[ExI] "thoughts to live by" regarding youth subculture

[John Grigg]

spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

>  Do let me be the first to admit to being so square as to admit I don't
> get it.  I googled on Emo and learned of yet another genre of music that I
> just don't understand, but what that has to do with the apparently abused
> young lady is beyond my comprehench.  Please someone who is younger and/or
> far more hip, do explain.  Johnny?
>
> spike
>

Think of it along the lines of Goth, in that it is both a youth subculture
and a genre of music.  Emo is famous for having lyrics complaining about how
rotten and unfair life is, and especially how women will do you wrong and
totally break your heart, which of course happens to be true.  ; )

John

Taken from Wikipedia: Fashion and stereotype
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Fringe.jpg>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Fringe.jpg>
Long fringe <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_%28hair%29> (bangs) brushed
to one side

Today emo is more commonly tied to fashion than to
music,[17]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-3news-16>and the
term "emo" is sometimes stereotyped with tight
jeans <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeans> on males and females alike, long
fringe <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_%28hair%29> (bangs) brushed to
one side of the face or over one or both eyes, dyed black, straight hair,
tight t-shirts <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shirt> (sometimes short
sleeved) which often bear the names of emo bands (or other designer shirts),
studded belts <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_%28clothing%29>, belt
buckles, canvas sneakers or skate
shoes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skate_shoes>or other black shoes
(often old and beaten up) and thick, black horn-rimmed
glasses <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn-rimmed_glasses>.[18]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-knot_magazine-17>
[19] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-incendiary_magazine-18>[20]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-gurl_magazine-19>This
fashion has at times been characterized as a
fad <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fads_and_trends>.[21]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-fairfield-20>
 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trosity2.jpg>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trosity2.jpg>
Another example of hair characteristic of emo

In recent years the popular media has associated emo with a stereotype that
includes being emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or
angsty.[22]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-findingemo-21>
[23] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-22>[24]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-23>It
is also associated with
depression <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_%28mood%29>,
self-injury<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-injury>,
and suicide <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide>.[25]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-daily_mail-24>
[26] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-25>
Criticism

In 2008, Time Magazine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Magazine> reported
that "anti-emo" groups attacked teenagers in Mexico
City<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City>,
Querétaro <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Quer%C3%A9taro>, and
Tijuana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana>.[27]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-26>
[28] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-27> One of Mexico's
foremost critics of emo was Kristoff, a music presenter on the popular TV
channel Telehit.

Gerard Way <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Way>, the lead singer of My
Chemical Romance <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Chemical_Romance> stated
in an interview that "emo is a pile of shit", and that his band was never
emo.[29] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-28> Panic at the
Disco<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_at_the_Disco>also stated in
an interview with
NME <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME>: "emo is
bullshit."[30]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-29>These two
bands, however, tend to be classified as emo.

Fans of emo are criticized for purported displays of emotion common in the
scene. Complaints pointed to the
histrionic<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder>manner
in which the emotions were expressed.
[31] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-30>

In October 2003, a *Punk Planet
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_Planet>*contributor leveled the
charge that the current era of emo was sexist.
Hopper argued that where bands such as Jawbox, Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real
Estate had characterized women in such a way that they were not "exclusively
defined by their absence or lensed through
romantic-specter",[32]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-31>contemporary
bands approached relationship issues by "damning the girl on
the other side ... its woman-induced misery has gone from being descriptive
to being prescriptive." Regarding the position of women listening to emo,
the contributor went on to note that the music had become "just another
forum where women were locked in a stasis of outside observation, observing
ourselves through the eyes of others."

Critics of modern emo have argued that there is a tendency toward
increasingly generic and homogenized
style.[33]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-32>

Emo music has been blamed for the suicide by
hanging<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging>of 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 [
34] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-thesun-33> and her
Bebo<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebo>page contained an image of an
'emo girl' with bloody wrists.
[35] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-nme-34> It was also
revealed that she had discussed "the glamour of hanging"
online[34]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-thesun-33>and
had explained to her parents that her self
harming <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_harming> was an "emo initiation
ceremony".[35] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-nme-34> Heather
Bond criticised emo fashion, saying: "There are 'emo' websites that show
pink teddies hanging themselves." After the verdict was reported in
NME<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME>,
fans of emo music contacted the magazine to defend against accusations that
it promotes self harm and
suicide.[36]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-35>
In Russia, a law has been presented at the
Duma<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duma>to regulate emo websites and
forbid emo style at schools and government
buildings, for fears of emo being a "dangerous teen trend" promoting
anti-social behaviour, depression, social withdrawal and even
suicide.[37]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-36><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#cite_note-37>
(end of excerpt)
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