The "E" Word

"The E Word" (Non-fiction Article)
Written by Casanova Shamdil
A matter I would like to bring up is the use of the slang term "emo", which is constantly being used to describe emotionally-charged or deep people. I know some people who consider themselves to be 'emo' but personally I do not consider myself to be emo. However, I am Gothic, which many people confuse with the subculture. In fact so many people (espically on the internet) constantly accuse Goths of being 'emo'. I think that that kind of use to a great and elegant subculture would result in ignorance used by absurb arrogant people. For those of you who think Goth and Emo are the same thing, THINK again. Goth is a powerful and brillant culture that has been around since the late seventies but EMO is a pathetic slang term used to describe someone who cannot handle themselves. True, in the Goth culture there are many great sorrowful and emotional poetry and lyrics (which I myself even write), yet these are expressed in a well wordly use poetic description-whereas emo poetry would be considered by most to be stereotypical. When I am called "emo" by people in the public it is truly an insulting thing, it's as if saying 'look at that pathetic wimp.' Emo should not be a word, much less a subculture. In a way emo should be considered a mockery to Goths and other dark subcultures because of its stereotypical self-depiction. Recently on wikipedia a section was removed stating that emo is another word to describe the gothic subculture; this is highly inaccurate. According to wikipedia, emo originated from emotionally-charged punk rock music. Those consider themselves emo are seemingly not practicing a gothic value, they are only acting to fit in as an outcast, in other words, most emos are also posers that want to be Goth but do not realize that they are not practing the way in which they should. For example, a fashion of the goth subculture is teased hair, black attire and beautiful and artistic details, such as this:

Emo's fashion is comtempularily misguided. Featuring mainstream company clothes, wrist bands, long brushed straight hair and mainstream band logos. Such as this subject here:

I would also like to state that emo is not a healthy lifestyle, someone should only injure themselves if they are going through depression and actually suffering. Most emos injure themselves when they don't feel like it yet do it to fit in with the scene.
When it comes to labels, EMO is considered a label yet when you speak of the goth subculture, it is not considered to be a label(though argued by some) to those truly involved. Goth and EMO should not be compared, people should not consider emos goth vice versa because people should only be what they want to be. If there are emos who would like to be Goth, then I should reccomend doing more research on the subculture and taking a closer look. To those people that label themselves emo, they SHOULD not label themselves anything and if they don't consider themselves to be Goth, then they should just be themselves without labels.
Even though in the article that I have just written apposes emo, I do not recommend it be parodied. Parodies on subcultures are always, cold, cruel, harsh and heartlessly depicted. To conclude this article I would like to state that emo should not be considered a subculture at all, perhaps a music genre but if so bands such as Heroin and Indian Summer are better off being labeled as 'ECP' (Emotionally-Charged punk rock). Goth subculture is much stronger with longitivity, and with that comes emotion and artistic expression through fashion, art, writing, etc. Instead of just one kind of emotionally-charged scene that would be labeled by those filled with arrogance, in this case, as "emo."
Goth bless you all!