Written by Verbivores on Wednesday June 10th, 2009 in Essays
“I tried to kill the pain, but only brought more, I lay dying and I’m pouring crimson regret and betrayal…I’m dying…”
Evanescence, ladies and gentlemen; the embodiment of the newly emerged subculture of Emo.
We shall first trace the history of this subculture. It emerged in the mid 1990s primarily in the music scene. Stemming from the punk and goth movements before it, emo copies and exaggerates the image of a full-black figure, further stylized with metallic accessories and heavy make-up. Behavioral stereotypes include highly emotional music and poetry. However, as the subculture evolves into the 21st century it begins to take a hold of the American youth, as clouds of black-clad angst-driven adolescents appear in every corner of every town.
The very nature of this subculture is largely disputed, perhaps because it appears that the ideals of emo seem to change and differ as it progresses. Through our analysis and observation we identified three stages of emo progression – the pre-conventional, the conventional, and the post-conventional.
The pre-conventional stage of emo can be identified as the entry stage, relating purely to the ideals of emo. Some of the entry requirements would involve rejecting society, accompanied by anti-social and depressive behavior. Because the reasons for entry stem from situational causes, literally anyone can potentially enter this stage. For example, a depressive ninth grader (oh yes, those exist), or a rejected writer, or an attention-lacking middle schooler, or perhaps a lawyer gone broke. This stage without question has the widest spectrum of candidates.
Moving on to the conventional, however, one finds that as our budding emo merges with his peers, specific behavioral patterns emerge, and the image is forged. Suddenly, he is wearing all black and covering his eyes with eyeliner. His hair takes on strange shapes and colors, hiding his face from view. His speakers blast AFI as he writes yet another poem permeated with teenage angst. Hold on, why 'he'? Could it not be 'she' just as easily? Yes, and herein lies the chief issue with this stage. When one applies psychoanalysis to the image of the conventional emo, one sees complete homogenization between genders which leads to only one conclusion – phallic fixation. According to Freud, the phallic stage is the time of development of sexuality and gender identity. If anything should disrupt the normal process, then a fixation is liable to arise. This fixation is obviously present in the members of the conventional emo as shown by their appearance: identical clothes, identical hair, identical make-up, identical tastes. Thus, the requirement for entering the conventional stage of emo is that the person must develop a fixation in the Freudian phallic stage.
And yet, despite the obvious psychological implications of this conclusion, why should the fixations of these teens bother the rest of society? Those other orally or anally fixated individuals have done nothing to warrant attention. Well, the answer lies in the aspect of the conventional stage we had not yet covered. The conventional emo culture has been seen to lose or devalue the original reasons and ideals which characterize the pre-conventional. The obsession with the collectivist image completely contradicts the primary intent of rejecting conformity.
What, then, becomes of this counter-culture? Well, it becomes no better than the stereotypes it once strove to oppose. This is the chief issue seen with all the sub-cultures, stereotypes and cliques of the American youth – once the idea catches on and becomes a massive movement, the idea is lost in the generalization and collectivism it creates. An image arises and new members simply follow their peers like sheep. And soon enough, the rebellious act that once challenged society becomes the new social norm. It becomes a simple hype and nothing more. Consider the social history of the United States – it is completely saturated with all sorts of counter-cultures turned hypes! The flappers, the Jazz Age, the hippies, the Disco mania, the punk zealots - the list is boundless! Unfortunately, no matter how great the motivating ideas of each movement were, each eventually succumbed to de-individualization and degradation of the ideals.
And so, we arrive at the final point – the post-conventional stage of emo. This stage is the final ideal, a return to the original principles, and an exultation of the individual. The so-called true emo must overcome the pull of the collectivist culture and rise above it, formulating his or her own views. The ideals of nonconformity and societal rejection must be developed through logical argument which manifests from the self-control and self-realization of the individual. This is the only means and hope for salvaging the emo or any other social group – it can only remain worthwhile so long as there are still those willing to find meaning for the culture. Without the ideals, it is only an empty mask.
The post-conventional emo may manifest itself in two ways: passively and aggressively. In passive manifestation, the discontent of society becomes so overwhelming and crushing that the emo simply surrenders and is filled with a desire to leave the very aspect of society, and therefore chooses to leave the world itself, resorting to suicide. However, the post-conventional also has the potential to benefit society – in aggressive manifestation, one does not succumb to this discontent towards society. Rather, the aggressive post-conventional acts upon this realization, striving to change society, rather than surrendering to it: giving rise to broad movements resulting in substantial social change, the level of change enacted by Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and even Hitler. The post-conventional emo is, in essence, Nietzsche's übermensch and Raskolnikov's “Napoleon”.
There is little we can do to put an end to the convoluted conventional stage of emo. You certainly won’t see us walking up to the huddled black mass in front of the performance wing persuading it to break up into some semblance of individuals. We would rather hold in any suicidal impulses and survive our senior years unscathed. No, what we need is a serious overhaul in the nation’s mentality concerning social trends. We can no longer give in to the gilded appeal of The Hype! If we are to ever realize the individualistic nature of this country, then we must act. And that starts with every one of you.
Evanescence, ladies and gentlemen; the embodiment of the newly emerged subculture of Emo.
We shall first trace the history of this subculture. It emerged in the mid 1990s primarily in the music scene. Stemming from the punk and goth movements before it, emo copies and exaggerates the image of a full-black figure, further stylized with metallic accessories and heavy make-up. Behavioral stereotypes include highly emotional music and poetry. However, as the subculture evolves into the 21st century it begins to take a hold of the American youth, as clouds of black-clad angst-driven adolescents appear in every corner of every town.
The very nature of this subculture is largely disputed, perhaps because it appears that the ideals of emo seem to change and differ as it progresses. Through our analysis and observation we identified three stages of emo progression – the pre-conventional, the conventional, and the post-conventional.
The pre-conventional stage of emo can be identified as the entry stage, relating purely to the ideals of emo. Some of the entry requirements would involve rejecting society, accompanied by anti-social and depressive behavior. Because the reasons for entry stem from situational causes, literally anyone can potentially enter this stage. For example, a depressive ninth grader (oh yes, those exist), or a rejected writer, or an attention-lacking middle schooler, or perhaps a lawyer gone broke. This stage without question has the widest spectrum of candidates.
Moving on to the conventional, however, one finds that as our budding emo merges with his peers, specific behavioral patterns emerge, and the image is forged. Suddenly, he is wearing all black and covering his eyes with eyeliner. His hair takes on strange shapes and colors, hiding his face from view. His speakers blast AFI as he writes yet another poem permeated with teenage angst. Hold on, why 'he'? Could it not be 'she' just as easily? Yes, and herein lies the chief issue with this stage. When one applies psychoanalysis to the image of the conventional emo, one sees complete homogenization between genders which leads to only one conclusion – phallic fixation. According to Freud, the phallic stage is the time of development of sexuality and gender identity. If anything should disrupt the normal process, then a fixation is liable to arise. This fixation is obviously present in the members of the conventional emo as shown by their appearance: identical clothes, identical hair, identical make-up, identical tastes. Thus, the requirement for entering the conventional stage of emo is that the person must develop a fixation in the Freudian phallic stage.
And yet, despite the obvious psychological implications of this conclusion, why should the fixations of these teens bother the rest of society? Those other orally or anally fixated individuals have done nothing to warrant attention. Well, the answer lies in the aspect of the conventional stage we had not yet covered. The conventional emo culture has been seen to lose or devalue the original reasons and ideals which characterize the pre-conventional. The obsession with the collectivist image completely contradicts the primary intent of rejecting conformity.
What, then, becomes of this counter-culture? Well, it becomes no better than the stereotypes it once strove to oppose. This is the chief issue seen with all the sub-cultures, stereotypes and cliques of the American youth – once the idea catches on and becomes a massive movement, the idea is lost in the generalization and collectivism it creates. An image arises and new members simply follow their peers like sheep. And soon enough, the rebellious act that once challenged society becomes the new social norm. It becomes a simple hype and nothing more. Consider the social history of the United States – it is completely saturated with all sorts of counter-cultures turned hypes! The flappers, the Jazz Age, the hippies, the Disco mania, the punk zealots - the list is boundless! Unfortunately, no matter how great the motivating ideas of each movement were, each eventually succumbed to de-individualization and degradation of the ideals.
And so, we arrive at the final point – the post-conventional stage of emo. This stage is the final ideal, a return to the original principles, and an exultation of the individual. The so-called true emo must overcome the pull of the collectivist culture and rise above it, formulating his or her own views. The ideals of nonconformity and societal rejection must be developed through logical argument which manifests from the self-control and self-realization of the individual. This is the only means and hope for salvaging the emo or any other social group – it can only remain worthwhile so long as there are still those willing to find meaning for the culture. Without the ideals, it is only an empty mask.
The post-conventional emo may manifest itself in two ways: passively and aggressively. In passive manifestation, the discontent of society becomes so overwhelming and crushing that the emo simply surrenders and is filled with a desire to leave the very aspect of society, and therefore chooses to leave the world itself, resorting to suicide. However, the post-conventional also has the potential to benefit society – in aggressive manifestation, one does not succumb to this discontent towards society. Rather, the aggressive post-conventional acts upon this realization, striving to change society, rather than surrendering to it: giving rise to broad movements resulting in substantial social change, the level of change enacted by Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and even Hitler. The post-conventional emo is, in essence, Nietzsche's übermensch and Raskolnikov's “Napoleon”.
There is little we can do to put an end to the convoluted conventional stage of emo. You certainly won’t see us walking up to the huddled black mass in front of the performance wing persuading it to break up into some semblance of individuals. We would rather hold in any suicidal impulses and survive our senior years unscathed. No, what we need is a serious overhaul in the nation’s mentality concerning social trends. We can no longer give in to the gilded appeal of The Hype! If we are to ever realize the individualistic nature of this country, then we must act. And that starts with every one of you.