What's emo?

my friend claims shes emo...what is emo exactly? I've heard its cutting urself and hating your life,...or listening to different music...HELP!!!

not sure, but I think it's emotional rock..?

Yehh my friend told me it was an Emotional Goth...And she was all into Gothic stuff

if its emotional goth, why do my friends cut and say they are emo??

WHY do they cut themselves? the stereotype is that it's their way of dealing with life. they do it 'so they can feel.' you be the judge on whether that's legit. I think most emos are just posers...which in my opinion is even more lame than being an actual emo. perhaps your friends are just incredibly lame?

This should help. Its from a website.

What does emo mean?
Emo describes a sub-genre of punk which could be said to be very similar to indie music. Emo kids, or Scene Kids, often disagree on what it really means. Is it a form of music and fashion, or just the music? It definitely stands for emotional, and it definitely is not the same music that was around in the 1980's. Emo kids usually agree that the term describes the music, as opposed to the fashion and style. The term 'Scene kids' is the term most widely accepted to describe someone who looks as though they listen to emotional music.

Emo hairstyles are the hottest hairstyles right now
One of the hottest new fashion trends sweeping the nation and the entire world are the wild and very fashionable emo hairstyles. You see the hair everyone, in tv, movies, fashion shows, and magazines. Many older people are now wearing emo hair and most of them wouldn't even know who 'Fall out Boy' was (even if they are posers). The hairstyles are appealing because they are wild and appear ungroomed.

Emo• Emo refers to a genre of music and the resulting subculture. Emo music is similar to punk rock and indie music.
Scene• Scene is used to properly describe 'emo kids' and the overall subculture.

I agree with hungryhungrychippo and lisabird 83

its a type of music.
you dont cut urself or and e thing like that to b emo.
its just a steriotype that people are calld because of ho they dress or what they listen to, etc.
anyway, you shouldnt say you r..then people will say you just want attention...

people should catergorize them from the rest, theres something you can do to change that, let her know your there for her and try to listen to any problems she has.
but yes emo is cutting, emotional hates, hates life and some are suicidal

EMO

Emo
From my recourses supposedly an Emo was originally just a slang word used to describe some bands that got emotional, originally fans of Fugazi(basically Emo being short for emotional), a post punk band, in mid 1980's. It later became a sub-genre. Most found it offensive & disliked being labeled Emo. The original Emo is what is now modern day screamo, there were 3 waves. I believe the second wave some how led to the third wave which is modern day. It was basically when new music was cropped under the labile Emo Such as Weezer & such. Origonally thick glasses & plad shirts were common in the style along with fringed bangs & hair. In modern times the fringed hair is still quite common but it now in style to wear black, tight jeans & usually a band t-shirt or some type of design. But if you look hardenough you can tell the style is still kinda related to Punk.
During the third wave of Emo it became common for people to slit their selves to 'fit in'. How that works out I don't know. Note: not all Emo's slit themselves.
Emo is not a subculture, it's still a subgenera. Rumor has it, however, that a movement is being made to make it one
In my honest opinion Emo is not based on a solid foundation enough to say what exactly is & is not Emo, specially when it comes to terms of music. The basis of emo has been changed twice except for the one basic Emo is short for Emotional. But when you think of it, how can one not be emotional when it comes to their music? Look at Cradle of Filth-their Dooms Metal, 69 Eyes- Romanti Goth, Amy Lee- Plasti Goth, & a lot other musicians.

first off, emo has nothing to do with self harm
self harm is self harm, and needs help to be fixed
and depression is depression, a mental illness, that also needs help to be fixed
bottom line is emo is short for emotional, which we ALL are
however now its a genre of music and a style of dress
like every other sterotype really
its just another word to describe ones self
emo people are generally artistic, wear dark and colourful clothes, listen to emotional music...stuff like that

'emo is a name for people that need or want attention. They are bored and dont have the energy or the cares to find a personality, therefore, they act like douche bags and sit around loathing in self pity. just kill yourselfs or get over it. ' -perfect! Also, the only affiliations goth has with emo is how much people get then mixed up, and how much they both hate each other.

Emo doesn't always mean cutting yourself, but that is
what some emos do. Being emo is hating your life. Either you feel unwanted or you are missing something of your life. Like being sad or angry. And when you are sad, don't get convinced when your friends say you're emo, that's maybe what they think, but it's really your own choice to be emo or not.