Emos, girls jeans, and eyeliner: a parent's questions.

[Changenow]

Can someone explain this emo thing to me. A boy emo, who wears girl's bluejeans, is interested in my daughter. Until recently this boy wore eyeliner. I don't know much more about him, but I'd like to.

1. Considering his interest in the most beautiful girl west of the Mississippi, one can assume he's straight, right?

2. Assuming the answer to 1 is yes, why the girls make-up and clothes? What does it mean?

3. Are emos only different in their appearance? Are they more likely to engage in risky behaviors like drugs and sex?

4. Does emo mean anything political about a person? He isn't something horrible, like a Republican, is he?

Thank you for this information.

[KitchenWitch]

1. What is an emo?

I am not down with the current vernacular.

[Changenow]

4. I thought it was a bird when I first heard it.

Apparently it is a class of adolescent, like geek or jock used to be.

Emo stands for emotional, but they aren't emotional, or so I'm told. They may be a subset of goth, but I can't confirm that either.

Hence my questions.

[Richardo]

16. This is all I can think of...

Yes, I'm a geezer

[henslee]

25. Emo is a musical genre -- I don't really get it. Its sort of post punk,

new sincerity, angsty, anti-macho, spill your guts sensitivity rock (That's my take) Not too far from Morrisy mixed with a retro little new romnatics. IMO, the guy wearing the mascara and girls jeans dating Changenow's daughter probably has more girls than he can shake a cat at.

[darkism]

2. Let's see if I can use my youth to help :p

To keep it succint...

1. Yea.

2. Because girls like it...or at least we boys THINK girls like it.

3. Emo boys and girls are not usually party animals. Since emo can be considered an offshoot of the sXe (straight edge) movement, many of them eschew drinking and drugs altogether.

4. There's no chance in hell he's a freeper.

Since the whole "emo" scene is about EMOtional expression, there's a good chance he's going to be more sensitive than some jock asshole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_fashion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge

[Changenow]

6. Thanks for the links

Why would girls like boys in girl's jeans?

Looks like I'll have to research straight edge also, huh?

[Fenris]

3. "He isn't something horrible, like a Republican, is he?"

No, just lame. Very, very lame.

In all seriousness...

1. Yes.

2. He's just trying to be rebellious and different.

3. I really don't think their more likely to engage in either of those behaviors more than any other teenager. They are more likely to wallow in self-pity, though. ;)

4. No.

[Left Is Write]

5. Okay...

1.Considering his interest in the most beautiful girl west of the Mississippi, one can assume he's straight, right? He's interested in my daughter? ;)

2. Assuming the answer to 1 is yes, why the girls make-up and clothes? What does it mean? I dated a guy my senior year in high school (I graduated in 1984) who wore blue eyeliner and three earrings in each ear. This was long before "emo" was in the common vernacular. He was really rather New Wave-ish. Anyway...he was as straight as an arrow. He just didn't consider makeup as being something for girls only.


4. Does emo mean anything political about a person? He isn't something horrible, like a Republican, is he? No, it's not political, but I'd tend to doubt he's a Republican.

[Changenow]

8. You're my exhusband?

Small world, I didn't know you were a DUer!

I'll call later and give the details about the emo boy.

[Left Is Write]

9. Not unless I had a sex change operation I forgot about.

[Changenow]

13. Yikes!

That must mean my daughter has two mothers! There is only one girl who is the most beautiful west of the Mississippi.

Maybe we should write a book.

[Left Is Write]

14. Hmmm. What color hair does your daughter have?

[Changenow]

19. SHE'S MINE!

No more information. I'll see you in court.

[Left Is Write]

21. Um, okay. Whatever you say.

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Watch this helpful video

http://www.somethingdirectory.com/main_emo.htm

Almost definitely not a Republican though. Emo is a subculture of punk and most popular emo bands were heavily involved with Punkvoter, a very anti-Bush campaign. Emo can mean different things to different people. The hipster emo kids are annoying, but generally decent kids.

[Changenow]

10. Good to know

this thread has been very reassuring, thanks all. Some day you'll be so old that you won't know what's going on also.

[ghostsofgiants]

11. Haha, you remind me of Abe Simpson

"I used to be with it...then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me! It'll happen to you!"

[Changenow]

22. LOL nt

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Hmm....

1. No. He'll end up married to a blacksmith named Johann, a Catholic from Bavaria with a lisp and arms the size of an oil barrel.

2. It is a sign of virility - by wearing the clothing and makeup of the women he's murdered, he makes visible to the world his physical prowess as well as his cunning, both by displaying the spoils of his victory and also because wearing women's clothing and makeup proves his self-confidnce in his masculinity.

3. Not risky behavior like drugs and sex, which they eschew, but risky behavior such as murder, grave robbing, reprogramming train schedulers and sensors and switches so that trains crash, poisoning municipal water supplies, and caving in mines.

4. No, they might be evil incarnate, but they never act as bad as republicans.

[Changenow]

17. Ok, ridicule my ignorance

I clearly couldn't know less about this class of youth.

Shouldn't my willingness to learn before I make a judgment earn me some credit?

[Rabrrrrrr]

20. O, I meant no ridicule!

I was just being me, bizarre little Rabrrrrrr with the overactive imagination.

I'd never heard of an emo either.

[nickgutierrez]

18. Best. Post. Ever.

:rofl:

[Rabrrrrrr]

23. Thanks!!

:patriot:

[Arkana]

15. Nah, sounds like he's just an attention hound.

I knew a guy in high school who was like that--he was arrow-straight, but wore dresses to school, eyeliner, and I heard stories that he made out with other guys at parties. He wasn't gay--he just did it because people paid attention.

[anarch]

24. An emu is a large, flightless bird

You probably shouldn't let an emu date your daughter!

...

OK, really, I am too old to know about this sort of thing, but speaking from my own somewhat dodgy past, you get all kinds of people trying to fit in with any subculture trend. The best way to get to know anybody is to talk to them...and anyway I am not anyone from whom to take advice, but here's my 2 cents worth:

1. Probably, but sexual orientation is a funny thing, and young people sometimes don't know for sure themselves.

2. Youthful rebellion?

3. Probably not any more so than other kids...all you can do is try to instill some sense into them.

4. Who knows? You get all kinds of people everywhere....

Sorry that's probably no help at all.

[jane_pippin]

26. I was a record store clerk. Perhaps I can help you with this:

Keep in mind this is all generalization, but relatively informed generalization so take it for what it's worth.

"Emo" is short for "Emotional Rock," or some variation of that phrase. It's called that because bands who are known as "Emo" bands tend to be less punky or noisy and more melodic and lyric oriented (though not always). Fans of Emo, like all fans, mimic their heroes. Since Emo music tends to be more gentle (check out Belle & Sebastian if you want to hear what I mean) the Emo boys themselves tend to adopt a gentle, often nerdy persona. I always took it to be a signal of someone who styles themselves as more inclined to intellectual pursuits as opposed to those who yell and throw beer bottles at shows, which is what my punk-ass friends and I tend to do. (Again, HUGE generalization there, but we're talking archetypes so what the hell.)

As to your points:

1. Yeah, probably. Look for love poems and mix tapes to sprout up. Don't be alarmed if he cries.

2. Because it gives a nod to glam rock and is more about fashion than anything else, I'd imagine.

3. I've known Emo folk who never smoke, drink, have sex, or do drugs, and I've known Emo folks who've done all of it, sometimes all at once. I'm guessing this has more to do with the kid himself than anything else so unless you KNOW he's bad news, I wouldn't worry about it any more than you would worry about any other kid you know.

5. Chances are he's up on things and a liberal, if anything, but again, one never knows with anybody. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's not political at all until he shows you any clear signs one way or another.

I hope these giant generalizations of mine helped put your mind at ease a bit. :hi:

[liontamer]

27. here you go

1) You have no way of assesing his sexuality, but considering that your daughter is in high school and probably doesn't plan to marry him, what does it matter?

2) He thinks he looks good dressed like that. There are probably a group of people who also thinks he looks good like that. If your daughter says yes to the date she is one of them so everybody is happy.

3) It's high school. Everything is just about appearance. He is no more likely to engage in such behaviours because of his clothing, and possibly less likely if his appearance is considered alternative by his schools's standards and he is thus not one of the "cool kids"

4) Emo refers to a musical style and the trappings that go along with it. He is in high school, his political leanings are probably a slightly more liberal version of his parents'.