ljmassacre

You’re a loner, you’re a loser. You’re an outcast, you’re an emo. No one wants to have prejudices shoved in their faces based on the clothes they wear or the colour of their hair. But for the emo subculture, this is an everyday reality.

For a generation who preach equality, we sure are an ignorant bunch of hypocrites. Our parents, teachers and heroes have taught us the values on anti-sexism, anti-homophobia and anti-racism. We are free to choose our own religion, follow any career path and have never felt the effects of a world war first hand. A storybook perfect society hiding its one major flaw: subculture discrimination.

Rave/disco kids, always high on drugs. Jocks are too dumb to string a sentence together. A bandanna under a cap says you are definitely gang-affiliated. But the most unfortunate ones who we all love to hate are the emos.

What is “emo” anyway? In the early 90’s an emo was geeky looking and listened to songs about being unable to find a girlfriend, while studying for A-level calculus. Nowadays, emo has many meanings: a goth, a scene kid, a music genre reminiscent of pop-punk, and a depressive mental state. But it’s most frequently used as an insult.

“Emo”, in itself, has no meaning. It is used a vague label attached to a variety of things which a large portion of the population have difficulty identifying with. Caveman instinct dictates that what you do not understand, you must fear. The fear becomes anger, which is then turned on the “emos”, ostracising them from society, condemning them to involuntary loneliness. The more lyrically inclined of these outcasts take their feelings of alienation and enforced isolation and turn them into profoundly emotional lyrics. The resulting songs are often misinterpreted as obsession rather the obeisance, further darkening the misconceived concept of emo.

Yes, we may be flawed by our bigoted views, but the media is also to blame. Worldwide, various radio stations, TV channels and newspapers have encouraged hate against subcultures, specifically against the emos.

A DJ in Mexico denounced emo live on air, labelling it “f*cking bullsh*t” which prompted a savage rampage through the town. Any emo in proximity of the mob was assaulted. In Britain, goth Sophie Lancaster was beaten to death  - for being a goth. TV channels in the states have broadcast documentaries on the supposed dangers of emo and how parents can ascertain if their child has fallen into this alleged “death cult”.

Most recently, London based newspaper, The Daily Mail, has printed a series of unfounded and irrational articles stating that the band My Chemical Romance caused the suicide of 13-year-old girl, Hannah Bond. Hannah had reportedly been a fan of the New Jersey punk band for only two weeks when she hung herself after an argument with her parents. For a band who has always cared so openly about their fans’ safety, who had penned the unforgettable lyric “I am not afraid to keep on living”, it is impossible to see how they could have made this girl want to take her life, let alone be targeted as the sole culprit. I’m sure if she’d been a devoted Justin Timberlake fan, JT wouldn’t have been thrown in the red spotlight.

Two years earlier, disgraced journalist Sarah Sands (of the aforementioned publishing organisation) wrote an article branding emo as a “dangerous death cult” and used bands such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and GreenDay as examples of the emo look and musical style. A scapegoat was needed in the wake of Hannah’s death and Sands’ article provided the perfect foundations to build upon. Seeds of mistrust against My Chemical Romance had already been sewn in the readers’ minds and now the Sands imitators are exploiting this to gain attention and further their war on emo.

There is a name given to incorrect and biased information printed in the media in order to solidify one specific view: propaganda. The Daily Mail is determined to turn you against emo. It’s morally irresponsible journalism. How corrupt must you be to use your position of power to influence and mobilise society against a group of insecure teenagers?

The Jews, the blacks, the poor; there’s always someone more to be victimised. And now it’s the emos’ turn to face an attempted subculture genocide.

Will you let this discrimination continue?

Or will you stand up for your fellow youths, regardless of their black regalia?

The constant attacks on emo are a new breed of hate crime and it must end now.

“Mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits/ We’d like

to go to town but we can’t risk it/

Oh ‘cos they just want to keep us out/

You could end up with a smash in

the mouth, just for standing out.”

‘Mis-shapes’  - Pulp