ARE YOU AN EMO?

In a country who loves to celebrate life like the Philippines, it’s not a wonder why being an “EMO” is almost instantly being regarded as something bad. Well, I guess anything beyond conformity often ends in some kind of stereotype and of course, being an EMO is no exception.

Undoubtedly, the term EMO is starting to become more popular and many even argue that being an EMO in itself is already a new way of life; some even call it the EMO Culture. I agree to some extent given that you can easily identify anything related to being an EMO, the one sided bangs, dark eyelashes among girls or boys and even the pure black clothing—these and among all the other stereotypical description of an EMO symbolizes the culture in the same way Jeepneys and our Barong Tagalog represents the Filipino Culture. However, I’d like to think there is more to the EMO Culture than rather “different” fashion and musical inclination. What’s with being an EMO that sometimes, even if you don’t have a one sided bangs, or you don’t like the color black that people calls you one? Is it really a new way of life? Or is it merely a new way to look at it?

Interesting! That’s what I thought the moment I learned of the origin of the word EMO. I was intrigued as to why a group known to be ruthless and violent would use the word EMOTIONAL as their very symbol, so I did a bit of research through the net. What I found are not stories of killing, suicides or purely stories of hate but instead I realized that an EMO is someone who is simply—emotional.

Indeed, EMO icons, images, and even choice of words can be very disturbing but nonetheless, these are statement of facts. These things are not any different than Shakespeare's writing or Michael Angelo's paintings. EMO Culture offers a different perspective, finally the other side of life is given a voice and perhaps the attention it needs. We all know that love and life can be cruel at times and I think it's helpful for people to be able to express their feelings either through their music, sense of fashion and like me--through writing or photography. It's true that sometimes there are people who cross the line and goes to the extreme and that they actually start to hurt themselves and even commit suicide but on the second thought, suicidal tendency is not exclusive to those who are regarded as an EMO. It happens every day even to people who doesn't have a single EMO characteristic in them. EMO attitude is not celebrating tragedies, heart-aches or death. It's merely saying what most wouldn't even discuss because they are afraid they would be marked as a protagonists. A pessimists, though it's a good thing to be positive it wouldn't also hurt to be realistic.

It makes perfect sense why majority of those who call themselves EMO are in their adolescent years because this is the time when a kid starts to experience pain, hurt, problems and tragedies more specifically in the context of love. We know very well that teens don’t often communicate their love problems to their parents so they end up looking for someone whom they can talk to, perhaps someone who is experiencing the same things and more likely the reason why being an EMO is associated with suicide is because of the lack of ability to vent, to express your feelings and sentiments which satisfies the idea of being alone and loneliness. Who would want that?

I often listen to sad and sappy love songs, it is my therapy. Though i listen to a wide variety of music genre, i often prefer slow, easy listening type of songs with very sentimental thoughts and sometimes heart-breaking lyrics. In a way, maybe because i can relate to what the song says, i dig lines like "When you're dreaming with A Broken-heart, the waking up is the hardest part..." or "We just have to say our love was true but has now become a lie" or classics like "Letting go, is just another way of saying i'll always love you so", If we didn't know these lines were by non-emo artist. We would think it's EMO in a way because it conveys sad thoughts and maybe that's why a lot of my friends calls me an EMO. I often disagree, i don't have one sided bangs, i don't wear eyelashes of any kind though, i must admit i like color black...i never regarded myself as one but on the second thought.


Maybe I am.







(Images from www.emo-corner.com)