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For as long as there have been parents, there have been teenagers. The idea of the teenager is the one unwavering stereotype in all of history. You can just picture it: even back in the prehistoric period, girls were wearing tiger pelts that were way too short ("There's no way you're leaving the cave in that!") and boys were listening to their rock (literally) and roll music at anti social volumes.
And as long as there have been teenagers, there have been trends and fads were some very silly music became unbelievably popular and some serious fashion blunders were made. When leaving our teenage years, we promise ourselves and our peers that we will never discuss those dark times again, unless prompted by our long suffering therapist or a Top Of The Pops 2 rerun.
For lots of teenagers, it's rock music that defines their adolescence. But the punks removed their safety pins from all those interesting places, the glam rockers settled on their sexuality once and for all and even the hair metal fans learned about the business end of a hairbrush.
When it comes to rock music, there's a new genre on the block: it's called emo, and it's coming for your children. The tag itself is simply an abbreviation of the word "emotional". The actual genre of music - because it was a genuine form of music first - is more difficult to pin down. It is claimed that emo started out as a sort of hardcore punk, first appearing on the Washington DC scene in the mid to late 80s. By the mid 1990s, the meaning of the label had changed, and it was used to describe bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, who had a more indie, acoustic sound. This fact is acknowledged by most of the music lovers I interviewed for this piece. Nina, a 19 year old music fan, outlined where the actual label came from: "emo is a subgenre of punk music that was started in the late 80s by bands like Fugazi and The Rites of Spring."
But, like most genres of music, by the late 1990s, emo as it was known, had completely died out. Despite the death of the genre, the emo label persisted. It was picked up by many music journalists who were having difficulties labelling the latest "it" band, to the point where most bands who had a pop influenced style, who sang about anything emotional, even bands who looked a certain way, were unnecessarily forced into the "emo" pidgeon hole. Again, the people I interviewed for this piece blamed the overuse of the label on the music press. When I asked Cristina, a 21 year old avid music fan, if she believed the music press automatically handed bands the emo label, she did not hesitate when giving her one word answer: "absolutely".
Now, this is where it gets confusing: the music behind emo no longer exists, or if it does, it is not in the public eye. A whole wave of bands, including popular acts like My Chemical Romance, Panic At The Disco and Fall Out Boy have been given the emo label when it does not accurately describe their music. So, emo is not a genre of music at all - it's a style, dahhhling.
We've all seen the "emo" kids, or at least most of us have an idea of what they look like. Long fringes, skinny jeans, studded belts, and tee shirts about two sizes too small are all essential items of the emo uniform. Then you throw in the accessories - thick rimmed glasses and make up. Even the boys wear eyeliner, at least (well done to the genuis who came up with the term "guyliner", seriously. The Nobel Prize is in the post.).
There are lots of reasons behind the selection of clothes: most of the musicians misassociated with the emo movement wear black tee shirts, skinny jeans, fitted jackets and make up. Fans of the music want to imitate their heroes, want to dress like everyone else. At that age, fitting in and making friends is incredibly important. In fact, it's not so different when you reach adulthood. Most of the "emo" kids I interviewed for this piece painted a very different picture. One of them, a 16 year old girl called Nicole, is what you would call a stereotypical emo kid. She has a long, side swept fringe. She has thick rimmed glasses, black hair and wears eyeliner almost every day. When not in her school uniform, Nicole can be seen wearing skinny fit jeans, tee shirts and Converse baseball boots. But Nicole tells me that she wears the clothes because she genuinely likes them, because she loves the way they make her look. She admits she is the quintessential "emo" kid - in terms of style anyway - but does not accept that she is a mindless drone.
"I would like to think I was my own person under the clothes and make up I wear. It compliments me because it groups people who don't fit in, so by saying I am emo, it shows that I'm not alone and my peers are like myself."
Nicole, and most of the other people I interviewed, accept that the emo tag is given to them based solely on their image. They also recognise that this is natural, it happens and it has always happened, and in the meantime, they will go on dressing in whatever way they want.
So, what's the problem? A genre of music lived and died, and music journalists seized the tag to label bands they couldn't fit in with any other accepted style. The personal image associated with emo still exists, and is still used by many young people in an attempt to find their way in an image obsessed society.
But in the summer of 2006, the misuse of the emo label took a dangerous turn. My Chemical Romance, the band at the forefront of what was believed to be emo, were planning their return and they were bringing something with them - a concept album, influenced by Queen, Pink Floyd and The Beatles. They called it The Black Parade, and it was the story of a young man, dying from cancer. An emotional subject, of course, but My Chemical Romance managed to twist it into a dark, decadent tale about life after death, acceptance and moving on when everything seems lost. The lead single from the album, Welcome To The Black Parade, was a worldwide hit and earned the band their first UK Number 1. It included the following lyrics: "Defiant to the end we hear the call/to carry on" and "do or die/you'll never make me/because the world will never take my heart/go and try/you'll never break me".
Just over a year later, another song reached number 1 in the UK. It included the lyrics: "My heart's crippled by the vein that I keep on closing/You cut me open/And I keep bleeding". In all honesty, which of these is more worrying? Which is more violent? Which is more positive? Which would worry parents more?
Well, one of the songs was released by a group of young men, dressed all in black with pale faces and dark hair. The other was released by a pretty young girl, the winner of a reality TV show. So of course, the song about surviving, moving on, and being your own person was the song that had parents concerned. My Chemical Romance found themselves in the middle of a tabloid media storm, led by the ever ignorant Daily Mail.
In August 2006, the Daily Mail printed a feature under the ludicrous headline: "Emo Cult Warning for Parents". Sarah Sands referred to the "emo" movement - which, as I've established, is based solely on image and no longer on the music to which is was first associated - as a "dangerous teenage cult" that is "a celebration of self harm". She claims that My Chemical Romance and Greenday are the bands at the forefront of emo. Neither of these bands originated in the late 80s, they're not from the scene that spawned emo, nor do they make a habit of playing songs about heart break with an acoustic guitar. So the article had music fans across the world laughing when according to Sarah Sands, they were crying into their Cheerios and writing awful poetry.
Many My Chemical Romance fans were angered by the article. Sands' insincere concern did nothing to soothe them. She claimed that she was worried because "teenagers are less equipped to manage strong emotions and a cult of suicide could have real and horrible consequences". This in itself, is ridiculous. It was clear to all the fans in the know that Sands had no clue what she was talking about - My Chemical Romance preach a strong, anti suicide message. Front man Gerard Way, who has struggled with depression for most of his life, will spend five minutes of each show telling kids "I don't care who you talk to, your mom, boyfriend, whatever, but p****** away your life on suicide is b***s***!". Oh yes, I can see how that would glorify self harm and suicide. It is all becoming clear!
To most of us, this would be a hilarious attempt by an old fashioned paper to appear to be in the know. But there is a serious side to the Daily Mail's huge blunder - they were claiming that teenagers self harm or suffer depression simply because the music they listen to tells them to do so. In the USA, the Miami Herald also made a glaring mistake. After the tragic events that occurred at the Virginia Tech college, Miami Herald journalist Evelyn McDonnell attended a My Chemical Romance show in order to review it for the paper. It was clear from her review that she hadn't paid attention at all - she claimed that all My Chemical Romance fans were the kind of kids who would shoot out their school, that My Chemical Romance glorified violence and that the show was disturbing. The basis for her claims? My Chemical Romance had a back drop featuring a ring of guns with a word in the middle: "Revenge". Of course, it did not occur to her that this was a reference to the band's previous album. My Chemical Romance fans were furious. Hundreds emailed McDonnell, thousands signed a petition demanding an apology from the paper.
The kids, it seems, are fighting back. The band that supposedly tells them to hurt themselves, to commit acts of violence or to kill themselves are actually having the opposite effect. The story of one fan struck me as a shining example. Laura, a 22 year old My Chemical Romance fan, told me how she suffered from depression since she was 13 years old. Her dad was suffering from an alcohol addiction. When she was 19, her father sadly passed away. Laura had this to say about My Chemical Romance: "I found MCR in early-mid 2004 and through the strenth I found in the music, the band's message and the fan base, I turned my life around. I found strength from what the music gave me, a purpose to change and the idea that I didn't have to suffer by myself." This is a story repeated by most of the My Chemical Romance fans I spoke to.
These stories aren't exactly fitting in with the public's image of emo, are they?
The simple fact of the matter is, some teenagers do self harm. It is a problem that is again acknowledged by the "emo" kids I have interviewed. However, they claim that music has nothing to do with it. The reasons behind self harm - specifically, cutting - are not as simple as the Daily Mail would have you believe. Blaming teen violence, self harm and depression on "emo" is not going to make these issues disappear. It's as if parents and journalists would have you believe that these problems will go away once the trend has inevitably died. In reality, it's more serious than that. The teenagers at the centre of the "emo" storm are being neglected and dismissed by the people who pretend to be so concerned about them. I asked Katie, another 16 year old, if she felt self harming teenagers were being dismissed because of the emo label. Again, her answer comes without hesitation: "Most definitely". She goes on to tell me that her own problems with self harm were dismissed because people thought she was cutting herself simply to fit in with the emo stereotype. Katie hits the nail on the head when she tells me that it was "a cry for help", help she inevitably found in music.
Teenagers have always been stereotyped. They always will be, and their image and the music they listen to will contribute to this. It's only human and no one understands that more than teenagers themselves. The "emo" stereotype is every bit as dangerous as Sarah Sands claimed, but not for the reasons she foolishly listed. Claiming that kids who dress in black and listen to certain bands are suicidal or capable of mass homicide is not only offensive to the kids themselves, but to the bands they claim have helped them through the most difficult times of their life. If someone is self harming, calling them emo and blaming it on a trend is not going to make the problem go away. Being dismissed by their parents and society as a whole is more likely to lead a teenager to self harm in order to gain attention or help. So instead of telling your kids to turn that racket off, instead of claming that when you were young, you listened to real (ahem) music, instead of calling them "em"” or dismissing their individuality, why don't you sit and listen to the lyrics? Why don't you engage them in conversation? I'm sure you'll find what I found - that these kids, who are apparently wallowing in depression, are actually some of the strongest, most inspirational people around. So do it if you dare - look through the fringe, beyond the eyeliner, and you'll find people who are intelligent, funny, warm and friendly. You'll find the good old punk defiance that was once so widely celebrated, and you'll realise one thing: the kids are alright.