Oh no! Emo!

My main problem with My Chemical Romance, and many other teenage bands, is that they are crap!

I have to admit to a a certain liking for them, makes me feel young again…in a miserably nostalgic kinda way…

So what is the Chav / Ned religion then Z? Does the Anthropologist on the Psych Ward know?

D&C - the great and powerful Kappa?

Excuse my ignorance but I’ve been dying (don’t get excited, I just mean really wanting) for the opportunity to ask this question in anonymity:

is there a difference between a goth and an emo and if so, what is it?

also, what are the following:
chemos, scene kids, scenos, screamos, preppies, jitters, nu ravers
…Dumped by a Hallucination may be a very interesting new blog to read but the 14-year old culture goes way over my head…

You would never find a Goth sitting on Rod Hulls lap.

Probably.

What!?

peskystudent: If they have a silly haircut and wear a trench-coat then they’re goth. If they have a silly haircut and wear arm-bands then they’re emo. If they have a silly haircut and wear arm-bands and live on a council estate then they’re chemo. If they have a silly haircut and wear arm-bands that only just cover a few bruises from moshing then they’re screamo. If they have a silly haircut and think they’re hipper than you, then they’re scene kids. If they own any clothing with the word “varsity” on it, then they’re a preppy. If they drink too much coffee then they’re jitters. If they were made up by the NME to sell magazines then they’re nu raver.

Kids these days eh? When I were a lad, you just had to choose whether you liked Blur and Oasis and we were glad of it.

oh.

…I’m wondering what I would be if I were a teen today? What group would you belong to?…

It’s a cult and a craze!?

Reading that article, I noted the link between an 11 year old asking why people commit suicide to the mother worrying that her daughter will take her own life. Back to the old “if we don’t mention it, it won’t happen”

Of course Levi has more sense than her mother “”But I think you would have to be depressed already to self-harm — and I’m not depressed.

I like going out dressed in emo clothes because it causes a stir. There aren’t many emos where I live, so people look at you.

It makes you feel individual.”

Also, I don’t appreciate links to shit newspaper articles that I have to read Z!

My group would probably still be the same now as it was then. I was a mixture of geek and goth (a poor mix!) Geeks and nerds have never left!

Personally, I’m a goth. I’ve been one since about 1986 :). You’d never guess it from looking at me most of the time though since other than when attending gigs I can’t be bothered with most of the getup.

Hmm - I don’t know if I like this idea of sticking young people into handy, dandy little boxes: emo, chav, etc.

beakie> Glad you think I’m young !

‘also, what are the following:
chemos, scene kids, scenos, screamos, preppies, jitters, nu ravers
…Dumped by a Hallucination may be a very interesting new blog to read but the 14-year old culture goes way over my head…’
~ peskystudent

Uh oh… I was only joking when I made that list… that’s NOT teenage culture as it stands today! I was just trying to say that I don’t reckon myself into one of those cliques, so I called myself a surfer… I wanted to make a point about the amount of kids I know who *have* to belong to a subculture. Even if it means denying that that subculture exists. A ‘chemo’ is apparently a chav who wants to be emo but doesn’t quite make it, and to be called that is like a deadly insult needing immedite physical retaliation. They’ve all got their laws and frankly it’s easier for me to just stay clear.

Su x

Well, on this council estate there are a number of dubious haircuts but I`m yet to notice any armbands. I`m seriously hoping this is chemo free zone.

The Daily Mail may be getting the detail wrong but fundamentally they are right ( as per usual ). I think you`re wrong, Z. It strikes me that any number of devoted and diligent parents are currently struggling to keep their children on the straight and narrow. Did anyone else see 50`s grammar school on TV ?. They took all the things that generate the savage peer pressure of today - fashionable clothing, mobiles, piercings and even underwear and sent kids to a disciplined school in uniform and bog standard haircuts. Lo and behold the kids focussed on their education. In fact, they were significantly happier. They couldn`t concern themselves with what boundary to push next and the angst about whether or not they had the latest ipod was eliminated. I see a similar phenomenon at the local swimming club ( admirably run by volunteers ). Disciplined, efficient and full of contented kids who are aware that boundary pushing won`t be tolerated and consequently enjoy their activity.

Being an emo will not have been the sole cause of this poor girls death but it won`t have helped any either. The Mail has every right to raise the issue.

OSB - teens have ALWAYS done crap like this. Even in the fabulous fifties, there were teddy boys ripping up cinema seats and motorcycle gangs indulging in a little group rape here and there and angsty teenagers cutting themselves to ribbons. It goes with the territory and some teens fall down the gaps and others don’t. I suspect the cause of this poor kid’s demise isn’t emo or her mother and father, but depression and its sequelae.

Beakie, You and I have been here before and I do take your point but it`s not the same as it ever was. There has always been peer pressure to associate with this or that and to possess this or that. However, the options are, undoubtedly, much greater than they ever were. The more options there are the greater the pressure becomes. You and I didn`t have to worry about mobiles, MP3`s, Play Stations, piercings, tattoos, tanning, cosmetic surgery, sexual experience prior to leaving primary school, ubiquitous drug and alcohol misuse, getting on X Factor and our fashion choices were resticted as cheap as chips clothing from the third world wasn`t bountiful. Kids are supposed to be enjoying the innocence of childhood and absorbing an education whilst their brains are spongelike. Year on year we`re getting further from this ideal.

The innocence of childhood is a late Victorian invention, OSB. Back in the day, they’d have been out working the fields as soon as they could lift a scythe. Then, the pressures would have been about getting enough to eat.

It’s all relative, OSB. I can remember feeling miserable because I wasn’t thin enough/didn’t have the right haircut/didn’t have nice clothes etc Plus ca change. The amount of *things* around is largely irrelevant.

Here we go. Prince Edward`s forebears sent every 7 year old up a chimney or down a mine. It wasn`t fair. Blah, blah, blah. You subscribe, too readily, to the politics of envy and then you wonder why you`re feeling miserable. I am not, nor have I ever, called for a return to Victorian times. I know it`s multi - factorial, however, the amount of “things” does have an impact. When it`s exacerbated by an erosion of discipline and limited opportunities for a bit of gainful “scything”, then it`s positively detrimental

Here we go. (massive point missing follows)

Get over yourself OSB, this wasn’t the gist of what I said at all. Try reading and comprehending - it helps.

There was never a golden age when the innocence of childhood remained undisturbed. It’s nonsense to suggest that there was. Back in the 19th century, gangs of feral children roamed the East End a-robbin’ and a-rippin’ - the objects of their desire may have been different, but the indiscipline, the criminality are no different to today’s “chavs”.

That`s clever !. If comparisons to Victorian times aren`t legitimate, how can going back a further 100 years help ?.

I`m not that old and I got into my fair share of scrapes but my childhood was much, much better. I had a paper round, aged 10, which taught me the relationship between work and reward and gave me the self discipline to get out of my pit in the morning. There was healthy competition to get a days spud picking, I loved farmwork. I joined the Air Cadets, they marched me to the top of the hill and they marched me down again, then they repeated the process, then they taught me about the internal combustion engine, aerodynamics and meteorology. I played rugby every opportunity I got. Funnily enough, I didn`t have weight issues. I had a choice of haircut. My parent`s choice or let it grow. I let it grow until I joined the Air Cadets, then it was a crew cut. I wasn`t badly clothed but I didn`t have a wardrobe of any kind.

That`s the point though. I did different things with different people. The pressures I was subjected to were mixed up. The Air Cadets are still doing sterling work but endless risk assessment means that kids can`t challenge themselves in the ways that we could. Too many kids, however, loiter around with the same people they go to school with. I don`t care what you say, peer pressure today is more intense and it`s more relentless if you don`t have outside interests. It`s more relentless if youthful energy isn`t absorbed.

I wouldn`t swap my upbringing for a young life as a chemo roaming the streets flaunting my armband, listening to My Chemical Romance on my ipod, smoking dope and txtng me m8s. You will never persuade me otherwise.

If comparisons to Victorian times aren`t legitimate

Er - who said they weren’t?

The only thing I joined as a kid was the Scouts, and I left them after about six months because it was all far too active for me. I didn’t have a paper round, I didn’t do spud picking, I didn’t join any clubs or do any activities after school. I liked being on my own, reading and writing and watching telly. Mum and Dad were poor as church mice, so there was little chance of getting anything fashionable to wear unless it was going to last a good few years. Flares in 1977 were not a good look.

When I see young people today, there’s very little difference between them and me at the same age. They have better clothes and haircuts, but that’s because people are generally better off/things are cheaper. The pressure to be cool and trendy is exactly the same.

There will always be introverted, studious kids and there`s nothing wrong with that. However, a preference for solitude, reading, writing and TV won`t leave you in pole position when it comes to assessing peer pressure. It`s shame you didn`t persevere with the Scouts, they`re a fantastic organisation. It may also have taught you something. A scout uniform is a scout uniform. There are no cool or trendy derivatives. Coolness and trendiness ( not that I`m an expert ) is about being that bit different. Today, you can be that bit different in ever increasing numbers of ways, with ever increasing numbers of products. The pressure just keeps increasing.

On this armbands issue…

…are we talking like the orange blow-up ones for swimming? Because what other kinds of armbands are there? And if we are talking about the swimming ones, then I’ve definately not seen any about so does that mean I live in a town of squares? And do squares still exist? …

… I am so confused by all this.

peskystudent - I may have mean arm warmers when I said armbands. Then again, I rather like the idea of emo kids wandering around with inflatable orange armbands on.

arm warmers like leg warmers but on arms??? no, haven’t seen any kids wearing those either - not sure how they’d fit under sleeves….. at lease the orange blow up ones could fit on top - might be good protection too, on a skateboard (do emo kids ride skateboards???)

I think the following links may help:

http://www.nedumentary.co.uk/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/t.....teresting/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/emo/clusters/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/goth/clusters/

I listened to Fields of the Nephillim yesterday, does that just make me sad?

listened to Fields of the Nephillim yesterday, does that just make me sad?

Yes, I’m afraid it does. Now, please take off that black duster coat and top hat.

I just had to google Fields of Nephillim, I have no idea what that says about me!

Do I get to keep my black cowboy boots with little skulls on them? please Beakie, Please.

Hmph - I suppose so. But no black jeans!

Armbands = wristbands, as in sweatbands, as in elasticky towelling like bands. According to sensationalist media, worn because all emo kids self-harm and this is to hide the scars. Not sure of accuracy of generalisation, but I definitely know some who wear them for this - and for the mystique… am I cutting? Am I not? Well, you’ll never know for sure, because I’ve got my wristbands on!

Probably it’s a not, though.

Su x

Hmm, not very good in terms of promoting healing of wounds.. letting wounds fester like that under sweaty toweling.. someone should give these emu kids a lesson in safer self-harm, proper first aid and harm minimisation! Cos they’ll get infected you know..