If you are from 10 to 15 it’s possible you’re Emo. If you are older 30, it’s possible your children are Emos, although you have no idea about. And if it’s not so they know about Emos much more than you. Alas, but one of the most popular youth subcultures, which serves to depression, till almost isn’t noticed by grown ups.
“I think the most warring aspect of Emo culture is the following impressions “I hate my life”, “I want to dye”, etc” – says Chelli Riddiough, pupil of Madison West High School: “Many people take seriously the expression “I want to cut myself”. It’s not allowed to show private impressions publicly, usual teenagers’ depression is taken as something bad, that’s why our youth joins to Emo stream.”
Like any other subculture Emo is at the same time a musical genre and a kind of style and first of all a way of world perception. The case isn’t only in emotions or its active expressions. If it’d play the main role so Charley Brown and Woody Allen could be concerned to Emo. Happiness, they don’t pass for this definition.
“I have many Emo friends” – tells Alex Policastro, 17-yeared Student of Madison Area Technical College: “I’m indifferent to this culture and I think Emos have very difficult life, a lot of them need psychical help and support of their friends.”
Representatives of Mexico National Human Rights Commission have made the statement saying that followers of the youth subculture known as “Emo” regularly are exposed to discrimination and violence from on the side of other youth streams. The commission offers to give regular lessons on which specially educated people will lead an explanatory discussion at the Mexican schools and develop tolerance at listeners with respect to modern youth subcultures.
Let’s remind that at the beginning of the 2008th in some cities of Mexico have passed mass demonstrations with participation of members of youth subculture “Emo”, caused disorders which should be removed not without the aid of police. At that time emo just protested against the prejudiced and aggressive relation to them. But, it appears, that they have not pursued their object. However, that fact that Human Rights Commission have paid attention to discrimination of Emo, already speaks about something.
According to plan of the Commission, government organizations must develop the educational program of tolerance and to provide giving of regular explanatory lessons at the Mexican schools. Response to this offer has not followed yet. But Mexican Emo hope that their country becomes the first state in the world, which not simply paid attention to their problems, but also gave so necessary support to them.
It began like a usual friendly party. There were six of us at the table, and we leaded a slow discussion – beginning with the conflict between Russia and Georgia, comparisons of floor cost in London and Washington, and finishing with economic depression and gathering of donations for Democratic Party. Then we have come to bank interest-bearing rates, the Internet and immigration.
It is necessary to say that the immigration stream has brought a lot of young natives from Latin America; part of them has joined to criminal gangs, for example, such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS13). Someone of us has remembered that six months ago the deputy director of FBI told that there are 800 000 participants of youth criminal gangs in the United States. For example, a created in El Salvador gang MS13 before locating in Los Angeles, has got into 42 states in the USA, and has branches in four foreign countries at least.
In his speech, the deputy director of FBI John Pistol, has gave the following frightening information: “According to our estimations, MS13 already consists of almost 10 000 members, but the gang continues the strengthened recruitment, staking on pupils of secondary and higher schools”. Having heard it, two of our friends who has sons of 12 and 14 years old, have been shaken. We knew that their children learn Spanish, constantly listen to “Punk” and “Gothic” “noise” on their iPod and once they even told one of the girl-friends, the 12 years old girl, about a scene in Washington where Emo arose 20 years ago, and now, again revives, after oblivion. Emo is a musical genre which units punk, gothic style and emotional hardcore. Emos are accused almost of everything – increasing of a children’s suicide, carrying black clothes, terrible black hair, shabby T-shirts with skulls, depression propagation and wrecking in music, thus stupid doctors even try to treat them, prescribing energizers. Emos are often exposed to sneers and intimidation by the coevals who don’t like their music. But Emos aren’t in need of friends, mobile phones and the Internet allow them to create world of their own and not to feel lonely themselves.
Country cops catched a boy without registration who looked like Emo (a range of subculture). This young man walked through avenue with pink scarf around his neck and checkered boots on his feet. After that amazing view brave cops decided to stop a boy to ask him a question about his passport. The question was ignored cause emo-boy listen intently a new popular group called Tokio Hotel – it was all what he wanted from the world that time.
Few minutes later music was swithed off by cops. And a main quaestion was asked repeatly. Emo-boy showed their passport and as it turned out there were no registration and temporary registration too. He tried to explain that he came to capital from Detroit last day. And there’s no registration because he trying to beat the army in landing troops.
After that poor boy was taken to pay a fine in the absence of passport’s registration. Emo-lawbreaker assured to policemans that he wouldn’t repeat break the law in a future, otherwise he could’n listen Tokio Hotel with his player.
For the latest weeks at once some public attack cases of representatives of youth Emo subculture were fixed in Mexico, as informs Jeremy Schwartz, special correspondent of Cox Newspaper.
The first one took place at the beginning of March in the town Queretaro, where f group of aggressive tempered teenagers descended on some Emos directly on central square and beat them sharp. One week later the similar tragedy happened also in Mexico – the capital of Mexico. There a group of Emokids was cached and beat by a band of Punks and football fans at one of underground stations. The eye-witnesses also told about other incidents in Mexico and northern state Durango, connected with beating of Emos, but it hasn’t got an official confirmation.
Who are these sacrifices and why does everybody hate them? The reasons are the same, because Emos in Mexico are alike Emos in USA, Russia and other countries. A special dress, haircut, make up, depressive mood, suicide inclination (obviously exaggerated).
Schwartz thinks hatred of these subculture representatives in Mexico is reasoned by the following: Punks and Gots are sure that Emos with their being threaten existence of their subculture, and real homophobes are certain in Emokids’ untraditional sexual orientation, they are even followed for it: “I hate Emos!!! They aren’t man; they are stupid, they cry in any reason… My school is poisoned by them; I want to kill them all!”
It’s to mention Mexican Emos don’t suffer all misfortunes, hiding and crying in the corners. In Mexico and Guadalajara they organized some protest actions, attracting publicity’s attention to their troubles, calling for tolerantness of other subculture representatives.
Emo hair style becomes very popular in our days. Why such style is so attractive? My friends Chemical Romance and Green Day told me, that such haircut is a new fashion.
You can see Emo haircut on TV; meet it on the street, I can say – it’s all around. Nowadays many teenagers want to show their independence, and Emo hair style helps to do it. Emo-style gives an opportunity to girls and boys for fantasy and doing hair as they wish. Such hair cut always suite everybody, because it accentuates man’s individuality. Emo haircut is sexy, fetching, defiantly impertinent and pretty at that time.
Our site has already informed about incident, connected with Punks’ attack of Emo subculture representatives in Mexican town Queretaro. It turns out that it doesn’t limit with some skirmish; when Emos decided to gather and to protest against such relations, a real massacre began on the streets of the town with 1.5 Million populations. Don’t you believe? Look reportage from the event place:
As you see, the police is to form special groups armed with shields and clubs, to calm down the furious Punks and Emos.
The counteracting sides make clear their relations with help of straps beating each other. Because the straps are designed with rivets such blows can be dangerous. Beside the police protesting and aggressive crowd is also calmed down by monk-crishnaits, who are singing songs just in the center of the main square of Queretaro.
The candidate of the Green party for the Senate of Capital District of Australia (ACT) Elena Kirschbaum, has apologized for E-mail in which she asked her friends to help her to take in hand «drunken Emos» at forthcoming festival in Civic (the Center of Canberra, capitals of Australia). Mrs. Kirchbaum is the coordinator of festival Tilt Festival which street musicians organize on a scenic platform in Garema Place (district in Civic). She is also the candidate of the Green party in election district of the city Mologlo, one of the districts of Canberra where she goes to elections together with one candidate from the Greens – Shane Rattenbury.
Yesterday she wrote in her E-mail that preceding concert Tilt Festival was to stop because of abusive shouts of drunken Emos. She urged her friends to support executors next time and if something happens «to press Emos so that they understand who is who and clear up. Emo (reduction from “emotional”), is a youth subculture, associating in the standard consciousness as melancholic and a dissatisfied kind of young men in black clothes. Emo is also sometimes defined, as symbiosis of “punks” and “gots”.
Mrs. Kirchbaum said that published words were taken from her letter and they don’t bind to anything, they were only for her friends. She insisted: she didn’t use any obscene words in her letter. As she said, she wanted to invite more positive mooded people, who could place grown impudent teenagers.
This week Fans of the Emo-group My Chemical Romance will give protest action against British means of mass information, which accuse the musicians of their songs having negative effect on the youth. In journalist’s opinion, listening of My Chemical Romance’s singles brings to deep depressions and even to suicides.
New wave of Emo-groups’ accusing took place in British means of mass information after recent suicide act of an Emo-girl of 13, who was a fan of MCR. Later some newspapers began to name Emo-culture as “cult of suicide”, without thinking off real reasons of this movement.
The protest action takes place on the 31st of May in London – hundreds fans of My Chemical Romance and people who are not indifferent to Emo-culture gather in the center of the city in London Hyde Park.
