Not quite understanding...

'Emo'... quoi?!?

Over the past few weeks i've ben noticing an increasingly large amount of references to 'emo' - whether it be people, music, clothes or movies that are being tagged thus. Now, it could just be me, proving once more how unable to grasp teenage society. However, perhaps there are others out there who are jsut as confused as me about what 'emo' actually is.

From what i've been hearing (from the countless people who've been kind enough to try and enlighten me in my troubles) is that 'emo's' are basically goths with colour. This is confusing enough! I thought the whole goth thing was kind of to mourn our generation and life in general and think that everything is miserable - hence all the black. Again, i could totally have the wrong end of the stick here! But if that's right, then how can 'emo's' simply be the same but in colour?! Doesn't the colour thing detract from the mourning and general depressive-ness of things?

Finding the 'help' of my friends very unsatisfying, i took to the 'bible' - otherwise known as Wikipedia - for some more useful information, in conjunction with a useful little site that i found;

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo

...Apparently, the whole 'emo' thing stems from the 'emo' music, which is kind of like punk (although i'm not sure why it can't just be called 'punk'...) and has now evolved into it's own fashion style... So, just to clarify, we're talking bands like Dashboard Confessional, PANIC! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance. This apparently is now irreversibly entwined with long hair over the eyes (often straight) and black eye-liner. Clothing wise, we're talking Converse, smallish tees, coloured wristbands, pins and badges all over stuff and guys wearing girls pants... hmm... also associated with 'emo' is wrist cutting and general depression, as well as thinking that 'nobody understands me'. The follower of this kind of thing is dubbed 'emo'.

Ok. Well, that still leaves me slightly confused... If we follow that logic, then i am at least part 'emo'!! I don't want to be 'emo'!!! I have long hair, it's often straight and because i'm lazy and my hair is non-conformist, it often falls out of a hair-tie and into my eyes! I wear Converse and if i thought i could pull it off i'd do the badge thing :P Dashboard Confessional, PANIC! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance are all topping my September playlist and i can assure you that NOBODY understands me. I do the girls pants thing - but if i'm actually a girl, does that still count? And i have been known to wear black eyeliner from time to time! Dear god! Am i an 'emo'???

Now we have some (not so) lovely and supportive people sharing their thoughts on 'emo's'...

'EMO' IS...

A genre of softcore punk music that integrates unenthusiastic melodramatic 17 year olds who dont smile, high pitched overwrought lyrics and inaudible guitar rifts with tight wool sweaters, tighter jeans, itchy scarfs (even in the summer), ripped chucks with favorite bands signature, black square rimmed glasses, and ebony greasy unwashed hair that is required to cover at least 3/5 ths of the face at an angle.

Like a Goth, only much less dark and much more Harry Potter.

Emu spelled incorrectly.

As in: "That emo sure is fast!"

VICIOUS 'EMO' CIRCLE OF LIFE...

1. Girls say they like "sensitive guys" (lie)

2. Guy finds out, so he listens to faggy emo music and dresses like a dork so chicks will see that he is sensitive and not afraid to express himself (lie). He dyes his hair black, wraps himself in a stupid looking scarf, develops an eating disorder, and rants about how "nobody understands".

3. Now an emo guy, he meets Emo chick and they start dating, talking about how their well-off suburban lifestyles are terrible and depressing (lie)

4. Emo guy is just too much of a pussy. His penis is too small, he's too depressed to bathe, and has more mood swings than emo chick, and he doesn't even have a menstrual cycle. Emo chick dumps him, saying "It's not you, it's me." (lie) as she drives off with Wayne, the school jock and captain of the football team.

5. Emo guy goes home and cries, proceeds to write a weak song and strum a single string on his acoustic guitar. Another emo chick sees how he is so in touch with his feelings, and the cycle continues.

'EMO' CONVERSATION

XxSlavetoAnguishxX: omg my gf just left me

acidburnedsoul: that sux man

XxSlavetoAnguishxX: i blame myself only i'm such an ass *cries*

acidburnedsoul: dude come over to my house and we can cut ourselves togetherXxSlavetoAnguishxX: okay *cries*

acidburnedsoul: omg dashboard confessional has a new cd, i preordered it already

XxSlavetoAnguishxX: dude they're my favorite band to self-mutilate to

acidburnedsoul: i prefer to cut myself while watching Napoleon Dynamite on my bigscreen

XxSlavetoAnguishxX: dude that movie is so deep. i cry every time i see it

acidburnedsoul: me too. i hate myself

XxSlavetoAnguishxX: yeah we're such tortured souls, nobody understands how hard life is for us

acidburnedsoul: yeah we got it tough dude. pass the tissues

girlfriend: C'mon, lets have sex.

boyfriend: I'm too sad to have sex.

girlfriend: I'm sad too; lets have sex and cry.

boyfriend: I'm already crying.

Are you less confused? Well, i think i might be (other than the fact that i appear to be a good 2/5ths 'emo'). Basically, they're little 'woe-is-me'-ers who dress in black, do the angst thing and think that they're much worse off than every other teenager out there... which is kind of selfish of them really, and self-absorbed, which is probably something that they'd rather die before admit to being. Is it ironic that they think nobody understands them when they don't understand anyone else? Wierd little people...

Well, this has been tonight's research, which probably interests you very little, as i'm sure you're smart enought to have understood the whole 'emo' thing from the start! Ah well, take pity on the socially inept me :P

Nite!