The Term “Emo” is damaging

I was walking in the hallway on my way to class in seventh grade wearing my favorite outfit at the time. A “The Black Parade” t-shirt, “The Black Parade” Crop-top flannel and black ripped jeans with a small chain looped on my pants. “Perfect,” I thought, but I would later regret this decision.

I felt confident and happy in my outfit, then a kid bumps into me. This is normal due to the busy hallways, but what he said to me was what I feared.

 “Watch where you are going, Emo!” 

Emo. The phrase that I dreaded to hear…

According to the article “Emo phenomenon – An actual problem in adolescence,” the term “Emo” is defined through, “Some dominant features: depression, anxiety, introversion and sensitivity.”

Emo is often stereotyped as someone who likes black and only black and listens to music that has screaming vocals. It is also stereotyped as being weird and cringey when in reality, it’s just different from what people are used to. The stereotyped music is people screaming about death and how depressed they are about a breakup, and while the themes of the music tend to be about death and mental health, revolving around past relationships. It has deeper meaning to the overall theme.

Take My Chemical Romance’s album “The Black Parade.” The concept is about death, but each song has a different message that relates to the overall theme. The song “Cancer” talks about a cancer patient who is about to die, and how they are pained to be leaving their loved ones behind. So while it is about death, it has more to it, which is why it is a great song. Not only is the music deeper than previously thought; it also provides huge comfort.

For me, whenever I’m feeling stressed or need to take a break from the world, I often listen to those “emo” bands because they let me release my emotions without crying because most of the time, my head hurts and my sinuses are all clogged after I cry. 

Being called emo that day made me choose much more wisely about the outfits I wear to school. Every time I’ve been called emo I immediately felt worse.  I felt that I couldn’t be as emotional as I normally am. Due to this, I have started to bottle up more of my emotions. It makes me way more stressed and overwhelmed than I used to be. It has made me feel like I can’t be open about my emotions because being emo is looked at as cringey.

Listening to music like My Chemical Romance, FallOut Boy and Pierce the Veil have given me an escape from dealing with my emotions. I have often found myself too overwhelmed with life, and so putting on that style of music puts me in a place where I can relax and not worry about my problems.

Emo. A term used to put others down. Emo. Millions of people around the world feel the same way, all because of the fact that they are different from the average person. Emo, so what if I am? Does that make me weird and cringey? No, it just means that I am connected and understand my feelings more than others. I am in sync with how I feel. So the next time I’m called emo, I will be proud instead of letting it hurt me more.