Russia started working on legislation last year that will make it illegal to be an emo in their country. They want to regulate websites that promote the emo culture and are wanting to ban emo and goth culture clothing in schools. Fueling this leglislative action is a fear that the dangerous trend of emo culture provides a negative impact and glorifies suicide and anti-social behavior. Masses of emo kids protested this outrageous band, and were backed by Russian emo band MAIO, which said that “expressing psychological emotions is not forbidden by law.”
Early last year, a wave of violence against emo kids was spreading across Mexico and was allegedly coming from hardcore, metal and punk kids that didn’t like the look or attitude of emo kids. About 800 people joined arms against emo fans which resulted in many violent attacks, and later in 2008, the same thing happened in Mexico City. Both times, it was reported that the emo fans marched peacepully down the street amid the attacks. The same year, Chile broadcast an assault on emos by skinheads who didn’t care for their music or attitude, as well.
In keeping with the negative connotation that comes from the emo subculture, a teenage girl in the UK killed herself last year by hanging herself from her bunkbed with a tie, believing that her death would impress followers of the emo movement in the UK. Thought to be a bright, fun-loving girl on the outside, the girl was apparently harboring an emotional nature inside, even going so far as to cut her wrists. None of the girl’s teachers had any issues with her in school, and her parents were oblivious to the inner turmoil of their daughter until she died. The teenager, 13, left a suicide note on her social networking page, Bebo, using the screen name “Living Disaster.”
In 2007, a news channel in Salt Lake City, Utah ran a program about emo culture that linked it to suicide, depression, cutting and self-mutilation. A reporter said that emo culture is terrorize the youth of Utah, and romanticizes death. While most of the reports were completely unfounded, it suceeded it scaring many parents in the Utah area.
It’s easy to say that the frontperson for any emo band is a star in their own right, and there may be some truth to this. People like Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights and Craig Owens of Chiodos can definitely be considered modern emo celebrities of the day. They not only perpetrate the emo scene, but front bands that work hard to define their sound as emotional and independent.
Music aside, however, there are some mainstream celebrities that have celebrated the emo fashion and music at one point or another, or still continue to do so. Ashlee Simpson is a chameleon of this nature, with music ranging from pop princess to dark and moody, and a fashion style to match. She went through a period of black hair and black nail polish, accentuated with lots of eyeliner and shadow and portions of the emo fashion style, like fingerless gloves and tight leggings. Pink is another emo chameleon, and while her music is typically considered more pop or punk that emo, there’s no denying that she has emotional lyrics that listeners can identify with. She also stays well within emo fashion most of the time, with her spiky hairstyles that tend to be various colors, her tattoos and the general lifestyle she leads, on and off the stage.
Pete Wentz from Fallout Boy has been one celebrity that leads the way in emo fashion and continues to do so, not only through his marriage to Ashlee Simpson and his band, but through his everyday fashion choices, which include the typical black spiky emo hairstyle and skinny jeans that are so popular with men of the emo culture. Pete usually takes it one step further, complimenting his look with eyeliner, or “guyliner” and nail polish. Jared Leto from 30 Seconds to Mars really helps define the emo look, as well, with his sweeping black emo hairstyle and all-black ensembles. Seeing as how Jared was once also an actor, this really helps him bring out the drama and emotion through his band and style.
Emo culture is exploding all across the world, drawing a huge following and its own type of clothing, music, hairstyles, and more. To help break it down a little, let’s look at different aspects of the emo world.
