by Caroline Taylor

Created on: May 14, 2008

When someone mentions the word "emo," what's the first image to come to mind? A boy with long dyed black hair with side-swept bangs, his sister's pants, and eyeliner? A g irl with short choppy layered hair in a rainbow of colors, intense eye makeup, and scars on her wrists? Someone who's used more dr ugs than he or she can count, who goes to parties to get high and have casual se x, and who listens to the Top 40 alternative rock station? For most, the answer is yes-but, it should be a resounding no. Emo, short for emocore not emotional, is a genre of melodic, emotive hard core music. The originators of this style, Minor Threat and Rites of Spring, would be disgusted to see what has happened to the scene they started in the early 90s.

To really understand what emo is, you have to understand the driving force behind this scene. The scene wasn't started to be mainstream. It started to be an underground style for the misfits of society-somewhere the people who didn't fit in anywhere else could fit in. The scene has since been brought to the mainstream by bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco. Now, don't get me wrong FOB and Panic! are good bands in their own right. But, that isn't emo. If you only listen to a Rites of Spring song and try to compare it to Fall Out Boy, there is no link; they are different styles of music.

This counterculture is popular culture-now. It's hard to go anywhere without seeing T-shirts and buttons mocking the scene [a scene that started as straight-edge; no s ex , no d rugs, no alcohol]. The people who stereotype others and themselves as emo are the polar opposite of this. They experiment with a mixture of pills and street dru gs for recreation, and they have while under the influence. It's horrible for kids these days to be labeled into some distorted social group based on what they do on the weekends; they shouldn't be labeled at all. A straight-edge lifestyle and love for the music is not what people see emo as; they see it as a dilemma for humanity.

They have made it standard to be troubled individuals. It's hard to find someone who isn't complaining about their parents or about how unfair life is and how pointless it is to live. The innovators of this used music to give their lives purpose. But now, the opposite is true. People use emo as their excuse for wanting to be in pain. A practice of your "typical emo kid," cutting (something you think would be shameful to admit you did), is becoming a badge of honor for these kids. They show off their scars with pride. It's become a contest to see who has the most problems, the most scars (visible and internal), the most psychiatrists. The scene has been plagued with a bad reputation in the news, with parents blaming the trend for their child him or herself or their self-mutilation. Parents and adolescent psychologists alike are holding the music makers responsible for the youth of America's fixation on chaos, disorder, and emotional confusion. A band or song can only influence you so much. These teens are making their decisions and blaming the music.

I hope at least one prejudice can change with this article because it is unjust for someone to be stereotyped and judged based on his or her appearance or the style of music he or she listens to. Society is making the emo style of music a scapegoat for teenagers' poor decisions. We need to understand that generalizing is unnecessary and hurtful. People should become more educated and stop being prejudiced against others with views that differ from their own, and we need to start now.

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