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Emo is a slang term used to describe a counterculture; the term comes from the word "emotional". Emo is best known for its fashion style and attitude, which are said to have come from emo music. Although the origin of emo music is difficult to pinpoint, it is suggested that it's a derivative of the punk scene which was popular in Washington DC in the late 80's. The culture continued to develop through the 90's and into the new millennium, reaching the height of its popularity to date.

Fashion

Very dark or black clothing, hair, makeup and jewelry is the most common trend in emo fashion. Other emo styles include: tight or skinny jeans (also called cigarette pants or drainpipes pants) on males and females alike, as well as males often wearing females pants; tight t-shirts which often bear the name of a rock band; studded belts and or belts with large buckles; shoes include Chuck Taylor All-Stars, skater shoes, or other black shoes, usually well worn in; fringe bangs often brushed to one side of the face, and hair is usually dyed black and straight; thick, black horn-rimmed glasses are also worn. Some earlier trends in emo fashion which have lost popularity recently in deference to more punk-inspired fashions include preppy clothing, such as fitted sweaters and button down shirts, as well as shopping at thrift stores and wearing second hand clothing. An early trend was haircuts similar to those worn by the Romulans and Vulcans in Star Trek

Personality

The term emo comes from the word "emotional". "At its core, emo is all about being upfront with your emotions" and because the focus of emo music is "dealing with sadness and love and angst...also characterized by particularly dramatic vocals which, at best, left the audience in an emotionally charged state". One common expression of "feeling emo" is writing poetry. Poetry addresses feelings such as confusion, depression, loneliness, angst, anger, being misunderstood, and feeling disconnected from the rest of the world. Some of the following are common themes in emo poetry: a highly emotional tone, stream of consciousness writing, a simple (ABAB) or nonexistent rhyme scheme, references to the body, especially the heart, heavy use of dark or depressing adjectives, and concern over the mutability of time, love or both. The cliché "life is pain" and similar variants are also common.

Criticism

In the years since emo music's rise in popularity, both emo music and emo subculture have attracted sometimes severe criticism. The term emo itself is sometimes used pejoratively, to suggest that the target is "overly emotional." Emo in general has been characterized as a fad which will be discarded and forgotten in the near future. Emo music has also been compared to the teen pop of 1990s boy bands. Critics cast the music as lacking any artistic merit, the fashion as "embarrassing" and members of the subculture as imagining or pretending that they lead harsh, painful lives when they actually live in comfortable, upper- to middle class homes. Some feel emo culture is a psychological construct created to counterbalance guilt from an increasingly capitalistic society’s ills and parents’ ill-earned income.

Members of the emo subculture are portrayed by critics as melodramatic teenagers who pour their efforts into writing poetry and spending a great amount of time on MySpace. However, many members of the subculture may find such labels extremely offensive. Not all "emo" people are self destructive or extremely depressed. one may simply find the clothing interesting or may enjoy writing poetry. The current emo subculture has been called a "sad caricature" of what it once was.

Some have accused emo subculture of celebrating self-harm. Some assert that it is cool within the emo subculture to pretend to be suicidal and harm one's self. Critics have gone so far as to contend that the emo subculture or emo music are likely to cause youth to commit suicide. This manifested itself particularly strongly in Australia, albeit over a brief time frame, following the suicide of two teenage girls in 2007. The girls, who expressed interest in emo culture, made a suicide pact with one another, and possible clues of their intentions were later found on their band's MySpace page.

The backlash against emo music and subculture has become so prevalent that it may itself have become a cliché: one commentator notes that "hating emo kids these days is as hackneyed as emo itself."

Grammatical usage

The word emo is primarily used as an adjective.

Adjective (1): All my friends are emo.
Adjective (2): I feel emo today.
Noun: That person is a total emo.

Footnotes and citations

1. . Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
2. Cite error: The named reference knot magazine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. Cite error: The named reference incendiary magazine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. Radin, Andy. "Emo fashion tips". What the heck *is* emo, anyway?From What I Think Emos Are So Adorable=]. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
5. ^ "Label it. .. emo". gURL. iVillage Inc. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
6. Dobi, Rob (2005). "Emo For Girls". Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Dobi, Rob (2005). "Emo For Boys". Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Zafran, Wan (November 14, 2006). "A Guide To Emo Culture". The Idiot Behind the Iron Mask. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. ^ "'Emo'-tional baggage". Whiskey & Notes. The Velvet Rope. March 07, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. ^ Poretta, JP (March 03, 2007). "Cheer up Emo Kid, It's a Brand New Day". The Fairfield Mirror. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Ouzts, Emily (March 07, 2007). "The Higher's On Fire lacks spark, plummets to lyrical lows". The Badger Herald. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Glasco, Bradley (March 06, 2007). "No one understands just what it is like being a emo kid in the South [[[sic]]]". Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
13. ^ Sands, Sarah (August 16, 2006). "EMO cult warning for parents". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. See articles by, e.g.: Stuff, Daily Telegraph, American Chronicle and Today Tonight.
15. Munroe, Randall. "Computational Linguists". xkcd. Retrieved 2007-04-09.

• Emo
• Slang
• Subcultures
• 2000s fashion
• 2000s fads
• Pejorative terms for people
• Fashion aesthetics
• Stereotypes
• Slang expressions
• Stock characters
• Emotion