Emo (slang)

Stereotypical emo fashion

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.

Music

Main article: Emo (music)

The term emo originated in the 1980s to describe a genre of music stemming from the hardcore punk music scene in Washington, D.C. Early bands labeled emo (or sometimes emocore) in this scene included Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Fugazi. The term emo as a music genre has become broader and broader with time, and now is loosely understood to mean "rock music with emotionally-based lyrics or effect." Bands included in the genre range from Bright Eyes to The Get Up Kids to Sunny Day Real Estate. The term is so loosely defined because its definition is still the subject of debate. Emo now often refers to a person's fashion, personality, or both, as well as the music genre.

Fashion

Emo fashion is usually defined to have roots in punk fashion as well as gothic fashion. By almost all current definitions, emo clothing is characterized by tight jeans on males and females alike, long fringe (bangs) often brushed to one side of the face, dyed black hair, tight t-shirts which often bear the names of rock bands, studded belts, belt buckles, Chuck Taylor All-Stars or other black shoes - often old and beaten up - and thick, black-rimmed glasses. Emo fashion has changed with time; early trends included haircuts similar to those worn by the Romulans and Vulcans in Star Trek, tightly fitting sweaters, button-down shirts, and work jackets (often called gas station jackets). This has fallen out of fashion nowadays.

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  Typical male "emo hair": Long fringe (bangs) brushed over one eye with short hair in the back
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  Caricature of stereotypical emo fashion
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  Beaten up Chuck Taylor All-Stars typical of emo fashion

Personality

When referring to a person's personality and attitude, most definitions of emo hold that an "emo person" is candid about their emotions, sensitive, shy, introverted, broken-hearted, glum, and often quiet. Emo personality is also often connected with writing poetry, which addresses confusion, depression, loneliness, and anger, all resulting from the world's inability to understand the author. Emo poetry uses a combination of any of: a highly emotional tone, stream of consciousness writing, a simple (ABAB) or nonexistent rhyme scheme, references to the flesh, especially the heart, heavy use of dark or depressing adjectives, concern over the mutability of time and/or love, and disregard for punctuation, grammar, and/or spelling. Themes such as life is pain are common.

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. Some assert that it is cool within the emo subulture to pretend to be suicidal and self-harm, or that participants self-harm purely for personal enjoyment. Critics have gone so far as to contend that the emo subculture or emo music are likely to cause youth to commit suicide.

Criticism

A "Don't be Emo" image, exemplifying backlash against emo subculture

In the years since emo music's rise in popularity, both emo music and emo subulture 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 characterised as a fad akin to nu metal 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. Members of the emo subculture are portrayed by critics as melodramatic, self-pitying teenagers who pour their efforts into writing bad poetry and spend too much time on MySpace. The current emo subculture has been called a "sad caricature" of what it once was. 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."

Products mocking or satirizing emo subculture or music have been produced since the early 2000s. In September of 2002, web developer Jason Oda created Emogame. The game poked fun at numerous emo stereotypes and musicians, but in a manner that could be appreciated by fans and detractors alike - Oda himself is a fan of many of the people the game mocks. Since then, Hot Topic has issued a patch that reads "Cheer Up, Emo Kid!" and Vans has issued a t-shirt bearing an image of emo fashion marked with a no symbol, captioned with "Don't Get Emo." Released in 2004, the short film How to Be: Emo is a satirical instructional film which teaches teenagers how to be emo. The film quickly beame an internet phenomenon, earning cult status within weeks. Mad TV also screened a parody of the popular children's toy Tickle Me Elmo, selling a product called "Tickle Me Emo." The toy supposedly utters stereotypical emo phrases, and if left alone will self mutilate.

Grammatical usage

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.

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

References in popular culture

• Skype, an online communications application, comes standard with an "emo" emoticon with black hair and long fringe.