Free Essay

What Is Emo

In:

Submitted By lheiberger
Words 816
Pages 4
Laura Heiberger Page 1
Paul D. Sowers
English Composition
February 21, 2012 REVISED
Mailbox #429

Definition essay topic: Emo Emo has many meanings. The correct definition is that Emo is a music genre. Some People consider it only as a brief way to call someone emotional, although they are not correct. Emo is also about fashion, a way of dressing and expressing yourself through clothes and makeup. Originally, Emo was a style of music, punk rock that originated in North America around 1980. Some of the bands from that time included Rites of Spring and Embrace. Its sound and meaning changed and blended with pop punk and indie rock in the 1990s and new groups emerged such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate. The lyrics are about emotional things. It is a style of music in which the words have significant meaning to both the author and listener. Try listening to Emo music. Examples of Emo include Yage, Amanda Woodward, Rites of Spring, Embrace, Sunny Day Real Estate, I hate Myself, Indian Summer, Belle Epoque, Circle Takes The Square, Orchid, Dashboard Confessional, Embrace, Fugazi, Antioch Arrow and Twelve Hour Turn. Emo is not mainstream; you will not hear any Emo bands on the radio. Bands that have devoted their sound to hand-muted guitars and emotional lyrics are bands like Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, Funeral for a Friend, Alesana, Escape the Fate and When Sparks Fly.
The style combines dramatic hardcore and sometimes over-the-top lyrics about feelings. Emo began to shift from being vague and undefined to a specific type of emotionally overbearing music that was romantic but distanced from the political nature of punk. A New York City based band called Texas is the Reason bridged the gap between indie rock and Emo during their brief three-year lifespan.
Another Emo band from the 90’s was Weezer whose 1996 album Pinkerton was first looked at as a failure and ranked second worst album of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine. Pinkerton became the most important Emo album of the decade. Weezer returned in 2000 with a different pop sound and refused to play songs from Pinkerton because they dismissed it as “ugly” and “embarrassing.” The new album held its appeal and achieved high sales and praise and is noted for introducing Emo to more mainstream audiences.
In the late 1990s Emo had a surge of popularity as a number of notable acts experienced success that would lay the foundation for later. As Emo gained a larger fan base the music business began to see its marketing potential. The music labeled Emo was making a connection with a larger group of people. Emo had always connected with young people it had just never aggressively marketed itself to them. Emo’s sudden explosion into the mainstream to media outlets came in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Despite the fact that hip hop was still dominating the charts, the nation was in a healing process, and the way it was healing was by wearing black glasses and vintage striped shirts. Emo would heal us through fashion, and that is where it changed into a style and a way of dressing and a new fashion. Today Emo is tied to music and fashion as well as the Emo subculture. Usually among teens, the term “Emo” is stereotyped with wearing slim-fit jeans, tight t-shirts which often have the name of Emo bands, studded belts, black wristbands and thick black glasses. The Emo style is also recognized for its hairstyles. Popular looks include long side-swept bangs, sometimes covering one or both eyes. Also popular is hair that is straightened and dyed black. Sometimes bright colors are also typical as highlights in Emo hairstyles. Make-up has also become an important part of the Emo look. Lots of eyeliner is a must to have the Emo look.. Also the skin color is usually pale and a nail polish color that is black.
Music is still an essential part of the Emo culture and allows the Emo kid to let out their emotions in a way that is both somber and thoughtful. It is hard to say where Emo will go next. It has gone in many different directions in search of the most unique style. Emo culture is strong and will change as the times change. It may fade out eventually, but right now it is one interesting fashion trend that is worth watching.

Work cited
"Emo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo>.

"What is emo." Luv-Emo. Copyright ©2007-2010, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. <http://www.luv-emo.com/>.

"What is Emo?." Emo Corner - More than Emo. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. <http://www.emo-corner.com/what-is-emo/>.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Dynamic Nominalism

...be the same one used for the individual, as social change gives birth to new opportunities, individuals may move categories. This essay is going to explore Hacking’s term dynamic nominalism through the illustration of some of the issues in the emo society. The concept of dynamic nominalism claims that in giving a name to a category a new opportunity is created for human types to adopt. New types of people start to exist that in some respects did not before. We can see this through the emergence of the emo society. The term emo is short for emotional it was first used as a description for a genre of music named emotional hardcore, with lyrics full of sad and depressed emotions. As the music became more popular adolescents found a sense of belonging within the music, (Gorce 2005) and a new possibility that allowed their emotions to be expressed emerged. As dynamic nominalism explains “new slots were created in which to fit”. (Hacking 2002:100) The emo society was custom made to fit the youth who wanted to express their emotion. The emo society and the emo person were born in unison, in the same way that dynamic nominalism states “a kind of person came into being at the same time as the kind itself was invented”(Hacking 2002:106) The emo person was created and roles, behaviours and mannerisms were adopted to work in with the society which will be discussed next. To understand the view in dynamic nominalism that labels actively influence those labelled, we can look at the behaviours...

Words: 835 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

The Sound of Emo

...The Sound of Emo There are many stereotypes in society for every culture or group of people. These stereotypes are often based on musical influences, personalities, activities, and fashion. I am going to focus this essay on the group of people who are known as Emo. Both positive and negative attributes come from stereotyping an Emo follower, but most of society focuses on the negative. This essay will focus on all aspects in hopes of turning some of these negative stereotypes into more positive ones. The word Emo is often used to describe anyone who is perceived as being too emotional, often too sad or too dark. The term Emo is short for “Emotional Hardcore” which describes the genre of music an Emo follower would listen to. According to author Brian Bailey (2005), “[Emo music] is characterized by feelings of vulnerability, and...confessions about adolescence. Emo music draws from various genres of music including rock, punk, indie, pop, and heavy metal...The behaviors, attitudes, and values expressed through Emo music involve...despair, nostalgia, heartbreak, hope, and self-loathing.” These emotional characteristics and topics described in this genre's music often associate with the life experiences and characteristics of its listeners. Emo music is characterized by heavy, distorted, or acoustic guitar with male vocals ranging from soft whispering to screaming. Lyrics are expressive and melancholy. Mainstream Emo bands include Dashboard Confessional, My Chemical...

Words: 1666 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

About Emo

...The definition of Emo has nothing to do with cutting yourself, it has nothing to do with what clothes you wear, what music you listen to, or what strange color you dyed your hair last month. Emo is the short way of saying emotional...really. Emo means emotional, like you have very vivid emotions and have a certain way of expressing that. Today, people see them as people that wear all black and purple-sometimes even red- and listen to screamo all day in a room with black lights and posters of weird bands that have no point. This stereotype is ruining the point of people expressing the way they feel about something. I have 3 friends that are all Emo, one is angry majority of the time, another is depressed and has to take meds for it, and the other is just like me, just wears a lot of black and orange- like Halloween. Notice how none of them cut themselves or drug themselves until they pass out? That is because those things were for some dumb reason associated with Emo poeple. The one on anti-depressants, is on them because she had huge trauma in her life, and expressing it through nothing. She would sit and think until it was time to go to sleep...she would wake up and go through the same routine. So before you start stereotyping emos as cutters and things to that effect, learn about them and you'll notice that they are just emotional people, not freaks, not people that you should avoid, just emotional...

Words: 264 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Examples of Slang

...are many answers as there are people who are continually reinventing English as we speak. Teenagers Are Experts One of the first signs of impending adolescence is the desire to put space between you and your parents’ generation, and the fastest way to do that is through the art of language. Teenagers develop their own idioms and expressions that make adults scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the slang means (and if it’s something they should be upset about.) For example: • Emo - If you’re “all emo,” it’s like being a drama queen (a slightly older expression.) Emo was a type of music that seemed to rip at the souls of adolescent angst. It frequently included wearing all black clothing, dying one’s hair pitch black, and having a complexion so paper white that it looked as if the teen had grown up in the basement. To be emo was to be perpetually depressed, moody, and emotional, and perpetually at odds with society (even if it was nothing more than a pose.) • My bad - If a teen has made a mistake, the phrase “my bad” is frequently employed as a cover. It means what it appears to mean: “I was bad!” This is one of the phrases parents, especially mothers, might pick up on and use themselves, to the everlasting embarrassment of their children. “Busted” Ain’t Broke Some words have morphed from one meaning to another. Take the word “busted.” To the grandparents of today’s teens, the word was simply slang for “broken.” The last decade or so reinvented “busted” to mean...

Words: 950 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Perception of Screamo Music to the Spiriual Side of Youth

...of screamo music to the spiritual enrichment of the Stigmatine Youth Movement (SYM) Statement of the problem This study Is to determine the perceived effects of screamo music on the spiritual enrichment of the Stigmatine Youth Movement (SYM). This seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of 1.1. Age 1.2. Gender 1.3. Length of membership in Stigmatine Youth Movement (SYM) 1.4. Length of exposure to Screamo Music 2. What are the effects of Screamo music as perceived by the Stigmatine Youth Movement (SYM) in the apostolate? 3. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the perceived effects of screamo music to the spiritual enrichment of the Stigmatine Youth Movement (SYM)? Methodology A descriptive survey research was used in this study. Descriptive research involves collection of data in order to test hypothesis or to answer questions concerning the current status of the subject of the study. The descriptive research has no control over what is, and it can only measure what already exist. The researcher abides into descriptive method of research in order to determine the perceived effects of screamo music to the spiritual enrichment of the S.Y.M. 1. The respondent’s profile 1. Age Mostly of the respondents age belong to the adolescence which range from thirteen...

Words: 12340 - Pages: 50

Free Essay

Free Hugs Psychology Experiment

...college students would react. Also, there are many different personalities that are being dealt with because the campus is so large and there are many people. Though many college students range around early twenties, there are also many older adults that are on campus that have the ages between forty and fifty. While conducting my experiment, many people were shy to approach me. A lot of people that passed by either giggled and walked pass, or refused to make eye contact. I was really afraid that I was going to walk out of this experiment with one to none hugs. About fifteen minutes goes past, and finally, a group of boys notice my sign and each of them gave me a hug. They seemed very happy and pleased when they saw my sign. When people saw what the group of boys did, more people began to join in and gave me hugs. I had a lot of smiles and “have a good day” come from people that I have never seen before. Even though this was just for a social experiment, I felt as if I was performing a good deed. The more hugs I got, the more I noticed the time difference between each one; some hugs grew longer than other ones. I decided to perform an experiment because I was more intrigued to have encounters with...

Words: 868 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Investigation Into Opensource Software

...Understanding Open Source Software Development Process Abstract: As the assignment requirement, we selected eclipse, Linux kernel and commercial software from the corporation of one member. It is the regret that we had not enough time to collect all statistics by ourselves, and instead of that, papers and blogs are the main resources for open source part in this document. The open source software is introduced before the commercial one. Keywords: development process, code ownership, defect density, bug lifetime Background: Linux Kernel In April 1991, Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old student at the University of Helsinki, Finland started working on some simple ideas for an operating system. He started with a task switcher in Intel 80386 assembly language and a terminal driver. On 26 August 1991, Torvalds posted the following to comp.os.minix, a newsgroup on Usenet: I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since April, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things). After that, many people contributed code to the project. Early on, the MINIX community contributed code and ideas to the Linux kernel. At the time, the GNU Project had created many of the components required for a free operating system, but its own kernel...

Words: 9369 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Music and Popular Culture

...Music Review Abstract This paper will examine music and social issues. Suicide rates have increased among teenagers, young adults and an epidemic in our military with the prolonged wars. Songs that are composed about suicide and the loss of someone whom has committed suicide has also increased in recent decades. Key words: suicide, music, social problems, demographics and lyrics. MUSIC REVIEW Music is easily accessed today through various media outlets and devices. Music is in automobiles, smartphones, personal audio devices and online. With all these personal devices it has become more common today for people to listen to their choice of music when shopping, traveling on public transportation, working out or virtually any other task at any given time of the day. Music can be an outlet to escape from a situation, isolate oneself or to reflect on something. People can focus in one genre of music, artist or song and repeat that over and over as much as they want. This can be both a good and bad situation. Music can motivate you at the gym when listening to a high beat tempo while conducting a cardiovascular routine. However, music can also keep someone depressed or emotional after a particular event or situation. Suicide has been an increasing problem in young to middle age people over the last decades. This is can be attributed to a number of factors such as wars, financial distress from global recessions and increases in social platforms and...

Words: 1722 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Physical Emotional Cognitive and Behavioural Responses an Individual Is Likely to Experience in Response to a Newly Diagnosed Condition with a Poor Prognosis

...moderate in intensity and needs family support. Only in rare cases is any type of medical therapy required. Duration of depression often can last several weeks to throughout the illness. The goal is to help the person go into the final stage of acceptance. People who feel they are near the end of their life often refuse food and/or water. Changes in emotion and behavior are very common. The changes may include emotional liability, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, fatigue and insomnia. Physical symptoms such as disturbed sleep, impaired appetite, and lack of energy may already exist as a result of the disease. Fear of dying. Although unable to immediately sort out emotions, given time, a person will likely begin to start grieving what the loss will mean to them – lost dreams, lost family, and loss of a cherished friend. * Emotional Responses to Illness * Caring for the Caregivers * Grief * Loneliness and Resentment * Anxiety or Fear * Tiredness * Anger * Sadness * Guilt * Physical...

Words: 437 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Do You Like My Outfit

...styles in our society today. Just to name a few we have the punkers, the emos, the sport types, the fashion type, and so on. I find that the punkers and emos are very much alike. They both wear dark clothes, have dark hair and maybe a bracelet with spikes on it. The sports types often wear a specific shirt, of their favourite sports team and do a lot of sports themselves. The fashion type is always very attentive, about what they wear and how their make-up is done. Dress codes are also something we are very familiar with. A dress code can vary from event to event e. g. at a golf club you must wear a polo shirt with collar, no jeans! but instead chinos, a pullover and golf shoes. And then we have the big formal dinner were you need to wear a suit or tuxedo. Other times there is no dress code, like at a picnic with family and friends, it does not matter what you wear. We also have dress codes at some schools’, in form of school uniforms. In Denmark we do not have school uniforms, and I am glad we have it that way. Some of my friends in the United States have school uniforms and they like it. They think it is very nice to wear the same clothes. That way they cannot be bullied for what they wear. I can see the purpose with it, but I would not like to have school uniforms. I would like to wear want I want and not something, somebody tells me to wear. If it was the case that you would get bullied because of what you wear, I would defiantly want school uniforms’ too. But I have not...

Words: 521 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Projects Information

...siht taht noitartsnomed dna ,sdohtem fo noitceles eht ,cipot eht ot hcaorppa ralucitrap eht yfitsuj ot erutaretil eht ni saedi eht fo esu eht ,sdrow rehto ni ;sisehtnys dna sisylana evitceffe dna ,ytiverb dna ytiralc ,ycnetsisnoc dna ruogir ,htped dna htdaerb etairporppa snaem ytilauQ .seihpargoilbib detat -onna desiugsid ylniht ylno era ,tcaf ni ,sweiver ynaM .ylbaredisnoc seirav eseht fo ytilauq eht ,erutaretil eht fo sweiver dellac era tahw ecudorp od stneduts hcraeser hguohtla ,ecitcarp nI .enod ylisae ksat a sa dna suoivbo gnihtemos sa nees netfo si erutaretil fo ydob a fo weiver a gnikatrednU .ecalp tsr® eht ni enod eb ot sdeen ti yhw ro ,hcraeser eht ni desu eb nac ti woh ,enod eb nac erutaretil detaler fo weiver a woh fo gnidnatsrednu nommoc a yb dehctam ton si weiver erutaretil eht fo ecnatropmi eht ,revewoH .dle® eht ni trepxe na gnimoceb fo ± tnempoleved cimedaca ruoy fo trap a erofereht si weiver ehT .cipot eht no krow fo edam neeb evah taht smsicitirc niam eht sa llew sa ,depoleved dna deilppa neeb evah yeht woh dna aera tcejbus eht ni seiroeht niam eht dootsrednu evah uoy taht gniwohs ot stnuoma sihT .cipot ruoy no hcraeser suoiverp dnatsrednu uoy taht wohs ot detcepxe eb lliw uoy tcejorp nettirw ruoy nI .era seussi yek eht tahw dna ,dehcraeser neeb sah ti woh ,ti no enod neeb ydaerla sah tahw fo ,cipot ruoy fo gnidnatsrednu na eriuqca ton lliw uoy ti tuohtiw esuaceb tnatropmi si erutaretil eht fo weiver a taht yas nac ew yllaitinI .hcraeser ruoy fo cipot eht no...

Words: 10660 - Pages: 43

Free Essay

Criticism of Siddhartha and Ceremony

...1) Siddhartha- Hermann Hesse A) Archetypal Criticism: Hermann Hesse has incorporated numerous symbols, metaphors and allusions into his work to help the reader understand the story of Siddhartha better. Similarly, Archetypes are also present in this book. The main Archetypal character in the book is Siddhartha. He is a seeker who wants to experience a better, more authentic and more fulfilling life by achieving enlightenment. He fears being trapped and is true to his soul. For example, he leaves the Brahmins, the Samanas and Gotama Buddha in pursuit of more knowledge to fulfill his desire of gaining enlightenment. Similarly, Vasudeva is also another Archetypal character in the story. He serves as a counselor towards Siddhartha and is a role model to him. For example, in the chapter “the ferryman” Siddhartha surrenders to Vasudeva his entire self, even his clothes, in order to follow his example in leading a life of calm fulfillment and wisdom. Along with archetypal characters, archetypal symbols are also present in the book. The River is definitely the most influential archetypal symbol in the book. It represents the flowing of time and transitional phases of the life cycle. For example, whenever a great transition occurred in the book like when Siddhartha left Gotama Buddha and also when he abandoned his wealth he came to the river. When Siddhartha observed the river he learned that the river exists only in the present, it is everywhere at once, upstream...

Words: 2470 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Identity In Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony

...follows the life of Tayo, a half white and half native American. Tayo is a United States Army veteran who is confused and disoriented about his identity. Tayo having come back from World War II is struggling with what seems to be post-traumatic stress disorder and is losing his mind. Much of the Tayo past are left blank, just like his brain, as we follow through his journey of receiving aid from medicine men, we learn about how difficult people of the mixed-race go through throughout their lives. Therefore this quote signifies, how much culture and background impact you in society. “ They sent me to this place after the war. It was white. Everything in this place was white. Except for me. I was invisible. But I wasn’t afraid there.” (Silko 113) “ In this quote it Tayo is talking about the hospital where he was sent after the war. Although being half white, Tayo did not feel like white, he felt as an outsider from the rest of the people at the hospital. Tayo was raised by his Auntie after his mother abanded him at a...

Words: 621 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Multiple Criteria Decision Making

...Criteria Decision Making, Multiattribute Utility Theory: Recent Accomplishments and What Lies Ahead Author(s): Jyrki Wallenius, Peter C. Fishburn, Stanley Zionts, James S. Dyer, Ralph E. Steuer and Kalyanmoy Deb Source: Management Science, Vol. 54, No. 7 (Jul., 2008), pp. 1336-1349 Published by: INFORMS Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20122479 Accessed: 15-10-2015 13:28 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. INFORMS is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Management Science. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.243.57.230 on Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:28:04 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SCIENCE MANAGEMENT WjEE. Vol. 54, No. 7, July 2008, 1336-1349 pp. DOI io.l287/nmsc.l070.0838 ISSN 0025-19091EISSN1526-55011081540711336@2008 INFORMS Criteria Decision Making, Multiattribute Multiple Utility Theory: Recent Accomplishments and What Lies Ahead School Helsinki Jyrki Wallenius of Economics, of Business ...

Words: 11852 - Pages: 48

Free Essay

All About Me.

...FLASH: A girl sitting on the bathroom floor. Her head is down. She has a hooded sweat shirt on. Razor in her hand. Her arm is bleeding. Her mom is standing over her with a shocked expression on her face. CUT TO: ANGEL: (extreme close-up of eyes) you can probably guess what is going on. (Medium Close-up) The cold running water. (Flash to Water) The Razor (flash to razor). The yelling in the background. Oh…and the blood. I just cut. I can see your thoughts now. (Said with a scoff) CUT TO: GUY: What a freaking Emo Kid. GIRL: Just kill yourself already, you attention whore. CUT TO: ANGEL: No. I’m not an “emo kid” or was I doing it for attention. I cut because…it gave me a sense of…control. I know I can’t control what people think of me, or what happens to me throughout the day, or even how messed up my family is. But I know I can control (close-up) EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY DETAIL of cutting. (Blackout) Where I cut myself. When I cut, with what I used, who I was with, how deep, where I was when I cut…. (Extreme close-up eyes)It was my personal escape plan. CUT TO: Pictures of ANGEL and her FAMILY. ANGEL: voiceover HONESTLY I’ve never really had to urge to die. I mean, I’ve thought about what would happen if I died. Would anyone really care? OPTIONAL! INT- Angel’s Room- DAY CUT TO: Two friends sitting on a bed talking and STARR pulls a razor out of her pocket. They get up and walk out of room. ANGEL: I...

Words: 730 - Pages: 3