Comments on: EMO/Goth warning for parents

By: Mav

Mav — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:58:21 +0000

The epitome of an outsider looking in, wholly inaccurate and topped off by a picture of fictional character Rosie Webster as an example, a character that neither the actress or script writers could make realistic…

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:04:33 +0000

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but femme fatales is not a goth based word. It’s a French term that well predates any modern goth movement, and it’s much more associated with film noir than goth culture. While both the character archetype and the genre may have influenced the subculture, neither is “goth based.”

Secondly, the emo subculture came out of the punk movement. The term has been co-opted by the media and by writers like this to mean whatever they want it to mean, so there is no “definitive emo.”

There is significant overlap between “goth” and “emo” probably because the media and those outside (and some inside) the subcultures latched on to superficial similarities and have now grouped the two together.

That said, the reliance on labels to define individuals is limiting. Personally, I get exhausted saying that yeah, my style may be more Blaire Waldorf than Suicide Girls, but I prefer Cleveland Bound Death Sentence and the Horrorpops to top 40. (Full disclosure, I also like folk, blues, jazz, musicals and alt pop, so define that.) My clothing style really doesn’t have much bearing on my musical tastes, or my personality, and I’m sick of people assuming they know me because they know where I shop.

And one last comment, as a rule, pre-teens/young teens are whiny and obnoxious. As a 14 year old “punk”, I was whiny and obnoxious. All the “preps” I went to school with were whiny and obnoxious. The “goth” kids were whiny and obnoxious. All to varying degrees of course, but it depending on the kid, not what stereotype they adhere too.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:09:22 +0000

Okay, I’ll admit I’m a ‘baby bat’. But just because I’m young doesn’t mean I can’t be a real Goth. If you wanna tell me different, I know myself so–no offense, but–I don’t really care what you think.
Anyway, this established–this article is an enormous bunch of bull. First of all people, Goth and emo are two COMPLETELY different things. Goth is much more sophisticated, for one thing. Emo is more juvenile. If you ask me, emo is sort of wannabe-Goth. I hate to stereotype; not all emos are like this. Likewise, while there are a lot of emos who are self-absorbed and self-pitying, which is obviously annoying, not all of them are like this. I know a few emos, and while I’m not real close friends with any of them, many times they’re pleasant, friendly people and know how to have fun without doing ‘bad things’. Most of them don’t support self-harm at all. This said, Goths especially are the most fun, hilarious, all-around great people to hang out with. They tend to be some of the most accepting and friendly people, and know how to make you feel welcomed and comfortable, whether you’re ‘one of them’ or not. I’ll admit I wear mostly black and enjoy the makeup; I just think it’s fun. But not one real Goth will tell you that you’re not Goth if you wear any color or don’t wear ‘the makeup’. Likewise, no real Goth will tell you that you have to wear a certain type of jewelry, a certain clothing style, listen to certain music, practice a certain religion, like certain things, etc. Goth does not have ‘rules’. We are strong individuals just like anybody else; we like whatever the hell we feel like and don’t let people tell us otherwise. Many of us appreciate the darker sides of things, but that’s not because we’re negative people–we’re just realistic. There’s beauty as well as ugliness in everything, including the ‘taboo’ stuff like death, and we choose to see both sides of it rather than bury our heads in the sand and pretend that everything’s perfect. We’re not afraid to look head-on at things like death, but we also appreciate life. We celebrate all aspects of both. Really, we’re just being practical.
Also, for the record, can we quit blaming the music? Honestly, why do people assume that’s the cause of everything? One of the labeled ‘emo’ bands mentioned in this article is My Chemical Romance, who happen to be my favorite band (from a non-typical style for me), contrary to popular belief are NOT EMO. Neither is Green Day. While many of these bands and other ‘Goth bands’ can come off as ‘dark’, most of them really have positive messages–you just have to look a little deeper to find them sometimes. You have to be intelligent to get the real meaning out of this music. So really, people who condemn this kind of stuff because they don’t understand it are just making themselves look ignorant.

Please people–how many times do we have to go over this stuff before we can figure it out?

By: XxXgoth benjiXxXtex-mex

XxXgoth benjiXxXtex-mex — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:57:42 +0000

ah.. even born in the 90’s i feel as an elder goth.. as a child.i grew up listening to the cure, the bauhaus and many other groups..and i feel i must speak against this article..emo’s and goth are different in EVERY way!!
emo’s are extremely annoying, whiny, and set up a HORRIBLE stereo typre for goths.
goths arent always sad, morbid, and dont always wear black..we dont worship “satan”…
goodness.. what a shame emos have brought to society

By: RobertFish

RobertFish — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:39:21 +0000

Thats a horrible article. Emo and goth culture is NOT similar at all. Goth came along years before emo did, and emo is stemmed from goth and punk.
Plus, you said goths are no fun to be around. When in fact, they are some of the funniest, cynical and honest people you will ever meet. Goths are hilarious and incredibly fun to be around.
I would know. Ive been in this culture for five years now.
And it pisses me off to see articles calling everyone with black hair who wears black clothing goth. Im goth, and i have blonde hair. I never wear makeup, and i wear pretty much every color of the rainbow, be it blue, green, purple, red, gray, brown, and of course, black.
Although, I do agree with your stereotype of emo kids. Every single one ive ever met has been whiny, self absorbed, obnoxious, and annoying. They all think theyre artists, or poets or musicians or something. Some of them are, but most of them are talentless wannabes. I cannot stand to be around them, and neither can any of my friends.
I have also noticed that while most goths remain goth for life, emo is just a phase. I have never met an emo person over the age of 19. Yet, I have met many elder goths, and absolutely love them.
Needless to say, I prefer goths over emos.

By: Amber

Amber — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:00:40 +0000

As someone who is emo I have to disagree. We are not all like this article makes out. In fact, at school we are some of the loudest most cheerful people. And we don’t all self harm. This is a myth, not all emo’s self harm. And I am sure a lot of people who are NOT emo self harm. Next time you might actually want to talk to someone who is emo before you write something, so you don’t look like an idiot. Sorry no offence but it had to be said.

By: JJ

JJ — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:05:00 +0000

As a young “emo” or “emothic” as my friends call me
i must say all “emos” not the poser ones…
discourage cutting and kids who do.
most people only recognize “emo” kids for that.
it irritates us as we are very happy kids.
We do not cut, we may have in the past
but we do not like it and we do it for reasons.

We try to talk other kids out of it
but because of how society stereotypes us
anyone who wears black is called “emo”
and continuously harassed.

in the past year alone myself
and my friends have been continuously
harassed as we are considered “emo” by everyone.
even going to shops alone can be a danger
i myself being cornered over three times by groups of “emo bashers”
had to step in for friends who left school because it was just too hard to concentrate with the harassment without help from teachers…

we all have our reasons for this…
if anything i wont stay “emo”
too much trouble comes with it
but i wont go like society’s thought of normal…

By: JT

JT — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:02:46 +0000

As an adult Goth I have to admit, I find emo’s to be whiny, self-centered, and just flat out obnoxious. Knowing several self-professed emo’s, one of whom is my older daughters best friends, I find myself constantly trying to to bring her over to the “other” dark side. It hasn’t worked yet, but I’m not going to give up on her yet.