EMO'S VS SCENESTERS

[rockfotze]

I just found another letter I wrote the other day/week to that stupid mx newspaper, as there's been these recurring letters about the "emo kids that hang around the Queen St Mall". It shit me, because those little turds are scenesters, not emo at all (even if they consider themselves emo, which just makes me angrier). I didn't send it because I don't want to become one of those people who regularly writes in to newspapers each week, but I wnated to post it here anyway. This will make sense to Brisbane folk, but I imagine everyone will have something similar going on in the city:

OK I need to clear up something that's been bugging me: Those brats who hang around the Queen Street Mall are NOT emo's. It angers me that they are known as emo's and that they even identify themselves as emo's. They are actually scenesters. It's infuriating how people have completely ruined the emo subculture by confusing scenesters with a very different and much nicer subculture. Emo's don't always wear black, they don't always listen to My Chemical Romance and their most famous fashion statement were their square-framed glasses, not their skinny black jeans. Emo was sort of like indie/nerd-chic and now it's been cheapened by those obnoxious teen brats. I'm constantly being accused of being emo because I do look a lot like those scene kids. I'm not happy about it, but as I've developed my "style" since leaving high school in 2000, I'm not prepared to change my look because of an annoying new trend. After all, until they came along I was constanly being asked if I was a "goth". God help me for wearing black and being alternative! Come on guys, stop jumping on the "I hate that subculture" bandwagon and quit making assumptions based on a ridiculous (and in this case, wrong) stereotype!

For your viewing pleasure I have created some visual examples:



This is Aleah (aka grittio), one of my besties in London. She is emo, a REAL emo. She never really wore black, wore lots of stripey stuff and note the glasses! And do you see black skinny jeans? In fact, until I talked her into getting some Chuck Taylors she wore Vans skate shoes! Emo is about being a bit nerdy, into indie music and bizarre mullets.



And here's a picture of actual Brisbane scenesters I found on Myspace (not seen: too-tight black skinny jeans). Yes, they are sitting on a bench on Queen St Mall, SHOCK HORROR!

Yeah, there are some similarities, but for the most part these kids are from a completely different subculture to Aleah. They're all about being naughty brats, swearing and being obnoxious in the mall and being "rebellious". Meanwhile Aleah was quiet, rarely swore, would sometimes cry at innappropriate times, but generally an absolute pleasure to be with.

This whole thing probably makes me a lot angrier than it should but you really have NO idea how bad these scene kids are here in Brisbane. Especially because they wear the same crap I've been wearing for YEARS so that now I look like a dickhead emo/scenester. I HATE THEM ALL SO MUCH!

Comments

[stratford-girl.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile Aleah was quiet, rarely swore, would sometimes cry at innappropriate times, but generally an absolute pleasure to be with.

SCRAPS=LOVE!

Eew we have those scenesters too. My mom was asking me if they were goth or emo the other day (cuz she can't tell the difference but knows there is one) and I told her they were neither. "they're just cheap posers" says I. XPP

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, they are a weird combo of the two, huh?! I just don't get these trends, I really don't. Especially when I've been likt that for years and was asocial outcast because of it >:(

[necro-nerdo.livejournal.com]

Haha, that lad thinks he's davey havok.
and your friend is hot.

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

She is a bit of alright ;)

[flynorth.livejournal.com]

You're so right about all of that and I think it is great that you really explained it properly! :)

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

You'll find that the thing that was once known as emo is now no longer emo - it is indie.

Emo does, you will find, now refer to the annoying little scene brats. Slang and colloquialisms are ever-changing - you have to just go with it. And yes, I remember when emo was exactly what you're referring to, but it's not any more.

I mean, 'goth' these days is very different to the goth of the 80s. Especially as there are now umpteen different types of goth - cyber, industrial, victorian, classical, renaissance, lolita etc etc etc. The goths of the 80s would and do frown highly upon the cyber and industrial goths, for example, and say they're not true, original goths.

Never mind that the true and original goths sacked Rome. And then those poser visigoths came along and stole their name. Whoops!

[missjaala.livejournal.com]

I love it! I'm a teenager of the 80's & there was only one type of goth from memory. We did have rude boys/girls, rockabillies, westies, surfers & all manner of subcultures at the time.

I thought my pink, rainbow logoed Rip Curl sloppy jo was the business back then though. so what would I know? *lol*

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

You know, I never thought of it that way. You are very right, as much as it saddens me. Emo's were kind of cool, though I used to hate on them pretty bad back in the day. Now I long for them to return triumphantly! Fucking trends ruining perfectly wonderful subcultures! I can't stand being in the city nowdays because I blend into those little shit far too easily, and that appalls me. To think, I was once considered goth because no one else dressed or looked anything like me. Now I just look like I'm following a really lame trend. I can't wait til they all get bored and pick another trendy style to hopelessly worship.

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah - and, that you look like one of the scene brats, and even though you know you're not like them, do you often feel awkward and self-conscious for being in public looking like them? Because OTHER people will think you're an emo?

I know I feel that way a lot. I oddly feel WAY more self-conscious about what other people think of me when I wear my converse sneakers or black jeans, than when I'm gothed up all victorian, because I just don't want anyone to think I'm an emo. :|

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

I do actually. I make a big effort to either avoid that part of the mall, or else hurry through it as fast as my legs will allow me (but without drawing extra attention to myself). I get really defensive when I'm called emo, because I can't stand them at all. I didn't really care when people called me goth, because that was just them being naive about subcultures. But being called emo hurts because I've been forced to reconsider the way I dress and look, in order to get away from that awful trend :(

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. I joke that I 'look emo today', but it's to pre-empt any comments about it.

Even though I'm technically a goth, if I weren't, I'd rather, by far, be mistaken for a goth than an emo.

There's something very shameful about the thought of others looking at you and assuming you're a retarded emo trendwhore.

[boyz-kure.livejournal.com]

oh queen st mall.
this one time some people actually told me not to sit on 'their' bench.
WHAT.

i personally agree with the comment above me that words change in meaning, and now emo does mean what it means, even if it meant something different earlier. as far as i'm concerned "true" emo is what the majority of people define it as now, because the word has evolved. but ugh. it's all so complicated and crazy!

HOW ABOUT WE JUST AGREE IT'S ANNOYING, AND ALL THOSE GIRLS SHOULD TAKE OUT THEIR BLACK EXTENSIONS AND FAKE EYELASHES AND STOP TRYING TO BE AMERICAN INTERNET CELEBRITIES.

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

I would love to kick each and every one of their asses for being such trend whores! BEAT THEM GOOD!

[shotgun.livejournal.com]

Your contrast really wasn't that great.

The label given those Queen St wankers shits me off also. Having a few piercings and tattoos myself as well as having some badges on my bag (crust punk + metal bands) has labelled me "emo" a few times. Which shits the utter crap out of me. Mind you, I have a shaved head and I usually wear a cut off shirt and joey ramone style jeans.

What shits me off is not the fact that I'm labelled an "emo" it's the fact that i'm grouped with those fuckheads at Queens St.

My girlfriend (who's a dirty punk) and I joke around sometimes that we dress the way we do because we're poor and lower middle class not because we're trying to be part of some pathetic fad.

I'm sure it'll die down, the US and the UK have been exposed to it for a lot longer. Chris and that chick (shown in the picture) aren't really as bad as the scenesters at Queens St...

Haha just realised that chick and I have the same glasses:

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Yeah pretty shit compare/contrast but after half an hour of going through people's myspaces that was the best I came up with >:(

I dress the way I do because I'm a total dag and black slims you down. I also got my snakebites pierced whe I saw a Gold Coast homie with them in London 2 years ago, I kid you not!

Would you beleive scenester kids were NOTHING in London like they are in Brisbane. My non-Brisbane friends have been completely shocked by them when I've shown them, they just thought I was exaggerating. GUESS I WASN'T!

[theravensclaw.livejournal.com]

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA! I LOLed so hard when I first read this! SO TRUE!

[maceo.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem with being labelled. I've been called goth for so many years that being called emo now is just like 'okay, whatever dude'.

I noticed the Queen St kids last time I was there... they were all wearing metal shirts though? I think they're just a continuation of the dirty punk kids who used to hang out across the road from the myer centre.

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Being called goth didn't bother me, as it was so way off. But being called emo is a bit closer to home, as I really do look like a lof of those kids, which SHITS ME TO TEARS!

The ones in metal bands t-shirts are the worst. As if they even know those bands, let alone like them enough to wear their t-shirts! I especially hate the ones who wear Ninja Turtles bags. THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE THING WHEN I WAS 6, BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN, YOU LITTLE SHITS!!!!

[maceo.livejournal.com]

I never really saw it that way... like yesterday I saw a little kid wearing a Zeppelin shirt and I thought 'omg how cool, he's not listening to the same shit every other kid his age is'... I guess there's no use getting angry about these kids because there have always been try-hards, and there always will be. They can impress each other and everyone else can see through them. Just don't look!

[el-dirty-one.livejournal.com]

Somebody recently told me that to make emo look cool you have to be fat, ginger, and Scottish. I'm beginning to see his point.

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Haahahaha, that is so awesome (and true)!

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

I'd love to catch up. I just replied to your post, so I'll give you a call tomorrow!

[adrianadw.livejournal.com]

I had a whole rant - I decided to delete it rather. They are suppose to be people too, when I was younger you could at least say 'don't tease or feed the non-tattooed people - now they look like your own, it is their actions that give them away. Okay before i start - rant over!

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, love you Adri!!!

[pixienamedkatie.livejournal.com]

Dude. When I was at high school kids called me goth. Wtf? I had long blonde hair. Anyway, personally being labelled emo doesn't really annoy me. Mostly because I hold that emo is Bright Eyes, and I can delude myself into thinking that that's the definition people are going by. Sigh. The mall kids annoy me mostly because they are kinda ugly (oooh people in glass houses Katie. P.S I'm tired as all hell) and they make people think that just because I wear black it means that I'm a horrible mass-produced by-product of teen culture, and also that I cut my wrists. That peeves me to no end. Yes, I have been there. But not because it's cool. It is so not cool. Dear God this is turning into a rant. Umm. Am I one of the horrible scene kids from the mall?? This is actually making me worried. Your friend Aleah sounds awesome though. I can't say I've ever met someone else who doesn't swear much.
My apologies for my madness. Good night!

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

They are ugly. Not just because they can't apply makeup for shit and wear unflattering clothes (why are all the girl emos fat and the boys so skinny anyway?), but because they're all total assholes. They think they're some sort of wonderful, unique subculture when they're nothing but another page in pop culture from the "Noughties". Fuckheads, much.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_telecaster/]

I really know what you mean! Fuck all those lousy H&M-Brats...

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

HELL YEAH!

[luwana.livejournal.com]

I had no idea that EITHER of those stereotypes were 'emos' :P I thought emo was to do with actually being, well, EMO XD Like, *sad*. And that the rest was mostly irrelevant.

[dienacht.livejournal.com]

Oh boy do they ever! Emo used to stand for emotion rocker, now it stands for...well, I dunno what it stands for now, but it SHOULD stand for immature asshole brats!!!

[luwana.livejournal.com]

See, emotion rocker makes much more sense :P Now emo is a word for a particular kind of upset/angst o_O It's like they've evolved into two different things.

[dancing-moon.livejournal.com]

haha, I know exactly what you mean! I see the ugly little brats who flash their butt cheeks in too short skirts ruin the beatiful gothic lolita style here by claiming and I hate them *growls* Argh poser kids, go die

[pretty-vacant19.livejournal.com]

Haha, I know that guy, that's Chris. I'll have to let him know he's famous on livejournal.

[zombiehellcat.livejournal.com]

They're exactly the same in Sydney. They hang around town hall, 24/7 no matter what time of day, regardless of what day, you happen to walk past there, there's always the same bunch of kids wearing the same thing being loud, obnoxious and smoking in their tight jeans. FFS. They have a staring problem as well. One day they're all going to get hit by cars.

[lia-blackstar.livejournal.com]

I'm a Sydney woman so we get the articles on the 'emos on town hall steps'. I seriously laugh at the scenesters whenever I walk past.
I can completely agree with your comment, however my favourite band is My Chemical Romance =) WAnt to know the funny bit? The snooty scenesters at Town Hall labelled us as "Emos". I was also called goth before emo appeared on the scene. God help me for wearing black and stripey armwarmers lol. They should see me when I'm in a suit or formal gown *rolls eyes*. Stupid stereotyping.
PS. I just saw you on tattoo_ink and decided to check you out and friend you.
So yes =)