Emo, an essay fiction | FictionPress

Kasandra Hamilton

Kasandra Hamilton

Emo. Well what is it? What is this 'plague', as some put it? The word is an everyday word used in everyday language by almost every type of person. It has come to pass as an okay term to be used when describing someone, something, or some attitude. It is used to describe a genre of music, a type of fashion, and a fad. The word itself has come to replace the former insults that were once used to describe someone weak or unmanly. Emo, when used to describe a person usually means tight pants, obsessive blogging, and bad posture. When it is used to describe music it usually means, screaming, whispering, and bad posture. What really is Emo?

The "first wave" of emo, as some call it, came about in 1985 when Guy Picciotto decided to create a more positive music scene. Guy separated his music from the violent scene that came about it the eighties and focus of more personal issues. Picciotto formed the band Rites of Spring, which has come to be known as the very first emo band (Taylor). From Rites of Spring branched many early emo bands after their album, End on End. Bands such as: Embrace, Moss Icon, Dag Nasty, Nation of Ulysses, and Gray Matter. However, most of these bands broke up during the mid nineties from lack of fan base. At this point in time the word emo was defined as: "Emo is short for emotive hardcore punk, and is a sub-genre of post-hardcore, which is a sub-genre of hardcore, which in turn is a sub-genre of punk" (Buzznet). This "first wave" ended in early 1994.

The "second wave" began in late 1994 with the band Fugazi (Foo-ga-zi). The band was formed by former Rites of Spring member, Guy Picciotto, and former Minor Threat member, Ian MacKaye. The four biggest bands from this era, which branched off of Fugazi, were: Sunny Day Real Estate, Braid, The Promise Ring, and Jimmy Eat World. The biggest album of this time was "Diary" by Sunny Day Real Estate. The word had simply come to mean emotional music, with a musical ensemble consisting of heavy bass and lyrics pertaining mostly to heartbreak and depression. Then, emo started to appear in mainstream media circles and even in Teen People (Taylor). The magazine branded emo the 'hip' new music style and The Promise Ring a band to watch. Most emo bands shifted (changed) their sound in an attempt to isolate themselves from the scene. By the end of the decade, the indie emo scene had almost completely disappeared. Thus ending the "second wave" of emo.

The "third wave" began in the year 2000 and emo had been redefined. Now meaning: "emo is no longer just music genre; it has come to mean strong displays of emotion."(Derogatis). With this new definition came a new brand of emo music. We now know it as pop-punk, which blurred the line between punk and emo even further. The word emo became an insult and the music became something only 'pansies' listened too. Emo fashion became popular; with tight pants, tight bands t-shirts, converse sneakers, asymmetrical haircuts, and thick-rimmed glasses. This is where the emo fashion came from. What used to be a positive music scene has become an annoying fad. It is no longer about the music, it is about how many pairs of converse a person has or how sulky someone looks in a corner at the local venue watching a band that they pretend to like. No longer in the third wave do we have original sound or is there any recognizable difference between it all. With bands like: Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Lost Prophets, and The Smiths, everything is starting to sound the same in this culture. This third wave is at its highest point at this moment, and hopefully will someday end.

Emo fashion has included many things, one of the main things being Converse All Star Basketball Shoes, also known as: Chucks, Chuck Taylors, All Stars, C.T.'s, Hi-tops, and Verses. It all started in 1917 when Marquis M. Converse, founder of the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Mass, develops what will become his most popular shoe: The All Star. Six Years later the shoe was renamed Chuck Taylor All Star after one of Marquis's favorite employees, Chuck Taylor. Chuck Taylor invented the modern basketball- a "stitchless" leather basketball with a truer bounce. In 1941 when America entered World War II Converse shifted production to manufacture footwear, apparel, boots, parkas, rubber protective suits, and ponchos for pilots and troops. Converse also designed the A6 Flying Boot worn by the U.S. Army Air Corps.. The All Star was originally produced in only black, but after a time, basketball teams were putting pressure on the company to add color to their shoes. At this point in time Chuck Taylor All-Stars were not the only style of Converse. There was the: All Star Oxford, One Star, Dr. J, Jack Purcell, and the Double Upper. Converse became a symbol of teenage rebellion in the 1950's, giving way to the beginning of punk and eventually emo. In the 60's Converse sneakers were even accepted by hippies who were the first to mismatch them (this was, eventually, accepted into emo culture). Punk began in the 70's with the Ramones at the head of the Converse crowd. Bands like Green Day and Pearl Jam wore Chucks among many fans, actors, celebrities, and musicians. At the end of the 80's however, Converse popularity began to decline. Corporations, like Nike, sold faster in the athletic shoe field, thus causing the drop (Converse).

"What types of emo are there?" some may wonder. Well, one is Trustafarian Emo and these emo kids are most likely to be found in either Portland, Oregon or Burlington, Vermont. Most would think that Trustafarian Emo would be a hippie, and most are called hippie, but the fact remains that they are not hippies. The heritage of Trustafarian Emo is of hippie decent, yet they are not hippies. They represent the increasing number of former hippies who have gravitated toward the emo scene. They dress in board or cut-off shorts, sandals, baggy wind breakers or other light jackets, and a shirt with a smart slogan pertaining to the state of mind they are in. They tend to eat vegan food though they are technically not vegan.

Indie Emo is next on the list. This form of emo dresses like John Cusack's music-obsessed character in High Fidelity (Simon). They are, usually, an overtly intellectual music connoisseur who probably finger quotes the word art too much in casual conversation. These Indie Emo kids can be found standing in the back of a club, arms crossed, while the night's blog approved band plays its brand of melodic rock.

Christian Emo, some may think this is a contradiction, seeing the fad of emo involves wanting to kill oneself. Poser Emo is what that is, but no digression is needed here. Christian Emo is made up of very devout fans who listen to anything if the Christian emo label, Tooth & Nail (Simon). Their dress consists mostly of plainclothes and do not dress in the regular emo fashion. Christian Emo fans don't drink and only on the rare occasion do they flat iron their hair.

Eighties Emo, today this is what we usually call emo. They are the crowd with the asymmetrical haircuts and a love for vibrant clothing. The set of emo kids is not to be confused with emo kids from the actual eighties. The difference between an Eighties Emo and an emo kid from the eighties is the fact that an Eighties Emo kids has many stylistic cues that were pulled from the new-wave culture. Eighties Emo kids were not alive to see things firsthand. Take for example: checkered Vans, inch-wide leather ties, and a love for contemporary East Coast indie-rock bands who sing in fake British accents (Simon).

Frat Emo, now this is contradictory. Shortly after the 2001 mainstream success of the band Jimmy Eat World, Frat Emo was born. Mostly everything in a Frat Emo's wardrobe denies all emo culture; clothing holding the brand names of Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister and/or clothing bearing the name of their beloved university or Frat House. Frat Emos are most likely to be seen at a show based on the fact that they will either (a) be there with a traditionally "hot" girl or (b) look extremely bored when the band veers into a song off their first record (Simon).

Goth Emo, many think "Wait another contradiction?", but yet again they are wrong. There is no contradiction here. These Goth Emo kids simply gravitated towards a 'darker side of life'. They dress mostly in black with maybe a red flare for dramatic touch. They look as though they watched the "Helena" video by My Chemical Romance too many times, and thought the look was cool. These Goth Emo kids hang out constantly in front of Starbucks, pretending that they don't want attention but actually do (Simon). They probably never go to shows as they would find then boring and lacking on guitar.

Machismo Emo, it is emo in reverse. Instead of being the overly sensitive bookworm who complains about never getting a girl, the Machismo Emo is, more often than not, an overconfident former jock who gets the girls and, occasionally, can write searing punk-rock albums. But don't get too excited girls, he's usually in his mid-twenties and still lives with his parents (Simon).

Prog Emo, perhaps the geekiest set of emo kids. Prog Emos mostly attend comic book conventions and spend hours of their time watching anime (Japanese cartoons) on television. Prog Emo have gotten a lot of attention in the media in that past few years, with bands like Coheed and Cambria releasing high-profile concept records that no one- fans, band members, middle-aged journalists- can accurately make sense of (Simon). Prog Emo style consists of frumpy-looking gaming geeks and failed cartoon artists. They do not go to shows as that would take away from the time they spend in their mothers basement.

Ex-hardcore Emo kids can be found in the white-collared suburbs outside of Chicago. The first technical ex-hardcore emo is thought to be ex-Minor Threat screamer Ian MacKaye who formed the melodic punk band, Embrace (Derogatis). Today, however, they are more sensitive then they were back in the day and have developed their own set of easy-to-spot characteristics. These regretted straight-edge tattoos, a hoodie-and-jeans fashion sense, and the ability to talk about the past but cannot remember anything in their daily lives. Ex-hardcore emos don't go to shows as they continuously nag about how music used to be and how music today isn't really that great (Simon).

Last but not least, Alt-Country Emo. These are mostly emo kids who live in rural places and grew up living the rural lifestyle. They wear flannel, denim, and, occasionally, have unkempt facial hair. If the Alt-Country emo is male, he will most look like Gram Parsons despite the fact he will have no idea who Gram Parsons is. If female the Alt-Country Emo will usually be sassy in a Southern belle sort of way and probably look like indie-country singer, Neko Case. The shows these emo kids go to are much different than the other sets of kids. The Alt-Country emo will, more likely than not, be rocking out at Wilco or Son Volt concert. Both of those bands are only found cool among the Alt-Country Emo community (Simon).

Emo hairstyles, just like types of emo kids, are usually misconstrued as being all the same. They are, well in fact, not. For boys there styles such as: The Reverse Faux-hawk, The Baby Pomp, The Hasidic, The Emo Combover, The Adult Bowlcut, and The Flat-iron Standby (Simon). The Reverse Faux-hawk is quite possibly the most confusing emo hairdo ever, with its slicked forward bangs and hair-sprayed sides. The Baby Pomp is simply cut short around the sides and combed in the front like a 50's greaser's 'do. The Hasidic hairstyle was inspired by the Hasidic Jews and features a grown out shaved head with excessive bits of hair in front of the ears. The most common of all these hairstyles is the Emo Combover, which is hair cut short on all sides and it is centered on sweeping longer bangs over the forehead and tucking them up to the side of the face. Next there is the Adult Bowlcut, which is the usual bowlcut but has been modified to include sheared sides. Last but not least for boy's hair, is the Flat-iron Standby. The hairstyle involves Shoulder-length hair getting absolutely fried by a flat-iron.

Girls' hairstyles are somewhat different from the boys'. As the boys usually deal with much longer hair to make the male appear more feminine, girls' is shorter to make them appear more masculine. The more popular girls' hairstyles are: The Zelda, The Working-Class Mullet, The Hairblinds, The Gunshot Wound, and The Side Mullet (Simon). The Zelda is an incredibly short haircut with blunt bangs; this haircut was inspired by the ©Nintendo Character and the film Amelie. The Working-Class Mullet is a short bob in the back with a mass of choppy highlights on the tops. This hairstyle gives the impression of the hair throwing up form the tip of the skull. Hairblinds are long locks of bangs that can hang between the bridge of the nose and the waistline. The Gunshot wound is the most popular hairstyle amongst Emo girls. It is a longer version of the male bowlcut with spiked hair standing at attention as if the wearer has just been shot; there are many variations of this hairstyle. Finally the Side Mullet, which is basically an asymmetrical hair cut with obscure uneven sides. This haircut resembles haircuts given to small children by their half-blind grandmothers.

Among Emo boys there is acceptable clothing and non-acceptable clothing. Along the lines of bands t-shirts; accepted shirts are any band playing and The Vans Warped Tour or Bamboozle. Non-accepted t-shirts are any band playing Bonnaroo or Gathering of the Vibes. Polo shirts are very popular among Emo boys, especially if layered over long underwear or other long-sleeved shirt. Accepted brands for Polo shirts are: American Apparel, Clandestine, and Ordinary. Non-Acceptable brands are Phat Farm, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. Usually layered over the polo shirt and/or band shirt is a hoodie; Hoodies are essential to the emo fashion. Hoodies can be found anywhere: at shows (the emo word for "concert"), any thrift store, and well, pretty much anywhere else. But, like any other essential to the fashion there are acceptable and non-acceptable. Acceptable brands are: Clandestine, Atticus, DCMA, American Apparel, and any band hoodie. Non-acceptable brands area: Hollister, American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and almost anything promoting a college, university, or technical institute. Over the hoodie would be wore a jacket. There are really no brands for jackets but there are color and material requirements. Acceptable colors and materials are: black, brown, and/or gray; velvet, corduroy, and/or tweed. Non-accepted colors and materials are: bright colors, long and double-breasted; anything made of micro fiber; anything with a school emblem or name tag on it. Accepted jeans are (mostly girl's jeans): Indigo-worn or faded wash; black jeans. Non-acceptable jeans are: JNCOs, carpenter pants, anything with a drawstring at the waist or hem. Now, shoes are very important, not just any shoe will work. Acceptable shoes are: Converse (of course), Draven, Vision Street Wear, and Vans. Non-accepted shoes are: K-Swiss, Timberland, Skechers, and Birken-stock.

Girls fashion is relatively the same as boys with the exception that girl's are more conscious about layering. Wearing six shirts at once isn't very uncommon for the Emo girl, with an accompanied hoodie or two and a fashionable scarf. Flats and ballerina slippers are more common among Emo girls than Converse or Vans, yet Emo girls probably own a pair. Hoodies are common among Emo girls but what are more popular are cardigan sweaters. Jeans not accepted among either boys or girls are: flared, bell-bottoms, anything with the words loose and fit in the description.

Finally, on to the Do's and Don'ts of Emo. An emo do is to wear a bandanna. Not wearing it around the head like a biker though. Wearing a bandanna around a wrist is very emo, also draping it carelessly from a back pocket or tying it around the neck bank-robber-style. Another emo do is to fasten a belt to the side. Side-saddling belts shows appreciation for asymmetry. Do layer clothing. As was covered in the fashion section, layering is key to emo style. Do sport labret or Monroe piercings, it shows inner suffering and can work as an excellent hole to spit water out of. Do wear tunics, this is mostly for girls. Tunics are the middle child between the t-shirt and dress. Wearing tunics can hide problems areas of the body without losing a shred of style.

Don't outline the eyes in red or black eye shadow. Don't wear jelly bracelets up to the elbows, the rave culture went out with the Clinton era (but that is a matter of opinion). Do not wear bows in the hair. There is a difference between looking five years old and embracing youth. Wearing bows creates the image of a big head, which isn't emo. Don't wear a dress over jeans. If dresses were meant to be worn over jeans, it would be called a shirt. Don't wear girls' jeans if the pair doesn't fit. It gives the impression of a muffin-top like stomach and is just unflattering to the human eye.

To blog is to emo as scotch is to tape, they just go together. A blog is defined as "an abridged word for web log" and it is usually a website maintained by an individual with information on the person's life, descriptions of up coming or past events, and usually contains a multimedia component. Some blogs can focus mainly on art and are called artlogs. There are also photoblogs, which are blogs consisting mostly of photos and their captions. Sketchblogs, which would primarily contain pictures of an artist different sketches. Vlogs are almost the same as a regular blog only instead of the content being typed it is shot on a webcam or other camcorder. There are m-blogs, which is a blog containing Mp3 files and other music propaganda. Audio blogs, which are called podcasts. These are a pre or live recording of interviews and/or other subject matters. Micro-blogging is a written blog only it is complied of shorter posts. Tumblelogs are a blog containing more than just one component. For example, a blog post containing a written post, an Mp3 file of some sort and photos is a tumblelog.

Personal blogs are ones more likely used by the emo kids. Personal blogs, or plogs, are an on-going diary that are updated daily and usually contains commentary on the said person's life. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog even if they are the only one's reading it. Few blogs ever reach fame and mainstream reading, but some blogs do quickly garner an extensive following. Moving on to corporate blogs. As most blogs are private and used for personal issues, corporate blogs are not. Corporate blogs are used for business and are used to enhance the communication and culture in a corporate business. Some blogs are focused mainly on one topic. There are political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, educational blogs, niche blogs, and classical music blogs, quizzing blogs, legal blogs (also called blawgs) and dreamlogs.

LiveJournal all started with Brad Fitzpatrick in March 1999 as a way of keeping his high school friends up to date on his activities, he unknowingly created the first emo posting site and its growing popularity is still strong today. Features of LiveJournal are very important, allowing the user to customize his/her page to her tastes and mood. Each LiveJournal entry has its own page and any user can make a comment to the page's entry. The most distinctive component of LiveJournal is the "friends list" which gives the site a strong social aspect in addition to the blogging service. Each user has a friends page, which collects the most recent journal entries from the people on his/hers friends list. Each user has a "User info" page, it is a page that contains the information about the user. Things included would be a biography, images, lists of friends, activities, communities, and even schools the user is attending or has graduated from. LiveJournal also caters to voice posts; allowing a user to call a number, punch in their pin, and record a voice message. The voice message is then posted to the user's blog as an Mp3 file and allows other users to hear it. The voice recording has about a three or so minutes long and can cut of suddenly. The voice posting is only available to plus and paid accounts. Basic users are users who signed up after March 12th, 2008; everyone who registered before that is either a Plus, Early Adopter, Paid, or Permanent. Plus is everyone who registered before March 12th, 2008. Early Adopter positions are held by users who registered before 2000. Paid account holders are user's who pay the 24.00 a year for a better account. Permanent accounts are not usually given or held by the 'average user', but a user can buy a permanent account if there is a sale.

On to MySpace. MySpace is the number one emo site in the world, as well as the biggest social networking site in the world. MySpace is the most popular social networking site available in the United States and will probably continue to be one of the highest ranking sites. It was created in 2003 when employees of the website Friendster realized the potential of the more popular features. Myspace was created in ten days and was launched onto the web. The very first Myspace accounts were held by eUniverse employees and the company held a contest to see which employee could sign up the most users (Myspace). Regarding the contents of a Myspace profile, every user signed up acquires a blog, personal profile, a friends list, space for comments on the profile, even a place to add or change a mood. Music is a big one on Myspace, as people are able to add their favorite song and music video directly to their profile which leads to profile customization. Myspace allows it's users to customize their personal profile pages by using HTML (not JavaScript) into their "About Me", "I'd Like To Meet", "Interests", "Music", "Movies", and other available categories. Music and video can be uploaded onto a MySpace page to match the user's tastes.

Security is a MySpace must. The minimum age for a profile on MySpace is 14. Any user with the set age of 14-15 has profiles that are automatically set to private. This doesn't stop younger children from obtaining a MySpace account as it is far too easy to lie about your age. Sexual and child predators have used MySpace for their own needs, and since July of 2007 MySpace has taken care of that. No known predator or sexual offender can have a MySpace page without it being deleted. In July of 2007 MySpace located and deleted 29,000 profiles belonging to sexual and child predators.

MySpace is essential to communication among its users. Users can send messages, post bulletins, send comments, circulate event invites, send and receive text through MySpaceIM, join MySpace groups and even access MySpace through a mobile phone. Messages are pretty basic in their description, a note or memo sent to one user that only the two can see. Bulletins are a bit different. Instead of sending messages to individuals user's can post bulletins. A bulletin is a message that everyone on a user's friends list can view. Most bulletins pertain to a political, romantic, humorous, religious, or random content. Sending a comment to a user's page is a way to say things such as "Thanks for the Add" or "Hey, I really miss you". Comments come in a variety of styles, such as: glitter or flash. A glitter comment is just a series of words written with a glitter application, there are premade glitter comments or there are glitter generators which allow you to create your own comments. Flash comments are usually premade and can be short moving animations that can range from a bear giving a hug or animated fire on the candles of a birthday cake.

An event invite is like a birthday invitation, only online and there is no happy little bunny on the front shouting "You're Invited!". An event invite can be sent to all users on a friends list, but there is a drawback. Those users can send it to everyone on their list, and seeing as the average user has close to 200 friends, thats a lot of people coming to a small get-together. For example, In April 2007 a 17-year-old British girl, Rachael Bell, hosted a party. The flyer, which was distributed on MySpace, was reportedly subtitled "Let's trash the average family-sized house disco party." Her parents were left with an approximate £24,000 (48,000) bill from police (MySpace). Event invites are used commonly by emo kids as to tell about local shows and/or poetry readings.

MySpaceIM is a somewhat new feature that allows a user to use MySpace just as one would use MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger. MySpace introduced MySpaceIM in 2006, an instant messenger that uses one's MySpace account as a screen name. A MySpace user logs in to the client using the same e-mail associated with his or her MySpace account. Unlike other parts of MySpace, MySpaceIM is stand-alone software for Microsoft Windows. Users who use MySpaceIM get instant notification of new MySpace messages, friend requests, and comments (MySpace).

MySpace has a feature called groups. A MySpace Group is a group of users that share a common interest or idea. Groups can range from Automotive to Zebras and everything in between. Emo has great influence here. From groups named "Emo Kids Need Luv 2" to "The Emo Hair Society", and not to forget "We Don't Cut". Most kids in these groups like to talk about how their lives are horrible when usually they are not. It is hard to find a truth teller amongst so much exaggeration.

MySpace became accessible by "phone" back in 2006 by the way of a Helio. A Helio is a device that is similar to a phone but lacks the phone calling capability. On a Helio a MySpace user is able to access, edit, and post comments to their friends. Since 2006 MySpace has bonded with other companies such as AT&T;, Vodafone, and Rogers Wireless (MySpace).

The T-Mobile Sidekick. Also known as a Kicker and a Hiptop (Danger Hiptop), is essential to Emo communication. There are many different models of a Kicker such as: T-Mobile Color Sidekick, T-Mobile Sidekick 2, and T-Mobile Sidekick 3. The T-Mobile Color Sidekick (a.k.a. Hiptop) was the first model of the Kicker. Not only was it the only phone the first had full keyboard capability it also was the first instant messaging phone available on the market. This device was probably used by early Emo kids as it is used today by most, an exchange of information about shows, poetry readings, or parties. However there are a few Kick-(excuse the pun)-backs to the first model. For one, on the right hand side of the phone there is a speaker, yet it cannot be used as a speaker phone. Along the top edge of the phone bezel is an infrared transceiver, though it doesn't seem to serve any purpose (Danger Hiptop).

The second model of the Kicker is the T-Mobile Sidekick 2 (a.k.a. Hiptop2). This updated version of the Kicker had an added D-Pad, which is like the arrow keys of a keyboard, along with left and right shoulder buttons, volume and power on bottom of phone. The Sidekick II also features a VGA camera, which is not the best quality camera out there. The Kicker 2 has two speakers, one located one the D-Pad and a speaker located on the back of the of the device. It comes to two different colors: Pink and Black (Danger Hiptop). Both of these colors are popular amongst emo kids but there is a deffining line between the two. Pink went mostly for the Eighties Emos, Indie Emos, and Christian Emo kids, whereas the Black was more popular to the Machismo Emos, Goth Emos, and Ex-hardcore Emo kids.

The third and final model of the Kicker is the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 (a.k.a. Hiptop3). This Kicker is smaller than the other two models, perhaps the reason being the other two were to big to fit into the pockets of an emo kids tight pants. This Kicker had a complete makeover with an industrial color scheme and a plasticized keyboard, the rubber ones on the previous models were known to peel away. The Kicker 3 came with a removable storage option of two gigabytes, a 1.3 mega pixel camera, and it became an Mp3 player (Danger Hiptop).

Not everyone agrees on what Emo is. I asked users of GaiaOnline (A site similar to MySpace but more based on Japanese animation and comic books, a website most popular among Prog Emo kids) what they thought Emo was. These are some of their responses (Their names have been changed to protect their security):

It's just what they call the newest trend. It's lost all value in meaning. It WAS a genre of music. Everything that people say is emo now is not. They mistake that for hard-core or post-hard core punk music. If one can even call that punk music now days. -Chris Y.

"A long legged, pissed off teenager who just tried to break into their mom's makeup bag." -Guy T.

"I think emo is a weird person." Dani Marie.

"Has insecurity problems, and has that dark hair that covers their face." Riko L.

"Sillyness and a fashion hype." Arika M.

"One who is excessively emotional about that which does not require as much attention that is being given to it. I don't hang around you kids to find out so it is not important to me at the moment." Justin K.

"A Emo is a stripy Goth with a good taste in music." Jessica H.

In the poll that was taken, 40.0 of participants said that Emo is a genre of music while only 7.7 participants said that Emo was a gothic poser. Only 11.5 said that an Emo kid was a cutter and 7.7 said it was a kid who listened to bad music (not all statistics were listed).

There has always been a "problem" between telling the difference between a Goth Kid and an Emo Kid. Things such as, Emo kids and Goth Kids both paint their finger nails black and wear mostly black. Well, that is correct on a few levels. But there are differences. The stereotypical Goth Kids are much more darker than the stereotypical Emo Kids. When a Goth Kid gets dress in the morning they don't fuss over what they wear. Most likely they have wore the same pair of Tripp NYC pants, combat boots, and black tank top everyday that week. They could blast ArchEnemy or Drawn and Quartered as they apply their white foundation base and apply their black make-up. They would probably leave the house on foot seeing that they are too lazy to get their license and are too 'cool' for the bus. Their black coat probably has a big hood on it to keep the sun off their face and they wear sunglasses to keep it out of their eyes. Depending on the type of Goth Kid that they are they may have an umbrella or a cane with them, they may even carry a rose. They will not hear anything as they walk into the school as they will probably have that morning's music choice still blaring in their ears. They will go through the day give everyone around them dirty looks and will end their day sulking at coffee shop, smoking a cigarette, and drinking coffee.

An Emo Kid will begin his or her day by checking MySpace while listening to Panic! At The Disco or Fall Out Boy. They will take their time straightening their hair and pulling on their layers. They take their time applying their rainbow makeup and picking their school bag. They will leave by car and arrive early to discuss with their friends the nights show and how their mother doesn't really understand them. They will then go to class and sit quietly in the back writing poetry that no one likes and no one will read. At lunch they will go to a vegan restaurant and order water, besides they are too depressed to eat. They will go home after school and write pointless bulletins on MySpace and complain their lives away on LiveJournal. They will fall asleep listening to the depressing sound of Morrissey and The Smiths.

Stereotypically these are completely different and in reality they are too. It is true that a Goth Kid is darker than an Emo Kid. Both do write poetry and both do listen to music loudly. The defining difference is this: "Emo Kids hate themselves. Goth Kids hate everybody. Emo Kids want to kill themselves. Goth Kids want to kill everybody."(Urban Dictionary).

The world has now been told. Emo is what we make it. Emo isn't goth and emo isn't grunge. The world now knows the music scene and the style. That emo has taken over the internet and "strikes fear into the hearts of parents, passionate rebellion into the hearts of fans (mostly angst-filled teenagers), and a sour nostalgia into the hearts of those few who were there from the start."(Taylor). The fad will die and the music will mellow out and not sound so similar, but until that time we must deal with everything that comes along with the genre. "Our revels are now ended"-William Shakespeare.

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