Why would anyone ever choose to describe him or herself as "emo"?

I personally don’t agree with labels at all, so I can see where you’re coming from asking why they like to be classified as that. But at the same time, it is not just “emos” it’s also jocks, preps, etc. In my opinion, the emo style started out as groups that felt free to express themselves by dressing unique and looking unique in general…However now, it has turned into people just copying the style because they think it looks cool. Meaning that people are not doing it to express themselves no more, but rather just doing it because they think it looks cool.

Like I said, I don’t agree with labeling people, and am not sure why people would want to be labeled. People should just be themselves, and not something they think would just be awesome to be.

That's because they're ignorant and have no idea what emo is.

"Emo" is short for "emotive hardcore" and was a subgenre of punk rock. In fact, I believe it to be more "punk" than "hardcore," since instead of only talking about anger and rebellion, emotive hardcore allowed artists to talk about any number of subjects.

Sadly, emo died in the 1990's, shortly after it gave birth to the Screamo genre (true screamo, like Orchid and Saetia, not Hawthorne Heights) and to a bunch of indie bands (like Sunny Day Real Estate, The Promise Ring, and Jimmy Eat World).

Emo had no particular type of dress. It had no signature attitude. It had nothing to do with self-injury (and neither does Scene, and is a serious mental issue).

What they're probably referring to is "scene." The scene movement is the one with the tight black T-shirts, studded belts, eyeliner, Chucks, razor-cut hair... and even that has a few different types. There are more hardcore-based scene kids (ones that listen to more metal/post-hardcore bands) who generally have a darker style, and there are the brighter scene kids (who listen to like crunkcore bands and wear a lot of neon colors and obscure pop culture references like Hello Kitty).

If they're citing the attitude, it is really just dependent on the person. Some people get into the scene because they're a little depressed. Depression exists in every subculture and is a serious mental condition. Self-injury is an even worse manifestation of this depression. SI and depression are not just limited to scene kids.

So, honestly, the only way to accurately use emo as an adjective is to describe a band from the 1980s - just like saying techno, death metal, or jazz.

They are very stupid. "Emo" kids are just following a fad that encourages really stupid kids to act like depressed pathetic douches in order to get attention. What annoys me is that most of time they are kids that have really good lives. I call them the Fruit Booters of the Goth world.

Mostly because they are trying to be that way, or fit in with that persona. You'll find that the people who are actually "emo" (or what people call that) don't label themselves that way.

They are posers and want to be apart of a crowd with horrible music, pretending to cut themselves, and being annoying. Yeah I know right? But I mean the can be some contrived pussy @$$ version of Goth... it's a free country. They are missing out on being themselves. Their problem, not mine.

Because they want to be part of an epic movement. And before you thumbs down me, look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2pv3s8wxTE&feature...

For the attention.

i know, right?

I mean it's ok if they want to call themselves that. but REALLY?

Only themselves can label themselves. They can't be wrong if that's who they truly are. So don't judge!

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Why the hell would anyone answer yes?!