Emo (genre and subculture)
Emo, short for "emotional music," is both a music genre and a subculture that rose to prominence in the 2000s, particularly among middle-class teenagers and young adults. Its roots can be traced back to the punk scene of the 1970s and 1980s, evolving from hardcore punk into a more introspective sound known as emotional hardcore or "emocore." The genre features themes of teenage angst, love, and isolation, drawing audiences through its confessional lyrical style. As emo transitioned from underground to mainstream, bands like Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance blended these emotional themes with pop-punk elements, achieving significant commercial success.
The emo subculture is characterized by its fashion choices, which often mix influences from goth and punk aesthetics, including dark clothing and distinct hairstyles, and are popularized through social media platforms. While it has historically been male-dominated, there are notable female-fronted bands within the scene. Critics have raised concerns about the subculture's association with self-harm, while supporters argue that emotional struggles are universal and not exclusive to emo. Despite facing mockery and animosity, emo continues to have a lasting influence, with revival events and bands from the early 2000s still active today, appealing to both nostalgic fans and a new generation.
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Emo (genre and subculture)
Emo is a music genre and subculture that achieved popularity in the 2000s. Originating among middle-class teenagers and young adults, emo, short for "emotional" or "emotive music," emerged from the underground to the mainstream thanks to the rise of social media. Themes of teenage angst, love, and isolation attract fans to the music, and their fashion and shopping choices influence commerce.
Brief History
Following the birth of the punk music scene in the 1970s in the United States and the United Kingdom, subgenres grew out of the movement that were heavy in content and execution. Hardcore punk emerged in response to American conservative politics and the Reagan Administration of the 1980s, with an aggressive, anti-establishment sound. A splinter group of hardcore bands in the mid-1980s created music that was removed from the subgenre's political content and instead leaned toward introspective matters such as alienation, relationships, and abstinence from vice. The new genre was known as emotional hardcore, or "emocore" for short. Hardcore bands such as Embrace and Rites of Spring of Washington, DC, are credited with the shift, with musician and record label founder Ian MacKaye seen as one of the founders of emocore, a term not widely accepted by bands in the subgenre. MacKaye, former Embrace front man, later founded the band Fugazi, which would influence the subgenre's second coming.
Emocore remained underground, but mainstream music was evolving in the early 1990s. Alternative rock gained popularity with bands such as Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, and Smashing Pumpkins. The music carried similar themes found in early emocore, including teenage angst and other personal issues. Seattle, Washington, was considered to be the center for the alternative rock subgenre grunge, with Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam hailing from the northwestern city. Fellow Seattle-based band Sunny Day Real Estate, an emo/grunge band inspired by Fugazi, sprouted in the mid-1990s as a mixture of emocore's underground sound with the changing mainstream scene.
By the early 2000s, a brand of indie emo rock arose as rock music shifted away from alternative. Newer bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance combined the emotional blueprint of emo with radio-friendly pop music. Pop-punk music, which followed alternative rock in the late 1990s, provided a foundation for emo acts to find a mainstream audience. Emo music and its subculture peaked between 2001 and 2008, with albums achieving gold and platinum status and acts performing at large venues such as Madison Square Garden.
Overview
Emo subculture mostly consists of suburban, middle-class teens and young adults. It is known as being one of the first subcultures to grow out of the Internet, as fans used social media platforms such as Facebook and MySpace to connect with their favorite bands. Teens who considered themselves outcasts were able to find others who shared mutual interests in music, style, and feelings across a social network. The Internet, cable television, and other technological advances allowed for emo to have a global reach, with the United States and United Kingdom being the largest centers for the subculture. The music scene is heavily male-dominated, as only a few female-fronted bands such as Paramore have achieved mainstream success. Fans of emo music typically connect with the confessional style of the lyrics. Common themes include a male's perspective on unobtainable love, teenage angst, and melodramatic breakdowns.
In fashion and style, emo is a melting pot of several elements from other subcultures. These include goth and punk staples, including dark clothing, leather jackets, and skinny jeans. It also borrows styles from indie rock and rockabilly such as vintage shirts and track jackets, thick-rimmed eyeglasses, and sneakers. Clothing may be adorned with pop culture images and band logos, either handmade or readily available. Looks are not gender-specific. Both men and women wear makeup—usually a heavy application of eyeliner in a similar fashion to their music idols. Some men sport mid-length or razor-cut hairstyles, oftentimes with asymmetrical fringes. Hair is dyed in dark or neon colors.
While many subcultures are categorized by their lack of attachment to dominant social classes and cultures, emo is a combination of underground and mainstream thinking. Much of the styles lend themselves to do-it-yourself projects, including hair dyeing and shoe decorating. Retailers such as H&M and Hot Topic market items to appeal to self-proclaimed emo kids.
Emo critics have accused the music and related subculture of promoting self-harm and suicide. While the music genre is focused on internal angst, critics suggest that social networking within the subculture allows for emo fans to encourage one another to harm themselves or take their own lives. A 2009 study conducted by Carla Zdanow and Bianca Wright and published in 2012 examined international and South African Facebook groups associated with emo. The study found that self-harm practices, particularly cutting, were brought up frequently in online discussions and may have led to a positive portrayal of the act and a sense of belonging. However, emo proponents counter that self-harm is not exclusive to the subculture.
Animosity toward emo fans ranges from mockery to violence. In the Zdanow/Wright study, online trolls infiltrated emo social media groups with abusive posts, sometimes using homophobic language and encouraging self-harm. In 2008, "anti-emos" in Mexico targeted emo fans in violent attacks, specifically men who were styled in an effeminate manner.
In the 2010s, some of the bands that were popular in the early 2000s continued to release albums and refine their sound, including Fugazi, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! at the Disco. The disbanded My Chemical Romance released a tenth anniversary update of their third album The Black Parade in 2016. Emo revival events such as emo nights have appeared in major U.S. cities, with some, including Emo Nite LA, featuring musicians who were popular during emo's heyday. In the 2020s, several media outlets noted that emo had influenced a variety of music coming out at that time.
Bibliography
Baker, Peter C. "When Emo Conquered the Mainstream." The New Yorker, 28 July 2023, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-emo-conquered-the-mainstream. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Bradley, Laura. "My Chemical Romance Officially Completes the Emo Resurgence." Vanity Fair, 20 July 2016, www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/07/my-chemical-romance-reunion-message. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Ewens, Hannah. "Emo Was the Last True Subculture." i-D, 7 July 2015, i-d.co/article/emo-was-the-last-true-subculture/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Grillo, Ioan. "Mexico's Emo-Bashing Problem." Time, 27 March 2008, content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1725839,00.html. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
McMahon, James. "Miserable at Best: How Emo Bounced Back from the Brink." Independent, 10 Mar. 2020, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/emo-music-my-chemical-romance-paramore-hayley-williams-green-day-a9412056.html. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Miernik, Mirosław Aleksander. "The Evolution of Emo and Its Theoretical Implications." Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 7, 2013, 176-192, paas.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/PJAS‗vol7.pdf#page=176. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Popkin, Helen A.S. "What exactly is 'emo,' anyway?" Today, 10 Mar. 2006, www.today.com/popculture/what-exactly-emo-anyway-wbna11720603. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Tolentino, Jia. "The Rise of Emo Nostalgia." The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2017, www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/the-rise-of-emo-nostalgia. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Zdanow, Carla, and Biana Wright. "The Representation of Self Injury and Suicide on Emo Social Networking Groups." African Sociological Review, vol. 16, no. 2, 2012, pp. 81-101. www.ajol.info/index.php/asr/article/download/87564/77240. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.