''EMO'' Is it a cult or a trend for teenagers?
By amyson
@amyson (3498)
Philippines
October 23, 2009 9:40pm CST
my niece is fun of wearing black shirt and different hairstyles with weird colors.she says it looks great and this what the style nowadays.i noticed that some models fashion are fashion appeared to be dead in wearing some black shirt.faces are chalky white,eyes and lips black.fashion nowadays linked to black colors this is also related to some dangerous teenage cult.is it a cult or this for trend?emos exchange competitive messages on their teenage websites about the scars on their wrist.parents concern why their daughter because there are increasing incidents of suicide and self-harm.why teenage patronize this trend?
3 people like this
14 responses
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
24 Oct 09
A cult? What in the world.........
It's just another fashion and lifestyle trend, and once again, as has been in the past, some people choose to go overboard with it. "Emo" is not a cult. Those exchanging messages about this scar and that and talk about killing themselves, and I remember reading once about some group who actually took it as far to say as they'd go to the "Black Parade" when they die.. oh jeezus when will some people get a grip. I'm not emo and I've done the "battle scar showdown" with people. For those who have no idea and have heard the "Black Parade" story... that was an album concept by the band My Chemical Romance in which some people who have no grip on reality twisted and took too far for their needs - they need mental help.
And why do kids do it? For the illusion of control, to p!ss off uptight members of society, to p!ss off their parents, and for self expression.... but like every other stereotype before it, some have taken it too far and those who have a grip on reality get tossed into the mix with those who dont and are given a bad name.
2 people like this
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
24 Oct 09
And kids who are into this style are neither the first nor the last to get caught up in anything bad. Being emo, again, does NOT mean that they do slash n gash or that they are part of some bad group. God, even normal looking, happy looking rich kids do some of the exact some crap.
2 people like this
@amyson (3498)
• Philippines
24 Oct 09
well yes it issome sort of fashion trend since some rock band really gave influence our kids.so some of them like to copy the style of emo people wearing black and so that makes them in so they experiments wearing those kind of clothes.but emo has also involvement in some bad group that have freaky doing so sometimes they were also misinterpreted and call them as a cult or something like wild.
1 person likes this
@amyson (3498)
• Philippines
24 Oct 09
EMO stands for emotional state of mind.it is the anger hard core way of expressing one-self.example for music it is a strong emotion and feeling unlike hard rock or this is more of an alternative way to let your feeling be known.emo is not only a classification or a type of music its also taken over the way one expresses themselves by dressing.it includes wearing blacks and dyed hair black.emo is also being known as for the hot emo guys and emo girls kissing.some were into cult thing or find the styles unique.
1 person likes this
@zkapfo123 (319)
• India
24 Oct 09
Hi amyson, my kids have also started taking style cues from emo fashions lately. they have started dressing in black tees and as you said weird hairstyles and plastering their bedroom walls with emo pictures. i thought this was just a harmless fashion statement started by some teenagers. so, then there is more than meets the eye. i'll have to keep an eye on the kids from now on. Thank you for the information and a happy mylotting to you!!!
2 people like this
@wlee9696 (595)
• United States
24 Oct 09
Both of my daughters went through what I referred to as the "black phase". They dyed their hair all sorts of weird colors. Wore only black clothing, shoes. Heavy makeup - all black. They thought they looked great. One was in it for only a few months - the other almost 2 years. They are five years apart and both are now in their twenties - so it does pass. However I do think parents need to be alert and be involved. I think that the "emo" thing is benign for the most part - however like anything some people can go too far. Although thankfully I don't speak from first hand experience I have read/heard of kids engaging in practices such as cutting because they think it's cool. There are also many kids with significant depression that need treatment. So for me at least it's all about being involved and knowing your child as best you can.
2 people like this
@TexasTee38 (48)
• United States
24 Oct 09
I've always looked at it as "Neo-Punk", maybe without the spiked-accessories and more extreme. IDK, every teen has their own cliches and peer group they try to hang around with. Like when I was in high school, there were different cliches, there were the "Populars", the "Punk's", the "Nerds/geeks", the "Jock's",the "Preppies", the "Metal-Heads", etc. I think it's just a trend.
2 people like this
@raymondgong2006 (60)
• United States
24 Oct 09
emos are not a cult they are people with almost no friends listening to angry music wearing black makeup wich is goth and emos cut themselves being emo is not normal
1 person likes this
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
24 Oct 09
If my child were "Emo", I would most certainly be concerned because it is not always just a fad. I would probably talk to my child first about it, and ask them way is going on and if they continue to do it after some talks and me spending time with them, then I would get them check out by a psychologist or get them committed into a mental facility. It is a very dangerous trend, and it does not look like it will end anytime soon.
I had friends, and my own brother and I were "Emo". My brother and I were "Emo" because of our situations. My brother's dad was a jerk, my brother had Type 1 Diabetes, and I was getting sick all of the time. When we addressed with our mother that this was our problem, she said let's get this taken care of. She spent way more time with us, and she sent us to some of her friends who were psychologist. My dad was a therapist and my mom new the signs of depression and mental illness for she had battled with it herself.
"Emo" is nothing to mess around with, if your child is "Emo", have a big talk with them, and certainly check their arms. If you see cuts the look out of the ordinary, then get them checked out. You might think that it is just a fad, but it is usually more than just a fad.
This goes for teens who wear gang attire, dress promiscuously, and wear anything that is subject to question, but usually it is never just a fad.
Another example, is four of the boys I grew up with joined gangs and started wearing gang attire, and their parents said "Oh it's just a fad". Three out of those four boys are men in prison now. The forth boy was shipped off to live with his aunt and uncle and ended up getting a young woman pregnant.
Always question and know what your teens are doing. Have those talks with them. If it doesn't look right, or seem right, then it probably isn't. If you have to question it, then you better check it out.
1 person likes this
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
24 Oct 09
May I also add that I have tutored, mentored, and taken care of teens in need of an adult or in need of attention, and they tell me the same thing over and over again, "I just wished that my mom and dad would listen."
I have four nieces, two who got pregnant and rebelled because their parents were not listening to them, and it could have all been prevented if their mother and father has just listened to them and had serious talks with them. If they really got to know who their children were, they would have been saved a world of hurt.
Children and teens are always looking for someone to care about them and pay attention to them. They need that parental guidance more than anything in the world. They are not ready for the real world, they are not ready for life.
We as a society, parents, grandparents... all of us have to be responsible for our children and for this generation of children and teens.
There are generations of children growing up without parents or parental guidance. They don't know what to do or what they are doing. They are trying to be adults when they have never had real adult guidances in their lives.
I am saying this because I have seen too much suffering and too many children and teens suffer at the hands of parents and adult who didn't make the right decisions and who just didn't care, and they did not realize the damage that had been done until it was already done. I lost two friends in middle school to violence, some to car accidence and disease. I have seen a whole class of girls get pregnant, boys ending up in jail, children suffering from mental illness, and children suffer from diseases. I am don't want to see this kind of pain anymore. If I look tired or look at people a certain way, it is because I see it. I see what can and will happen if things don't change for the better. I want to see things change for the better.
1 person likes this
@amyson (3498)
• Philippines
24 Oct 09
yes i do agree with you sometimes this trend of being an emo is not good and it impose bad thing to kids so parents should be warn and always watchful to their kids since hearing all what you said makes panic for sometimes so i think it good to have parents be concern to their kids by monitoring the things they do.sad to hear that its not only a trend but somehow it makes situation complicated too.
1 person likes this
@neelianoscet (9615)
• Philippines
24 Oct 09
It is not a cult but rather than a trend of fashion. A cult have deeper meaning on that it is composed of groups of people who shares the same ideology and beliefs. Whereas being an EMo could be seen on a teenagers citing from the things you mention. But, they seem harmless to me that they see it as a style of fashion or attention getter. A true EMO to me is very private and not showy to shares her/his feelings instead they create their own words where he/she could make time to reflect on herself and like to hide and confine of his room and listen to emotional or sad song which he could relate somehow. Those teenagers wearing black would like to convey the messages of EMO fashion when in fact being emotional is already part of the whole character and nothing could change that belief which you stand on yourself without worrying for other to criticize you is an EMO attitude.
1 person likes this
@amyson (3498)
• Philippines
25 Oct 09
the whole thing is different being an emo is different from those normal teenager,they usually think differently.self-mutilation happen and aggression too.conflict increases and are dangerous.so parents should be watchful to the acts of their teenager nowadays.
@LetranKnight25 (33121)
• Philippines
24 Oct 09
hello amyson,
I guess this is really bad for us but don't worry this too shall pass. same goes with other generation who ones ruled the society. don't tell me the hippies and generation x were accepted fully? soon this trend will be popular and it will pass once the new generation sets in.1 person likes this
@hvedra (1619)
•
28 Oct 09
For quite some time I was convinced that it was called Emo because all the adherents had modelled their style on the comedian Emo Phillips.
It is a trend. All the Emo kids I've met are just like any other teenager but in a different uniform. They're just as materialistic, self-absorbed, immature, obnoxious and ignorant.
The same as with any trend it gives them something to belong to - despite their cries of "I am an individual" they all appear to be the _same_ individual. It also gets them attention. As someone who has had to deal with depression in myself and others I think it is rather pathetic that many of them feign being depressed to get attention.
I find the music all very light and commercial because it is. Pop maskerading as rock maskerading as metal and packaged as soooo scarey. Please, I was moshing at Slayer gigs before some of these kids were born!
@hexeduser22 (7419)
• Philippines
25 Oct 09
Hi there!
"Emo" is just fashion trend for some. It's not because teens are into this kind of fashion that they can also be considered as a dangerous teenage cult. Parents should really guide their children because it's their responsibility and the method on how teens express themselves, in this "emo" state, is sometimes a bit alarming. I think why teens today patronize this trend is because they can easily express themselves openly in public without being awkward or people branding them anything.
@edxcast (1168)
• Ecuador
25 Oct 09
Hello amyson, i think the emo thing is just a trend that probably(hopefully) would go away in some time. I believe that most who like to dress like an emo arent neccesarily into cutting their wrists or anything like that but just like the looks. Though its really worrying the ones who actually do that.
1 person likes this
@legacyofkain92 (20)
• India
24 Oct 09
Being "emo" isn't a cult or trend among teenagers. It's an expression, representing thought, feeling and obviously emotion (in most cases rage and/or depression). I don't think they patronize this trend or anything of that sort..but maybe they find empathy in doing so?
@Omfgbbqsauce (138)
• New Zealand
19 Feb 10
It's not a cult. It's just what's "in" these days.
I wear black clothes; not because Im sad but because I think it looks cool.
This is the same with ur niece. She's just in it for the fashion :)
POSERRRRRRR!!! lol
