No matter how we may feel about the state of the world, the one thing that we can take for certain is that each new generation brings with it the promise of change. Indeed, across the pages of history we have always looked towards the youth for ideas of revolution and improvement. However, along with those precious ideals, the word “youth” is also coming to embody rebellion and disrespect.
Long gone are the days in which a teenager took his or her parent’s words for fact and truth. Rather, we seem to have entered an era where we can count on teenagers to act on their ideas of rebellion, abandoning the traditional ideas of their elders and seeking to make their own path. We have even lost the once romantic notions of such rebellion, and the iconic image of the angry and inspired teen ready to change the world has faded away.
In fact, we need only to look around to realize a strange and disturbing new trend that has become a part of “rebellion” for teenage boys across the United States. This trend is the wearing of tight, female clothing by young men, and although it may seem strange, it is just as much a part of the expression of this era as the rebellions of yesteryear.
We must ask ourselves, though, how has the faded leather jacket and unfiltered cigarette of the 1960’s outcast become the pair of skintight denim jeans and iPod ear buds sported by today’s youth? Even the basic idea of this may be hard to grasp. In essence, a young man will enter a girl’s clothing store, seek out the smallest possible pair of jeans, and somehow squeeze into them, concerns about reproductive organs and future sterility be damned.
Match this strange fitting pair of jeans with an equally tiny t-shirt depicting a musical group, throw on some Converse shoes, and a black hooded sweatshirt that only goes to the elbows and the look is compete. To complete the look, some black plastic frame glasses are needed, even if one has perfect vision. However, what exactly is the individual who wears such a strange costume saying? In order to understand such a strange message, we need to look at the history of the musical style known today as “emo”, and how this style has come to impress it’s fashion and ideals among young males across the country.
In short, the musical genre of “emo”, which is short for emotional, emerged out of the Washington D.C. punk music scene. This all began when bands decided to turn down the distortion on their instruments, use a little vocal harmony, and write songs that were a little deeper than the typical fare about booze and communism. For those faithful days of the late 1980’s, this new musical genre was born, and, although it has taken roughly fifteen years to catch on, emo has bnow become a forefront of modern music, perhaps replacing what was once known as “indie”.
While we know the origins of the style, we must dig a little deeper to uncover where the many fashion elements have come from, and especially what they represent about the fans and bands that are today’s derivatives of the Washington D.C. bands that sparked a revolution almost twenty years ago.
Perhaps the idea behind the tight clothes is a simple one. While many have suggested that the outfits appear to be feminine in their nature, and indeed, many teenage boy do wear clothes that they have purchased from clothing stores specializing in female clothing, there is a deeper message behind the skin tight clothing and dyed black hair. When a person puts on pants that are much too tight, and chooses to dress in such a fashion, they are attempting to be different.
The message sent by today’s teen can be very easily compared to the message that has, for the past couple generations, become a staple of the teenage years. That message is one of difference and distinction. A person who dresses in this style does so to be different, and does so in order to stand out from the crowd, striving to differentiate himself from what he views as mainstream popular culture.
However, this is complicated by the fact that many who dress in such tight and ill-fitting clothing really do not know what they are trying to represent. Ask any given teen who is sporting the outfit, and their response will likely be one of confusion. While you would expect a person who is striving to send a message through their style of dress to know what message they are sending, the sad fact is that they often do not. In fact, perhaps more so than any other teenage rebellion, the movement of emo has come to be nothing more than teenagers copying the style of what they believe to represent their favorite music. So, if even those who sport the outfits are not aware of why they dye hair, wear female clothing, and block at least one eyeball with a wall of hair, how is the curious bystander to know what to make of the situation?
The answer lies in dealing with what the style itself represents, and not what a person is trying to say by wearing it. The wearing of female clothes is likely an attempt not only to be different from society at large, but an attempt to distance what is traditionally thought of as masculine.
Why it is normally a male attribute to appear larger than females, and thus wearing clothing that highlights muscles and other various aspects of perceived manliness, perhaps the “emo” teen wishes to express dissent from those ideas. By wearing the clothing, and striving to be as tiny as humanly possible, thus wearing clothes that express that small size, than the entire message that is sent by the traditional male gender may in fact be challenged. The “emo” individual represents a different style of guy, one who is not afraid to express emotions or were effeminate clothing, and spend hours on his hair.
Of course, like any fashion style, “emo” also has its obvious downfalls. The clothing is simply not comfortable, and it is generally hard to find a pair of girls jeans that can be worn on a male without making any movement impossible. To properly fit into the “emo” fashion is something hypocritical, as work must be put into the body image in order to fit into such small and constricting clothing. Another factor is the health risks that are brought by such clothes. Clothing which is too tight can cause skin irritation, and wearing jeans that compress the reproductive organs so drastically has a marked effect on fertility, and many estimate that reproductive problems will arise if such clothing is worn too frequently.
Perhaps we have to view the “emo” style as we have viewed any other teen fashion throughout the generation. From the massive rags and tent like structures worn by 1960’s hippies, to the large, balloon like pants and shiny clothing that categorized the 1980’s. The teenagers of each generation will always have their own unique messages to send, and although we may sometimes find these practices and fashions strange, we must always strive not to judge, but rather except the messages which lie behind them.
