Oh, another insigtful and interesting article on emo…

Posted by pixie | Filed under Uncategorized

Wait — nevermind. The UK newspaper The Daily Mail actually wrote an article titled Why No Child is Safe From the Sinister Cult of Emo. Somebody sat at a desk and was paid to write the most absurd drivel I have ever read in my life. And trust me, I’ve read a lot of absurd drivel.

The article is based, as all the anti-emo articles of late are, on the death of that girl, Hannah.  Honestly, it’s sad that she killed herself, but they act like she was the Queen of England with the amount of coverage this one suicide is getting. I wonder how many other people killed themselves that day. I’m guessing more than 1. Worldwide? Hundreds, or thousands. It’s just not a very sensational story since those people probably weren’t “emo” or, even better, “emos.” [I will never grasp why journalists feel a need to refer to people in the scene as “emos.” I have officially added that to my list of peeves concerning the English language. Take that, shady journalists!]

The article, though is full of wild misinformation. I mean, this should be clear since they call emo a “cult” in the headline, and later, refer to it as a sect, but allow me to point to this sheer genius:

“Emos like guitar-based rock with emotional lyrics. American bands such as My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte and Blink 182 are particular favourites.”

Honest to God, would it be that hard to head over to Wikipedia and look up “emo”? Or any of the countless sites that tell you what “emo” is? I know there’s no boilerplate definition, but they really could do better than throwing Good Charlotte and the long-defunct Blink-182 out there as emo.  I let MCR slide because they were the girl’s favorite band, and even I tend to lump them in with emo [sorry, Gerard] but… come on.

Here’s the thing, too. They keep insisting this girl, Hannah, was extremely happy, popular, and there were no signs she was troubled. As such, they blame the nebulous concept of emo for everything. And yet, we find out she was self harming, called herself “living disaster,” and had photos of girls with bloody wrists.  Yep, sounds entirely happy and trouble-free.  I feel bad for her parents, but it’s really time to face the facts and accept that Hannah was not a happy girl. She was not mentally stable, either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have killed herself. That’s really what it comes down to. Music doesn’t make people kill themselves!

Now, the article provided some statistics.

New figures show that the number of children admitted to hospital due to injuries inflicted on themselves has risen by a third in five years. In 2002/03 there were 11,891 such admissions; in 2006/07 this had risen to 15,955. In both periods, there were more than three times as many admissions of girls as of boys.

Okay, that’s a big deal. However, let’s think about this rationally.  Why is self-injury on the rise? Multiple reasons.

01. Self-harm is talked about more than it was in the past. This open dialogue means people are more comfortable admitting they’re doing something that people have been doing long before emo was even a thought, much less a concept. It also means that some people who may not have done it in the past take an interest in it because they hear about it.

02. Mental illness is now detected and diagnosed earlier, and treatment is often administered more quickly. The number of people in therapy or seeing psychologists has also risen in recent years. As a result, there are more instances of reported self-injurers.

03. Look at the times we live in. War, declining economies, scare tactics from our leaders, unprecedented stress on adults, teens, and children alike. Is it shocking that people end up depressed or with other mental disorders/issues?

And to be honest, the “more girls than boys” thing means nothing. That’s simply because more girls than boys have bipolar or borderline disorders, which are often associated with self-injury.

The article goes on and on and on. People changed when they found emo. Of course they did.  When I was a teenager and discovered punk, my best friend and I went down into the basement of my house, chopped about 15″ off my long hair and dyed it black. I was a teenager. I was finding myself. I wore all black. I started wearing blue nail polish and black eyeliner. I was moody and depressed a lot. I sat in corners and wrote poetry and listened to music that confused and scared my mom. [Hey, you know what? Not much has changed… oh well.]

But here’s the thing! I was a teenager just like the kids they describe in the article. And guess what? I’m not dead. I made it through my teenage years, went to college, have had a bunch of jobs as a professional writer, and I still dress and look however I want — much like I did when I was a teenager, actually. What’s my point? I don’t have a major depressive disorder, suicidal urges, or the types of mental illnesses that are associated with suicide.

How the hell do these people explain the 47-year-old middle manager who hangs himself while listening to country music? Or the 35-year-old housewife who jumps off a bridge, but only listened to Top 40 radio? Where are the articles that scream “Country music KILLS!” or “Pop Music is the Leading Cause of Suicide”? I strongly suspect if you broke down the numbers on every suicide worldwide and the music the person listened to, emo/punk would be close to the bottom both numbers and percentage-wise.

This turned out to be way longer and far more serious than I’d intended. I’m just frustrated by this constant coverage that paints the scene, bands I like, friends of mine, me, and all of you guys who read this site in such a negative light.  It’s really not true, and I wish they could take an unbiased look at forum posts about cutting or depression or other issues and see all the helpful advice, support, and the way people in the scene look out for each other, rather than all of this negative, sensationalist crap.

But they won’t.  “Emo kids really help each other to deal with problems and feel accepted” doesn’t have the same ring as “THE WORLD IS ENDING!! EMO DEATH CULTS!!!” and won’t sell as many papers.