177] and her Bebo page contained an image of an "emo girl" with bloody wrists.[178] It also heard that she had discussed the "glamour" of hanging online[177] and had explained to her parents that her self-harming was an "emo initiation ceremony".[178] Heather Bond criticised emo fashion, saying: "There are 'emo' websites that show pink teddies hanging themselves." After the verdict was reported in NME, fans of emo music contacted the magazine to defend against accusations that it promotes self-harm and suicide.[179]
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo

How to Be Emo


You're wondering what it takes to be emo. Being an emo is not, as many people think, about being lonely, isolated and depressed. Being an emo means to express yourself in creative ways through music, poetry, reading, writing, and the way that you look. Read on to find out what a real emo is like.

The Emo Lifestyle
Emo is a state of mind. But like "hipster," "punk," and "leftist," it can mean any number of different things. Mostly, you'll just need the right attitude. Being emo is all about emotional reflection, an acknowledgment of personal anxiety, and a passion for expressive music.

Although others might consider it an easy way to call someone emotional, they aren't strictly correct. Every human is emotional, though compared to an emo every other human might as well be a Vulcan. People who are emo are simply prepared and comfortable enough to showing their natural human emotions.

Understand what emo is. The meaning of emo comes from music — "emo" is short for emotive hardcore, a sub-genre of post-hardcore, which still has roots in indie rock, alternative or pop punk today. So its ties to music are especially strong, and they provide the basis for our common understanding of what it means to be emo. But someone who is emo have number of different ways of relating to one another and standing out. Emo is a lot of things. The music was underground in the 1980s and 1990s. Although, Jawbreaker did have a little bit of fame as they released their classic emo album "Dear You" and were on a major label. It then got big by the early 2000s with Jimmy Eat World's albums Clarity and Bleed American and even with bands like Dashboard Confessional and The Get-Up Kids.

So while the guy with dark hair and guyliner listening to Dashboard Confessional in Portland might be considered emo by a lot of people, the California blonde who surfs and listens to Dashboard Confessional might consider herself emo as well. There's no one judge about who's emo and who isn't.

People who are emo identify themselves through fashion, but not always. Emos have a way of dressing and expressing themselves through clothes. Some people believe that emo is a way of life and others believe it is a teenage grow out fad. Some people believe there are rules to being emo things such as never calling yourself "emo" and listening to the right bands. Others think that all you need is the right emotional outlook.

Music
Appreciate Emo music. It's an essential thing in emo! Emo started in Washington DC with bands like Rites of Spring, The Hated and Embrace during the middle of the 1980s. Originally short for emotional hardcore, these bands were influenced by punk rock. In the early 1990s, when the emotional hardcore bands faded. Emo was reinvented for a more indie/alternative/pop punk style with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Jimmy Eat World, Weezer and Dashboard Confessional. Bands like Jawbreaker, however, had a punk-influenced style. Today, bands can have punk influences (My Chemical Romance [early], The Used, Senses Fail), alternative/indie influences (Brand New), or pop punk influences (Paramore, Fall Out Boy).

Probably the first and most important thing to do in order to be considered emo is to listen to emo bands. Test yourself. Try listening to emo music and see if you end up liking it. If you finish wanting to download or buy the songs after you’re done with the album, you’re probably a true emo. If you don't like the music, that's okay too. You can still express your emotions through fashion and lifestyle. You can try many styles of emo like old emo, emotional hardcore, indie-emo, emo-pop, screamo, new emo, emoviolence, etc.

If you don't like normal emo, try listening to screamo. Screamo is closely related to emo but with more hardcore punk influence and screaming. Some screamo bands include: I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, Portraits of Past, Orchid (not to be confused with the metal band), Pg.99, Alexisonfire, I Hate Myself, the Saddest Landscape, Indian Summer, Break the Silence, Neil Perry, Alexisonfire, Heroin, Underoath (2002), The Used (not very often though), From Autumn to Ashes, Circle Takes The Sqaure, Funeral Diner, City of a Caterpillar, Anomie and Piano Become The Teeth. If you end up liking the music, it doesn't really matter what you call it.

You could also try emoviolence, which is screamo that has a ton more hardcore punk influences in it and even some influneces from powerviolence. Try bands like Orchid, Reversal of Man and United Nations.

Consider picking up an instrument. Being able to play music by yourself or in a band would give you huge credibility. Remember, though, that it takes quite a while for most people to learn an instrument and to start being able to play songs.

You can try emo-pop, too. Emo-pop is emo with a pop punk style. Pioneered by bands like The Get-Up Kids, Midtown, The Starting Line, The Movielife and Jimmy Eat World, other bands include Paramore and Fall Out Boy. Pop punk, in case you didn't know is loud, punk-influenced pop rock. Pop punk bands (not saying these are emo) can include Sum 41, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte.

Try playing the bass or guitar, or perhaps even the violin, which sounds amazing in emo songs if you invest enough time in it. The drums might also be a very good instrument. You can even write poetry and turn your words into songs. The most important thing is that you're involved somehow in music.

Find out which emo bands you like. There are tons of emo bands out there, each sometimes with a different musical style. Explore what styles you like and which bands sound good to you. Examples of emo bands include:

EMO Bands

Rites of Spring
Embrace
Moss Icon
The Saddest Landscape
Jawbreaker
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
I Would Set Myself on Fire for You
Weezer
Saosin
Jeromes Dream
Usurp Synapse
Such Gold
Seahaven
You Blew It!
Defeater
Banner Pilot
Swing Kids
Ampere
Daytrader
La Quite
Mohinder
La Dispute
From Autumn to Ashes
Touché Amoré
Thrice
The Blood Brothers
American Football
Senses Fail
Funeral for a Friend
The Hated
The Used
Second Wind
Sleeping Body
Second Story Window
Target for Aggression
Big Daddy Shotgun
Carbomb
Fire in the Attic
Empire! Empire!
Cute is What We Aim for
BoySetsFire
Belle and Sebastian
Pg. 99
Plain White T's
One Last Wish
Midtown
My Chemical Romance
Hawthorne Heights
Matchbook Romance
Paramore
Silverstein
Thursday
Saves the Day
Bright Eyes
Death Cab for Cutie

The Promise Ring
Drive Like Jehu
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Brand New
Something Corporate
Armour for Sleep
Finch
Bayside
Weezer
Snowing
Transit
Turnover
The Story So Far
Half Hearted Hero
The Spill Canvas
Say Anything
Indian Summer
Yage
Jimmy Eat World
Antioch Arrow
Twelve Hour Turn
Loud?
Braid
Texas is The Reason
Sunny Day Real Estate
Hey Mercedes
Dashboard Confessional
I Hate Myself
Joan of Arc
Underoath
Anberlin
Girls Against Guys
Saetia
Fire Party
Title Fight (a little)
Mae
Copeland
Straylight Run
Raein
Neil Perry
Loma Prieta
Combat Wounded Veteran
Amanda Woodward
The Red Scare
State Route 552
Kidcrash
Bells on Trike
Fireworks
Lovesick
The Movielife
Death Cab for Cutie
We Are the Ocean
Break the Silence
Hot Cross
AFI
The Starting Line

+44
One Last Wish
Mineral
Hostage Calm
After Words
Assay
Look Alive
Angry Son
Boys Like Girls
Jets to Brazil
Aiden
Hostage Calm
Balance and Composure
Tiger's Jaw
Hop Along
Refused
Captain We're Sinking
Policy of 3
Still Life
Hoover
Taking Back Sunday
Story of the Year
Matchbook Romance
Saves the Day
Hot Water Music (sometimes)
Cap'n Jazz
Alexisonfire
Hellogoodbye
Pentimiento
You and I
Emo Summer
Alkaline Trio (a little)
Secondhand Serenade
Off Minor
A Thorn in Every Heart
Have Mercy
Pinsky
Cursive
Christie Front Drive
Superchunk
Into It Over It
Dad Puncher
The Early November
Emo Side Project
City of a Caterpillar
Break the Silence
Fall Out Boy
Piano Becomes the Teeth
Heroin
The Appleseed Cast
Emery
Glassjaw
From First to Last
The Get Up Kids
Further Seems Forever

Nevertheless, there are tons of bands nowadays mislabeled as emo. Today, often metal music gets tagged as emo, as well as metalcore, hard rock, trancecore and others. Some bands who have been mislabeled as emo include Black Veil Brides, A7X, BFMV, BMTH, As I Lay Dying, Cannibal Corpse, Job for a Cowboy, Suicide Silence, Asking Alexandria, Attack! Attack, Devil Wears Prada, Murderdolls, Children of Bodom, Pierce the Veil, I See Stars, Green Day, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Blink-182, August Burns Red, Motionless in White, Cradle of Filth, Vampires! Everywhere, Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, For All Those Sleeping, Of Mice and Men, etc. These bands are in different genres.

You can also listen to other music. Here's a list of other genres emos can listen to.

  • Post-hardcore (The Sleeping, Hüsker Dü, Gray Matter, Hot Water Music, At the Drive-In, Fugazi)
  • Punk (Ramones, Misfits, Green Day [old], Alkaline Trio, Title Fight, NoFX)
  • Alternative rock (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, Coldplay)
  • Indie rock (Mumfords and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Pavement, The Strokes)
  • Horror punk (The Misfits, AFI, Aiden, Samhain)
  • Hardcore punk (Minor Threat, Comeback Kid, Black Flag, Teen Idles, The Faith, Bad Brains)
  • Pop punk (Blink-182, New Found Glory, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Lit, Simple Plan)
  • Rock (Avenged Sevenfold, Foo Fighters, Black Veil Brides, Nirvana)
  • Pop rock (Avril Lavigne, Forever the Sickest Kids)
  • Modern metalcore (Killswitch Engage, BMTH, BFMV, Avenged Sevenfold)

Fashion (optional)

There are two emo fashions: old and modern.

Old

  • Wear glasses (preferably thick-rimmed with black rims)
  • Have cropped or short hair. However, if you're female, you don't need to.
  • Wear tight jeans.
  • If you want, you can also have some koi-fish tattoos and/or home-made emo band patches
  • Wear chuck taylor all-star shoes
  • Try band-shirts and sweater vests.

Modern

  • If you wear glasses, try thick-rims.
  • Wear chuck taylor all-star shoes, converse shoes or vans.
  • Get a hair fringe: The hair will be straight and flat and will have hair covering the sides and back of the head along with medium to long length bangs. If you want, you could also dye the hair black.
  • Wear a pair of tight-fitting jeans. If you're female, you might want a pair of drainpipe jeans. If you're male, try a pair of tight jeans for guys. If you can't fit in slim jeans, just wear it simply tight.
  • If you want, have a mouth piercing.
  • Wear a white belt. Studded belts are recommended. If you want, you can wear more than one at the same time.
  • Wear some short-sleeved t-shirts (especially emo band shirts such as shirts of Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World, Rites of Spring or Sunny Day Real Estate)
  • If you wear eyeliner, it should be preferably thin and tracing the eyes. You don't have to wear eyeliner though. Don't wear too much of it! Otherwise you'll look like Gene Simmons, Jake Pitts or Marilyn Manson! You can wear cherry-colored makeup if you want. Makeup, however, isn't really too common for the emo look, unlike what many think.
  • During the winter, you can also wear a hoodie.

Tips

Remember that being emo doesn't mean you must wear black. Emos, in fact, can often wear lighter colors.

Don't feel like you need to wear eyeliner to look emo. Many people who dress emo, in fact, don't wear eyeliner. Especially guys. You'll notice that looking at emo boys on Google Images. You shouldn't feel forced to paint your nails black. Most emos don't paint their nails black, especially guys. It's actually quite apparent.

If you're applying eyeliner, do not be afraid to apply to the inside of the lids and under the bottom lash-line.

If someone asks you if you cut yourself or are depressed, just ignore or deny it if you don't. If they asked you, chances are, their opinions are already made and then your approval isn't going to change it much.

When shopping, remember that you don't want anything what is too expensive. Emo really isn't about the clothing, you don't even have to go shopping to get what you need. Simple clothes are fine.

Remember, if you are going to wear a band T-shirt, it should be an emo band. Bands like Black Veil Brides, Asking Alexandria, Cannibal Corpse, Arch Enemy, Make Me Famous, Green Day, Suicide Silence, etc are not emo bands, but have been tagged emo by the media.

Other stuff. There isn't really any "emo" stuff since it was just a music genre and then nothing else. You could buy some thick rimmed glasses or wrist bands as these are common amongst emos.

Some stores to get emo clothes at include Gap, Diesel and most of all, the thrift store.

Read blog sites like mylifeisaverage.com and fmylife.com.

Try sites like livejournal.com or myspace.com.

Warnings

You may be subjected to negative criticisms by your non-emo friends and possibly the majority of society if they aren't emo, so just ignore them.

Don't become emo unless it's your true self. Find your own style and expand it.

Don't confuse emo with scene. Scene is just a term for the people who look kind of like Dot Dot Curve and Brokencyde. They have neon tight jeans or cigarette pants, party shades, neon colors, big hoodies and the same hair only more stylized. They like music like Blood on the Dance Floor, Breathe Carolina and 3!OH3.

Don't confuse emo with goth, either. Goths are the ones who are into music like Joy Division, Samhain, The Cure or Bauhaus and their look is usually wearing more black and stuff.

Some people (mostly online) will harass you for your style.

If you apply emo makeup, don't wear too much or really big makeup if the makeup is black! You will look more like Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons or Marilyn Manson.

Emo is absolutely not about cutting yourself, angst or depression. It will not make you more emo.

Sometimes there are emo purists who restrict emo to only the origins of emo like Rites of Spring, or whatever is underground or doesn't have fans with a hair fringe or has to have punk influences. A lot will say emo is always derived from punk, then they say Sunny Day Real Estate or American Football are emo, when they obviously sound nothing like punk. Don't listen to these people. Emo was originally short for emotional hardcore or emotive hardcore, but then was remade for an alternative rock style. Even bands would derive their sound from pop punk and indie music.[1] For example, bands like Dashboard Confessional, Sunny Day Real Estate, American Football, etc tended to sound more like alternative rock and indie, while emo-pop (also known as emo pop punk) was made in the late 1990s by bands like Jimmy Eat World and The Starting Line.[2] Jimmy Eat World's Clarity album blatantly did have some pop punky tracks and Bleed American was very alike to Clarity. Then they may say that The Get-Up Kids are real emo when the band have some emo pop songs like on their 1999 album. Some say My Chemical Romance never were emo and had hardcore punk influence, despite that their first album had some similarities with old school emo and emotive hardcore. You can hear that in songs like "Our Lady of Sorrows", "Skylines and Turnstiles" or "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us". Some say that emo can't be mainstream. However, that's ironic because it is a genre of music, not a popularity contestant. Thus, only the music counts. Even bands like The Get-Up Kids[3][4] and Jimmy Eat World[5] were mainstream in the late 1990s and early 2000s and were really famous. Jawbreaker even got signed to a major label once. However, the band wasn't ever that mainstream. Some say it can't be because it derived from punk. However, punk actually means resisting tyranny in any form.[6] Going against whatever is mainstream isn't rebellious and it is conforming to a fad of trying to be mainstream. While these people aren't being themselves and relaxing, they are conforming to this fad and are just as mainstream-friendly as anyone else who they call out to be so. Also, ironically, punk bands like The Ramones,[7][8] The Clash[9] and The Sex Pistols[10] were mainstream and still are famous. Some modern emo bands they will say are just post-hardcore, despite that Rites of Spring and stuff actually were post-hardcore, too. In fact, post-hardcore began with bands like Fugazi, At the Drive-In and Soulside.[11][12] Many new emo bands tend to have at least a handful things in common with 1990s emo. Many modern bands combined influences of punk, alternative, post-hardcore and sometimes indie. A lot of these bands are, in fact, influenced by some hardcore and punk. Many bands tend to sound the most emo and undeniably emo in their early years. Examples include: The Used's debut album (songs like "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" and "Poetic Tragedy" work), Fall Out Boy's Take This to Your Grave or a song like "Growing Up" which literally sounds like Jawbreaker and a little bit of early Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance's debut album which sounds super old-school and has lots of hardcore influences, Thursday's debut album, Silverstein's early work like their Summer's Stellar Gaze EP, Hawthorne Heights' demo album back when they were "A Day in the Life" (like songs like "Photograph" or "Until Her Heart Stops"), Alexisonfire's early work like the song .44 Caliber Love Letter, From Autumn to Ashes' debut (although it does have a little bit of metalcore influences, which is also influenced by hardcore punk), etc. Some tag certain bands as pop punk, but many bands turn out to not be even close to pop punk since pop punk refers to bands like Good Charlotte and Blink-182. Some call certain bands metalcore when they don't sound like bands like Converge or Texas in July. Also, they don't even tend to often sound like As I Lay Dying either. These bands don't have any metal influences. These people usually should be ignored. In a nutshell, emo changed just like how metal went from bands like Black Sabbath to Judas Priest to Metallica to Death to Pantera to Lamb of God and how punk went from The Ramones to Black Flag to Rancid and The Offspring and how rap went from Run DMC to Biggie Smalls to Eminem. Bands of today tend to make their own unique style of emo and emo just changed. It didn't die. There are many emo bands with an old sound today like Snowing and The Saddest Landscape.

Things You'll Need

iPod/MP3 with emo music on it

Parents warned over the new EMO goth danger


Flicking through the autumn glossy fashion magazines, I noticed that some of the models did not look very well.

A few of them appeared to be dead. This is because one of the key looks, especially at the younger end of the fashion spectrum, is Goth.

Faces are chalky white, eyes and lips black. You can wear any colour you like so long as it's black.

To achieve that just-got-out-of-acoffin look, you need corsets, capes, Celtic crosses, an unseeing stare and a prop such as a slightly mutilated china doll dragged along in one hand.

For those of us who have lived through Siouxsie And The Banshees and the Rocky Horror Show, the look is depressingly retro.

Fashion acknowledges those of us who lived through it first time round - Elder Goths, as opposed to Baby Bats, who are the under-30s.

It even nods to a working population, permitting Corporate Goths, who wear black trouser suits.

There is a also a term which is new to me and amounts to a much more dangerous teenage cult.

The Emos - short for Emotional - regard themselves as a cool, young sub-set of the Goths.

Although the look is similar, the point of distinction, frightening for schools and parents, is a celebration of self harm.

Emos exchange competitive messages on their teenage websites about the scars on their wrists and how best to display them. Girls' secondary schools have for some time been concerned about the increase in self harm.

One governor of a famous boarding school told me that it was as serious a problem as binge drinking, but rarely discussed for fear of encouraging more girls to do it.

Although it is invariably described as a 'secret shame', there is actually a streak of exhibitionism about it.

The internet has many sites dedicated to Emo fashion (dyed black hair brushed over your face, layering, black, black, black), Emo bands (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), Emo conversation (sighing, wailing, poetry).

The Instant Emo Kit site gives advice on identity. Wear a child's T-shirt with a slogan such as 'Unhappy Chick' and drive a Vespa. Above all, 'show your inner despair by looking like you are too sad to eat. Obesity and emocity do not mix.'

Adult Goths refer to the Emos disdainfully as 'the spooky kids' or 'moshers'.

The Emo song, by the American band Adam And Andrew, has cult status on the internet, appearing on many personal websites. It is called Dear Diary and is both witty and alarming.

The chorus goes: 'Stop my breathing and slit my throat, I must be an Emo.

I don't jump around when I go to shows, I must be an Emo.

Dye in my hair and polish on my toes, I must be an Emo. I play guitar and write suicide notes, I must be an Emo.'

The courting of misery and death is a long-established teenage tradition. How many bedroom walls have been plastered with posters of drippy pre-Raphaelite heroines, or Marc Bolan or Kurt Curbain?

When death is a long way off, you can afford to be more morbid about it.

Film-makers note that horror films are now more popular than romance among young women.

In particular, Goths and Emos are a rebellion against sporty, manly cultures - which is perhaps why they flourish particularly in North European countries or North America.

The androgynous nature of the Goths is appealing to the young because it is sexually unthreatening.

Teenage girls are frightened of manliness: they like boys who look like girls. Kate Moss, the girl who never grows old, understands youthful taste completely.

There is also a deadly glamour about the Goths. The word femme-fatale is Goth based.

Many of the alluring women of our time - Nigella Lawson, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Lily Allen - have a touch of the Goth about them.

They have a sophistication and depth lacking in the blonde, bouncy chav faces which dominate our television screens and nightclubs.

Who are the male pin-ups for young girls? Johnny Depp and the comedian Russell Brand, who is about 90 per cent Goth. Lord Byron, of course, was the greatest Goth of all time.

Emos have a strong arts graduate bias and are among the few that read poetry (if only of the romantic, morbid kind).

Some pretty terrible Emo poetry is offered on websites. A cartoon of two Emos has a bubble which says: 'What rhymes with razor blade?'

But compared to the music, the poetry is positively cheerful. The Gothic bands have names such as Bloody, Dead And Sexy or Colder Than Death.

There is a genre, popular in Germany, known as Death Pop. Bands include The Knives In The Attic and Love Equals Death.

Although Goths are from the same family tree as punks, they are a lot less fun to be with. While I loved punk for its energy, Goths were too bloodless to lift a finger.

One of the most annoying characteristics of teenagers is their refusal to open their curtains. Their world is dark and airless.

If this environment is coupled with the psychological traits of self-pity, introspection, self-dramatisation and hormone imbalance, you have a fully-fledged Emo, even without the small Tshirt and black hair.

The wondrous thing about being an adult is that you have so much more to worry about that you stop striking poses and get on with it.

Unless you are an Elder Goth - in which case you have fashion on your side and everybody else against you.

What worries me is that teenagers are less equipped to manage strong emotions and a cult of suicide could have real and horrible consequences.

It is irresponsible for the fashion and music cultures to encourage it. If you want retro style, I recommend Ian Dury's song Reasons To Be Cheerful.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-400953/EMO-cult-warning-parents.html

History - Opinions Differ


1. Short for "emotive". Coined by Ian MacKaye, commonly known from Fugazi and Minor Threat.

2. Type of music characterized by heartfelt, although sometimes whiny lyrics.

3. Person who listens to afformentioned type of music. Stereotypically wears too-small sweaters and tight jeans, black horn-rimmed glasses, and straight black hair, although this is not always true. Sometimes a vegan, sometimes straight edge.

The Music


In the early 90s there was a movement in the hardcore genre that came to be known as "Emotive Hardcore," spearheaded by Rites Of Spring. Harder-core-than-thou kids, who swore by Dischord Records a la Minor Threat, actually coined the term "Emo" as something of a put-down for the kids who really liked Rites Of Spring, Indian Summer and this new wave of "Emotive" Hardcore bands. That's right, "Emo" was once not something kids called themselves. The field exploded outwards from there - Level-Plane Records has always been the most famous Emo label. Acts like Yaphet Kotto, I Hate Myself, Saetia, Hot Cross, A Day In Black And White, Funeral Diner, I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, You And I, and hosts of others came in the next decade. Most emo bands have since broken up, but there's still the occasional hold-out (again, the majority of Level-Plane Records' roster has been a procession of emo acts). Like most DIY hardcore/punk of the time, a majority found its way onto vinyl and not much else. Some people consider bands like Fugazi, and later Sunny Day Real Estate, a progression of emo.

Often, more recently, this gets intertwined with post-hardcore, and understandably so - that's nothing to make an issue of at least it's close.

Since the late 90s, though, bands have been emerging in the vein of Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, and the thousands of their clones. As far as I can tell, some lazy journalist somewhere, writing an article about them, decided "Well, no one knows what emo is anyway, so I'll call these bands "emo" - sounds more appealing than bubblegum pop rock..." and the spiral continued downwards into the current amalgomation of bands MTV has told everyone is "emo."

Somehow, people decided that "emo" meant "emotional," which is obviously not true, as 99% of bands make music to illicit emotion, which would make "emotional" a completely all-encompassing genre from classical to opera to pop to rap.
Source: www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo # 6 definition half-way down

The Difference between Emo And Goth


Emos Hate themselves. Goths hate Everyone

Emos Want to Kill themselves. Goths Want to kill Everyone

Emo is a somewhat ambiguous, controversial slang term most frequently used to describe a fashion or subculture which is usually defined to have roots in punk fashion and subculture, as well as some attributes of gothic fashion and subculture. It is loosely defined, and its meaning varies by region, but most definitions share a number of similarities.

Some definitions of emo hold that typical "emo persons" are likely to inflict self-injury, most often by means of cutting, burning, or otherwise mutilating themselves. The theme of self-injury is also common in emo poetry.

Grammar


As a slang word, "emo" is not defined by standard English dictionaries, and thus, its grammatical usage is not either. In popular usage, it can be used as either a noun or adjective.[

Examples of usage

  • Adjective (1): All my friends are emo.
  • Adjective (2): I feel emo today.
  • Noun: Sally is such an emo.

Self-Injury


Self-injury (SI) or Self-harm (SH) is deliberate injury inflicted by a person upon his or her own body. Some scholars use more technical definitions related to specific aspects of this behavior. These acts may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality and numbness. Self-injury is generally considered a social taboo. It is listed in the DSM-IV-TR as a symptom of borderline personality disorder and is sometimes associated with mental illness, a history of trauma and abuse, eating disorders, or mental traits such as low self-esteem or perfectionism. There is a positive statistical correlation between self-injury and emotional abuse.[
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-injury

Dress


Some pointers about emo fashions:

  • The Emo Romulan look - short, thick, greasy, dyed-black hair with bangs cut straight across the forehead, and cut high over the ears or hair covering half of the face.
  • actually, any greasy dyed black hair. Bangs in front and spikes in back is very emo too.
  • horn-rim glasses, or at least thick black frames.
  • bald head, furry face (boys only). Goes especially well with horn-rims.
  • heavy slacks, often too tight and short.
  • thin, too-small polyester button-ups in dark colors, or threadbare children's size t-shirts with random slogans. Button the collar if you've got one.
  • clunky black shoes
  • scarves
  • gas station jackets. This has diffused a lot over the years though, it's no longer exclusive to emo kids. Nowadays, you may want to select a nice corduroy denim jacket.
  • also classic outerwear but quickly diffusing to normality: the famous Blue Peacoat
  • barrettes on boys
  • make-up (male or female)
  • too-small cardigans and v-neck sweaters
  • argyle
  • anorexic thinness. Veganism helps here.
    Source: www.fourfa.com/

 
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