What happened to ‘Emo’?
The Lost Music Genre

Emo: Emotional (from http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=EMO&p=dict)

The Emo was once a music genre but now is more about the image; a stereotype. As an individual I don’t see the point of an ’emo’. Is there a set of guidelines to being an emo?

Many people are mistaken for being Emo by wearing black or red clothing or by sporting a side fringe etc.

I mean if you go out on the street or to the mall and there are a bunch of girls/boys or an individual with perhaps:

- a studded belt or cuff
- a side fringe in which covers their face
- skulls and crossbones bags/clothing
- tight-legged jeans
- a child’s television show backpack (i.e Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, Bratz)

what would you think? Were they making a fashion statement? Expressing how they felt? Maybe being a show pony seeking attention? Or maybe they were being a follower in order to be accepted by their peers?

When did the ‘Emo’ become a image rather than a genre? Who are we to blame for starting this Y Generation ‘image’? I think that we should blame the musicians as they were the first to gain the image (clothing, haircuts/colours) but also we are to point the finger at those followers who adapted the lifestyle choice or should I say ‘death’style which is the most understood element of the emo culture.

Many would say Emo is the more irrational, frigid form of Goth. Emos are not as interested in Death as Goths, but they are more into the aspects of pain,suffering and image.

What is the point of being an Emo?
Why do they do what they do? By this I mean does cutting really release the pain inside? or is it just a way to get scars in which for people to see and sympathise or do they use these scars as ammunition, a target for which bullies or any other in the community can use to harass and darken the emotional scars of the Emo?

Emo is still there as a music genre but evidence points that image is the most important to those holding the Emo beliefs. Emo is a way of living as is being a religious follower, many would argue that Emo is a way of expressing but I find Emo to be a way of living. its a life style choice as is Health-Buff, Couch Potato or Live-Off-The-Land individual. Its the choice of the individual. It’s a choice in the way you want to be seen, the way you want to physically communicate to those around you.

Personally I don’t like the image of an Emo. I would never hold their individualistic expression (of which they project by being an emo) against them. Many of my friends and associates are emo or emo-inspired. I don’t get the reason of being an Emo, the point. I do though, think that we are turning from Generation Y to Generation ‘Emo’ which I do not want to be a part of. I want to be myself in this confusing, complicated world.