It has come to my attention that some people mix the terms of Punk, Emo and even Gothic with no knowledge of any of the styles. These are not the same. There is a big difference between Goth and Emo. Goths are cool. Emos are just pathetic.I'll just point out that it really was just a music scene, for a long time. Hardcore for nerds! Heavy music without the machismo! It's only recently that people have been using "Emo" to describe a stereotype.
Emo comes from "emotional hardcore" music (Hardcore is about energy, power, even headbanging… but nothing related to emotive. Never combine both words, that’s stupid, like saying “Satanic Kinder”… it’s just really stupid in my opinion), but is currently used as a sort of short-hand for "emotional." Emo also described a nerd clothing style. Go watch an old Weezer MTV video... note the thick black glasses, the kahkis, the tracksuits, the sweaters, etc. Thrift store stuff.
Now, however, Emo is kind of an insult (at least for me!) Goth is not. Emo teens are seen as taking life too seriously and invoking drama in life where it doesn't exist. (Because other teenagers NEVER do that. Other teenagers are paragons of emotional stability! It's just the Emos who act like Tom Cruise! Yeah!)
In the past few years, Emo has moved away from nerd clothes and into black, black, and more black. Dyed black hair. Piercings. Tattoos. Dark make-up, black eyeliner. Hmm... sounds like Goth, eh? Nope! Here are some differences:Punks:
Individuals
Rebelious
Tough
Can be "trouble"
Goths:
Individuals
Quite
Diverse
Open-minded
Emos:
Suck
Conforming
Ridiculous
Fake.Yeah they are. Conforming, fake, posers. And if your teaching someone that Emos are cool, well, let’s just say you've ruined his/her life. Congrats!.Emos are ignorant (and they are all posers). Nothing else.Emos are so ignorant it makes me want to gauge my eyes out with a pencil.There are idiots out there that think there's no difference between the gothic subculture and the Emo scene. Plenty difference!!
Gothic people (generally, not saying all) are into dark romanticism, poetry, fantasy, renaissance/Victorian fashion, tragedies, and they're actually very mellow/down-to-earth. It's not religion-based (although they've been stereotyped as Satanists, pagans, atheists, and practitioners of Wicca <--which I am). Some are very mopey/sad but unlike Emos we're not trying to make a lot of noise about it; in fact, we really don't complain that much, we mostly celebrate our disconnection from the corrupt norm of society. Though we may make complaints it's usually because we're being attacked/discriminated against. Also, Goth wasn't sparked by some kind of music scene like Emo was.
It's even worse when people categorize all punk music as "Emo".
The punk style is perhaps the most known and mainstream of all of the "alternative" styles. It has been around and simply stands for being different--rebelling against conformity. The style evolved from alternative punk music.
The latest thing to come alive in the alternative music scene is "Emo" music. People have all sorts of ways of defining it, but simply put, it means emotional punk. The cliché image with the Emo style is guys wearing tight jeans and combing their long hair over their faces. While punk and Emo styles can be interchangeable, I'm sick of hearing a bunch of people call all punkers Emo.
I was wearing a studded belt the other day and some ignorant guy asked me if I listened to depressing music because I wore an Emo belt. It's not an Emo belt! At the least, it can be attributed to an element from the punk style. There wouldn't be such a big problem with the mixing of these terms if people didn't have such hardwired classifications. Emo, after all, came from a music movement. This goes to show what an impact music has on our lives. It's great to show emotion in your music (I listen to all kinds of music) but just because you listen to something doesn't mean you slit your wrists etc. It's annoying to hear people calling you Emo (very annoying, at least it is if you aren’t an Emo poser). In my opinion, calling someone a punk is fine... that style is more accepted as an actual style.