Emo ideas. Musical preferences emo-core

Emo is short for "emotional" - a term meaning special kind hardcore music, based on the crushing strong emotions in the vocalist's voice and the melodic, but sometimes chaotic musical component. Squealing, crying, moaning, whispering, breaking into a scream are the distinctive features of this style. The lyrics are personal character- the author’s experiences are reported on the Wikipedia website.
Today this style of music is divided into: emocore, emo-rock, cyber-emo, punk-emo, emo-violence, screamo, French-emocore hardcore San Diego, etc. Fans of emo music, identified as a special subculture, are called emo kids .
The concept of emo is very common among modern youth. In addition to bright outfits, hair and makeup, these guys have other ways to express themselves. Through music and heightened emotions about everything that happens in their lives.
There are several theories about how the Emo movement began in general.
The first suggests that "emo" was formed in the 1980s, as a way to describe the branch of hardcore punk that emerged in the 1980s, and "emo" is short for "emotional hardcore", which eventually resulted in the grandcore-modified punk music.
However, most people who follow the emergence of new subcultures believe that "emo" means "nervous kids who post pictures of themselves on MySpace and cut themselves."
Others believe that the emo movement emerged in the early 1980s.

Wikipedia offers this story:

In late 1983, the hardcore punk scene that had erupted in 1981 seemed to be losing steam and fresh ideas within the emerging Washington hardcore sound. Minor Threat's dreary, posthumous LP Salad Days came out in 1984 and hammered the final nail into the coffin of Washington hardcore. Bands across the country began to look for new directions: DRI and Bad Brains began playing light metal, 7Seconds went to U2 for jungle alternatives, and so on. Washington's style began to change mainly towards melodic rock with a punk sensibility.
1984 saw the release of Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade, a testament to their lush new sound, combining soft, negative vocal delivery and mid-range guitars with slower rock tempos and lighter, more chaotic songwriting.
In the spring of 1984, members of The Untouchables, Faith and Deadline formed a new group called Rites Of Spring. This band retains the punk speed and frenzy, but mixes in a whole new vocal technique. Singer Guy Picciotto maintains a frantic punk style of singing almost all the time, from time to time delving into very personal lyrics, colored by emotions and spiritual quests. At climaxes, his voice turns into a guttural, husky, girlish moan.

First wave (1985-1994)

The summer of 1985 became known as the "Revolutionary Summer", as a new wave of bands with a diverse rock sound, focused on rock tempo, musicianship and melodic vocals, emerged from the Washington punk music pool: Gray Matter, Soulside, Ignition, Marginal Man, Fire Party, Rain, Shudder to Think, etc. Several bands retained a fast hardcore sound based on punk with new vocal techniques, Dag Nasty being a notable exception.
Ian Mackay is one of the founders of the Emo movement.
Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye sang for the band Embrace (compare the band's name to earlier DC bands Minor Threat, Void and State Of Alert), whose lyrics were emotional and introspective, but still clear and unambiguous. Musically, the band (formed primarily by former members of Faith) writes somewhat noisy, mid-tempo music with a lot of pop guitar hooks. Mackay's vocals retain their signature solid delivery, with occasional glimpses of emotional transmission. Iain Mackay is also the founder of the sXe movement, which has become popular among emocore and hardcore musicians.
The sound of these bands eventually became known as the "classic Washington sound." Part of this sound was ironically called "Emo", short for "emotional". One source claims that the term first appeared in a Flipside interview with Ian Mackay. Shortly thereafter, the Washington bands received the "Emocore" label.
A little later (in 1986) some groups began to focus on the "Emo" element as such. Apparently, the first to do this after Rites of Spring were The Hated in Annapolis (near Washington). Soon after, Moss Icon appeared in the same city, stripping the Emo element to its very core and adding no small amount of sophisticated, arpeggiated guitar melody (Tonie Joy, later in Born Against, Lava, Universal Order of Armageddon, etc.) with a strong accent. on loud and soft transitions. The vocals also conquer new ground, soaring to true screams at the top of their lungs at the song's climaxes.
By the early 90s, this style had gained sufficient popularity in the independent musical environment and developed into a separate subculture; new subtypes of this style appeared.

Second wave (1994-2000)

In 1994, thanks to the release of the debut disc of the group Sunny Day Real Estate “Diary”, Emo became known to a wide circle of listeners. At the same time, he underwent significant changes in terms of music - he became more listenable, influenced by other styles, such as grunge and indie rock. Many groups appeared similar to Sunny Day Real Estate in style - Mineral, Christie Front Drive, Braid, Boys Life, etc. Thus, thanks to these groups, Emo got into rotation on radio and television programs.

Third wave (2000-present)

At the moment, Emo is firmly entrenched in youth culture, more and more commercially successful projects are appearing, such as The Used, Funeral For A Friend and others, but in sound they are already far from the original Emo groups. The emo style has spread not only to music, but also to the clothing of emo kids.
The most important desire of an emo kid is to find great pure love. Having fallen in love, they surrender to an all-consuming feeling no worse than Romeo and Juliet (and do not forget that the main representatives of emo culture are approximately the same age as the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy). But God forbid it turns out that they were mistaken and this person is not a real soul mate! There will be no limit to the suffering of emo kids; they will devote the next few hours to thinking about the imperfections of our world. But this is not forever: after crying for a couple of days, they rush to further search.

Love is an ideal feeling that cannot be hidden, say emo kids. Therefore, if the heart is torn into pieces, the emo will not be silent about it - he will openly be sad, worry and, if necessary, cry bitterly.
Music evokes especially strong emotions in emo kids. At emo festivals, crowds of emo kids in bright clothes are unable to cope with their emotions and almost flood the dance floor with tears. But these, of course, are extremes: true emo (true emo, from the English truth - truth, truth) can cry to a sad tune, but they will never make a show out of it.

Emo culture in Russia

Russian teenagers quickly picked up the Western trend of emo culture. It is obvious that there are many more detractors of this trend in our country than admirers. The first speak about the unnaturalness of such a phenomenon in Russia. In their opinion, tracing paper taken from the West contradicts the true culture of the former Soviet Union. Others argue that representatives of this trend are distinguished by their young age, and such experiences are precisely typical of young, unsuccessful and emotional teenagers, that is, one should not take such a culture seriously. Still others argue that the desire of emo kids to be “themselves” and at the same time strictly following instructions like “what a true emo should look like” is more than paradoxical. Admirers claim that in Russia there are several musical groups that founded the emo movement. For example, "Psyche". However, even the famous Russian singer Mara decided to release an album in the emo style. If representatives of show business are betting on a relatively new movement, it means that it is becoming more and more popular in our country. You can find it on the Internet great amount resources where they offer to order patches, T-shirts, badges, bracelets and even wall calendars in the emo style. Time will tell how this trend will take root in our country, “Russify” or leave its mark on the culture of Russia.

Where have the emo gone?

Where have the emo gone?

Veterans of the movement reminisce

In the mid-2000s, emo was the most widespread and visible of the youth subcultures. These were young people who listened to American emotional hardcore, wore side bangs, skinny jeans and numerous scarves and badges with black and white or black and pink prints. The State Duma was worried that emos were promoting suicide, skinheads saw the emotional subculture as ideological enemies, and among schoolchildren the phrase “emo-sax” was a universal answer to all questions. At some point the emo wave subsided. Unlike other subcultures that can be found in city parks and squares, emo is neither seen nor heard. VOS talked to veterans of the emo movement to understand what it was and where everyone went.

Jacob, 24 years old

Was an emo boy from 2005 to 2007. It all started for me, the stump is clear, with unrequited love and seas of alcohol. Then I heard about the music, and then about the direction. For me it meant being part of a good group of people who supported your musical tastes, wanted to stand out from the crowd, basically like any teenagers. There was no public position. It all looks more like a club of interests and just a hangout. We looked for registrations (vacant apartments of friends or acquaintances, where we could hang out in a huge crowd at night), went to concerts (gigs), drank cheap alcohol, Blazer and Jaguar. And the ideals in this culture itself are simple: to be sincere, not to hide your feelings and emotions, but, naturally, most people don’t care.

I dressed in skate shops, because in the 2000s it was wildly problematic to buy bright and tight clothes, especially skinny jeans. The main thing is to emphasize your thinness. From music I listened to emocore / screamo / emoviolence, because this music originated in the USA. Bands like The Used, Drop Dead Gorgeous, From First to Last, Orchid, Funeral for a Friend, Underoath. Russian alternative scene, but, in my opinion, we played exclusively nu-metal and metalcore, and not emocore, with the exception of the group “Origami”.

I left in 2007, when a bunch of so-called poseurs appeared, who simply made fashion out of this culture and it ceased to carry any meaning. I decided to simply remove the external attributes, piercings and long bangs, so as not to classify myself as one of them. But I still like this kind of music, I listen to it with pleasure. The subculture exists and has not disappeared anywhere, the time has just passed when every third person was an emo, all the fagots simply left from there, since it is no longer fashionable to look like that. In my opinion, there are still guys who are just in the know.

Ellina, 20 years old

I've been emo since about 2009. I was small, but I got very deep into this subculture. Everything serious started in 2012. These were great times. At the moment, I don’t want to classify myself as a member of any subculture; each person is individual. But it was emo culture that made me understand this. You know, emo is the most peaceful subculture, I agree with all the positions it represents.

There was also misunderstanding on the part of people. But they are all a gray mass, they will never understand what it is like to express their emotions openly, they thought that we were abnormal, so be it. But we do not force ourselves into the framework of society and do what we want. The emo spirit will probably stay with me forever.

Anton, 20 years old

I became emo in 2008. At first it was just cool for me appearance, music, I felt it was close to me. Later I delved deeper into the ideology of culture and became convinced that I needed it. The essence of culture was detachment from public opinion, non-following of stereotypes, patterns and prejudices laid down by society, positioning oneself as an autonomous unit and not part of a system, freedom of expression, freedom of expression of emotions and opinions, not being afraid to accept oneself for who you are, openness.

I listen to emocore, both domestic and foreign, early post-hardcore, mall-emo, pop-punk. In 2008, I dressed in what I still wear now. Tight jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, shirts, sweaters, rather elegant and not brutal clothes.

The subculture is alive, evidence of this is emo publics with a large number of subscribers; fashion has simply passed and those who were in it only because it was fashionable. Now they belong to the subculture that is fashionable now. For me, they weren't emo, just fashionistas. Those who were ideologically in this movement remained in it. In fact, now this is also slowly becoming fashionable, “bring back 2007.” The whole essence of the subculture is in its views on the world, I have always said that emo are not made, emo are born. After all, without a certain worldview, a certain state of mind, a certain way of thinking, would this be interesting to me?

Three emo girls (in unison) Bangy,
Mardzhera, Polly_Di, each 22 years old

We became emo in 2006, I think. A certain party was formed, and everyone was hanging out at the Theater and Manega. And the rest - I don’t bother. All their workers knew each other. And the leftists, no matter what, came and we threw eggs at them. The main message was that it is important not to hide true emotions, to be who you are. Maybe it was a way to express myself, who knows. At school, all the teachers thought I was a goth. It was just fashionable. That's all. We were all Emorians, and we weren't much different. Just like then everyone started hanging out at Solyanka. And now it’s fashionable to go to techno parties.

Vasily, 20 years old

I have been in the emo party (I propose to call it a party) since 2007 - the peak of the popularization of this culture in the sense that this peak is associated with its heyday, acquiring the status of the dominant youth subculture at that time to such an extent that, due to its popularity, it ceased to be similar in this regard to a subculture, but has become a mass culture, embracing large sections of young people. This same emo wave did not leave me aside. Many of my friends and acquaintances gradually began to master a new style of behavior, clothing, and new music, adopting and copying all these attributes from each other. It was truly a wave that absorbed more and more new guys every day. As we know, it is difficult to resist the pressure of the wave, even being in such a weight category - at that time I was only 13–14 years old. And according to all the laws of physics, this same wave carried me far and for a long time. I succumbed to the general euphoria.

Now many have jobs and families, but for this minority, who remained in the party after the decline in its popularity by 2010, these ideals remained for life, and friends in the movement became friends for life. We still gather in large groups and organize gatherings. Everyone is no longer the teenagers they were then. But the so-called spirit still lives. Everyone remembers old times- a time of freedom and carefreeness, childhood joy and childhood grievances, first love. This is probably why many of us have matured in mind, but have not aged in heart. We can say with confidence that the ideals laid down back then are still manifested in communication between us. I'm an emo as long as I have someone to see and spend time with. I'm emo until my soul and my heart grow old and die. There are fewer of us, but this culture will live forever. Despite the decline in the popularity of the emo movement, there are still teenagers who are interested in emo culture and get into the party.

Ksenia, 20 years old

It all started in 2007, I was 12, if I’m not mistaken, and continued until I was 14. How it happened, I don’t know. I often came to Moscow since childhood, saw it all, and was interested. And there were such people in our city. Now, oddly enough, they are successful, many have moved to America, are engaged in business, and I remember them with side-swept bangs and wearing tutus. Everyone already has families and children. I was the smallest in the company.

There were fights a couple of times. Boys would come up to us and start talking rudely, but fortunately for us, in most cases we could explain that there was nothing wrong with it. Once, my friend and I got into a fight with two boys, they were about 25 years old. A boy, an acquaintance of ours, came up and separated us. And at school there were many altercations with teachers and classmates. I didn’t care about the school uniform, and I wanted to wear black and pink leg warmers on my arms and shave my temples. I smoked, listened to rock, dressed strangely. Mom was against all this, she constantly cursed, but she decided that I would get over it - and that’s what happened. They cut off my side bangs one day and that was it. It's gone with that. I sat and cried, and by the evening I had calmed down and felt good.

It's very funny to say that I have grown up. It’s just that at some point you begin to understand that it’s not always good to show your emotions and let people know what you really think. And you don’t want to stand out, you want to do the same thing you did, but no longer stand out. There is no desire to gather in the city center dressed in pink.

It was fashionable to have bright color combinations, bright with black, thus showing positive and negative emotions that everything in your life is striped. There were girls, they wore pink tutus, striped T-shirts, and leg warmers.

Thanks to the subculture, I began to understand people in many ways, their bad sides. At that time, I stopped loving my hometown, I wanted to leave there. It seemed that all the people were kind and wonderful, but it turned out that they were not.

The emo era ended, and thanks to the acquaintances I made in the 2000s, I began to get tattoos; people appeared who set me on the path of a musician far from emo culture. At least the appearance remained similar. The funny thing is that many of the “chelkaris” I knew became completely different people. Someone is running around, painting carriages and walls. Someone became a football player. But still, the majority became musicians. Some even began to lead an ordinary, measured family life.

They created their own subculture. They oppose the material and mercantile world. They defend their right to love - pure, sincere, unconditional. But are they capable of doing this themselves?..

Having painted his own world in black and pink colors, lowered his bangs over his eyes and put on sunglasses, they firmly believe that with this they can change the world and the people living in it. Emo kids are children and teenagers with large, fearful eyes that can terrify their parents. That's who Emo are.

Who are Emo: Emo kid about himself

“The most important thing for us, Emo, is to be yourself”
“We are not afraid to show our emotions. For us, this is not a sign of weakness.”
“Emo is, first of all, emotions.”

Here's what Emo kids say about themselves. They are emotional and vulnerable. They have their own style of clothing, their own music, their own accessories and even their own coat of arms - broken heart. They openly express their emotions, do not hide joy and suffering, and the second is always a priority. But the question: who are Emos continues to torment the parents of these children and teenagers.

Their nicknames and avatars are always bright, it’s hard not to notice them, and once you notice them, they’re hard to forget. Their social media statuses are scary, or at least confusing:
“I’ll leave, and no one will notice, they’ll only remember my dying look.”
“Let them write on my tombstone: no one loved her.”

And if the parents of these children are more or less tolerant of the predominant black color in clothing, or the unusual accessories of Emo, then other manifestations of this subculture cannot go unnoticed...

Who are Emos - the opinion of psychologists

“Emo are children who have not received enough warmth and attention from their parents. Children to whom their parents prefer money, power, and a career. Teenagers come to this subculture who do not pay enough attention and do not talk about their love for them. They feel “unloved” and deprived of attention. They suffer from a lack of parental warmth and misunderstanding. All such a child needs is to feel needed and important.
In our world, where money controls everything, such children adapt poorly. A person is judged not by who he really is, but by what he has. And if he doesn't have the latest iPad or Ferrari, he's nothing in this life."

Simply put, if a child has become Emo, it means that he just needs to pay more attention, buy him the latest model iPad, and a Ferrari. But reality tells a different story.

Not every child whose parents cannot afford such expensive gifts becomes what is called Emo. Life examples show us that children from poor families are no less likely than “rich” ones to succeed in this life, and they don’t think about who Emo are or how to cut their wrists or swallow pills. At the same time, children from families of famous businessmen can become, as they say, “true emo,” or, on the contrary, enthusiastically engage in continuing the business of their parents. And, so far, not a single psychologist has been able to grasp the line that, having crossed which, teenagers begin to dream about death.

Who are Emos really?

They really differ from many others: in their enormous emotional amplitude, desire and ability to experience colossal emotions - from love to sadness. Yes, they have values ​​that are much higher than material ones - they value love. All this is specified in them, but is not provided...

They have properties such as love, compassion, empathy, but do they realize them? And if they do this, is it right?

Those who become Emo, children with a visual vector, are born for great tasks, in demand modern society. To develop the ability to empathize and love, to reduce the level of hostility in society. To do this, they themselves need to develop intellectually and sensually in a timely manner. But the improper development of their potential from a very early age turns them into suffering children, hysterically demanding love and attention to themselves.

All their emotions, which they so diligently show, are directed only at themselves. The love they love to talk about is what they demand for themselves, but are not able to give of themselves.

As a result, instead of reducing hostility in society, they increase it.

What are parents and psychologists afraid of?

So who are Emos and why do they scare parents of teenagers so much?
Statuses, posts, avatars and photographs on the pages on social networks of these children romanticize the worst thing - death. By talking about inscriptions on tombstones, painting grisly pictures and posting photographs of people with their wrists cut, they strike fear and terror into the hearts of their parents and social workers.

"The Emo subculture promotes suicide!"- the “experts” conclude. But they don’t notice one thing - children who initially have a special attitude towards death join the Emo community.

Fear of death – this is the innate fear of a person with a visual vector. And it is children with a visual vector who join the ranks of Emo. But they do this not at all in order to commit suicide, but in order to attract attention to themselves, to become more noticeable.

Attention – this is really what children with a visual vector lack, but only those of them in whom this vector is not developed. Trying to stand out from the general background, they pursue the only goal - to attract attention. This has a deep meaning. By drawing attention to themselves, such children subconsciously begin to feel their safety: “they see me, which means that in case of danger, they will have time to save me.” Children with a visual vector in fear - that's who Emo are!

Incorrect implementation of the visual vector plunges the child deeper and deeper into fears. Over time, he does not get enough attention from his parents and all the people around him. Their appearance ceases to shock their acquaintances, and then they move on and take other, already radical measures.

Drink a tube of sleeping pills, cut your wrists, stand on the ninth floor window - this is the next stage, which often becomes the last...

Their suicide is just another attempt to attract attention. And they make this attempt with the expectation that they will have time to save them. So, a tube of pills is drunk 5 minutes before the parents arrive, and the veins are opened when someone is sure to be nearby.

Psychological blackmail is what Emo suicide is, but not the desire to die.

How dangerous is the Emo subculture really?

It will be incorrect to say that the Emo subculture carries some kind of danger, the danger comes from those children who go there. But they do this initially because they were not taught compassion and love as it is - directed outward, and not inward.

And even if such a child avoids the fate of those few who committed suicide, and then only because they did not have time to save them, then for the rest of his life he will be haunted by fears. Fear of the dark, an obsessive thought about a black hand about to poke out from under the bed, deep phobias that a non-systemic psychologist is unable to cure - this is what awaits such a child. But the global nature of the problem lies not even in this, but in the fact that all these people - those who are now Emo - will not be able to work for the good of society, reduce the accumulated hostility and develop culture in the highest sense of the word. They will never be able to adapt correctly to society and receive what they strive for - real love, and not the kind that is directed inward.

How to pull a child out of the Emo community

Neither expensive gifts nor unconditional love and attention to the child are not able to isolate him from the Emo community. Only by learning to release your emotions, directing them not at yourself, but at the people around you, and learning what compassion and outward love are, will someone who is Emo be able to dilute their palette of colors.

In adolescence, namely teenagers who become Emo, it is still possible to understand who Emo is and direct the development of your child in the right direction. And if at the age of 7-8 years literature that evokes compassion can still help, then in puberty we need other, more strong methods- visiting homes for the disabled, rehabilitation centers and nursing homes - this is what will help a teenager with a visual vector learn to push his fears out. Having compassion for other people - frail old people, disabled people, children with developmental defects, a child with a visual vector ceases to feel fear for himself, his feeling of fear for his own life turns into fear for the life of another person - this is the essence of compassion and pushing fear out.

System-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan provides guidelines for understanding who Emo are, and in what direction you should develop your child in such a way that he can adapt correctly in society and get maximum pleasure from life.

The article was written based on training materials on system-vector psychology Yuri Burlan .

Other publications:

I liked it - put a “heart”:

The icons were The Exploited, Sex Pistols. Metalheads revere Slayer and Black Sabbath. Grunge fans formed around Nirvana and Soundgarden. But emo has no musical base. There is no music that was part of the emo style. Therefore, among representatives of this subculture, musical preferences can be very different. Golden representatives - HIM, Bring me the horizon, My chemical Romance. From Russian groups – Slot, $7000. All these groups are completely different in genres and directions. Emo fans of rap are not uncommon either.

Appearance

What distinguishes emo from other subcultures is their appearance. The most preferred type of clothing is extremely tight jeans, sneakers (Converse, Vans) and slip-ons, tight T-shirts with a metal buckle. Their colors are black and pink, and they often feature checkered patterns using these colors. They often imitate skateboarders because their appearance is generally the same. A lot of time is spent on hairstyle. For a guy, it's a bang on his forehead, short hair behind. Smooth and black hair is considered the standard. Girls wear long hair, their hair can be dyed either black, pink, or another acidic color. Or maybe a mixture of colors. Cosmetics are also a sure marker. Eyeliner and foundation are used not only by girls, but also by boys. Clothes are covered with stripes with the symbols of favorite bands, and the messenger bag is weighted. Wristbands and bracelets are an important element of an emo kid’s wardrobe.

Position

Concerning inner world, then emo is an extremely rich subculture. The position of the adherents is the imperfection of our world, the absence of true love in it and the desire to accumulate and build oneself according to images from fashion magazines. Emo contrasts all this with vulnerability, sensuality, depression, and glorification of death. Since the entire subculture consists of teenagers, all problems (misunderstanding from friends and parents, failures in personal life) are transferred to the world of emo perception, after which the teenager withdraws into his new world and takes depression too seriously. This is where the stereotype of emo people as suicidal comes from.

Be that as it may, this subculture is almost dead at the moment. In the West, emos have massively transformed into indie kids. In Russia, this subculture was popular in the period 2005-2009, after which representatives began to leave it. Nowadays you almost never see pronounced emo. Like any subculture, it did not last long and left as its adherents grew up and lost the need to express themselves in such methods.

Introduction

Chapter 1. general characteristics youth subcultures

1 The concept of “subculture”

1.2 Stages of life of subcultures

3 Social stereotypes

Conclusions on the first chapter

Chapter 2. EMO subculture: history and characteristics

1 History of the emergence of the EMO subculture

2 Peculiarities of life of emo culture in Ukrainian conditions

3 Emo image

Conclusions on the second chapter

Chapter 3. Research on the peculiarities of perception of the emo subculture

1 Description of samples and research methods

2 Interpretation of research results

Conclusions on the third chapter

Conclusion

Literature

Application

Introduction

The generation of “fathers” has always been wary of youth subcultures at best, and aggressively hostile at worst. After all, it is more correct to call any subculture a “counterculture” - rejecting the “parental” worldview, it offers its own, alternative, thereby hinting to elders about their ideological and everyday inconsistency. Those, for their part, defend themselves as best they can, declaring the new worldview destructive, the ideals perverted and decadent, and the manner of behavior indecent. There are also frequent transparent hints about the moral inferiority and even mental illness of adherents of a particular subculture. Thus, the conflict between generations is aggravated to the extreme, and the path of personal development of youth turns out to be strewn with thorns that only complicate it.

Relevance of the work: over the past few years, when it comes to youth subcultures, quite often one has heard a hitherto little-known concept - EMO. This is the name of a subculture that in a short period of time has gained enormous popularity in given time is one of the most numerous. In this work we will try to trace the history of the development of the emo subculture and understand how it is perceived by society.

Object of study - Features of social stereotypes regarding youth subcultures.

Subject - auto- and heterostereotypes of the emo subculture.

The purpose of the work is to identify autostereotypes and heterostereotypes in the perception of the emo subculture.

Hypotheses: there are differences in relation to auto- and heterostereotypes in the emo subculture; ideas about the emo subculture in society are negative.

) trace the history of the emergence of the emo subculture;

) give a descriptive portrait of the subculture;

) carry out a comparative analysis of the perception of the auto- and heterostereotype emo.

The significance of the work is that it carries out an extensive theoretical analysis various youth subcultures, a descriptive description of the little-studied emo subculture is given.

Chapter 1. General characteristics of youth subcultures

1.1 The concept of “subculture”

Culture refers to the beliefs, values, and expressions that are common to a particular group of people and serve to organize the experiences and regulate the behavior of members of that group. The basis of the already mentioned socialization (the process of assimilation by an individual of patterns of behavior, psychological attitudes, social norms and values, knowledge, skills that allow him to function successfully in a given society) is the reproduction and transmission of culture to subsequent generations.

Culture is not an entity that develops within the same historical, political, demographic and economic conditions. Therefore, in any culture there is a number of subcultural formations. What is a subculture?

Subculture is a set of values ​​and practices accumulated by a group of people, united by specific interests that determine their worldview, accumulated by a certain worldview.

That is, this is a kind of community of people, united not territorially, but according to other characteristics: interests, hobbies, worldview, etc. Modern subcultures are one of the phenomena of globalization, when, thanks to global media (primarily the Internet), people can find like-minded people at the other end globe, share images, music and other information. The vast majority of modern subcultures are youth subcultures, and are based on young people’s rejection of the dominant culture in society, with its norms, stereotypes and values. This rejection manifests itself in a special appearance, behavior, and passion for unpopular music. Young people seem to fence themselves off from the cultural standards imposed by society and try to gain their own understanding of the world, formulate their own rules and values. In other words, we are talking about sociocultural protest. Like all other social phenomena, the emergence of subcultures has its reasons. These are, first of all, contradictions developing in society, which, in turn, are a consequence of the accelerated and uneven development of society in scientific, technical, economic and socio-cultural aspects. Youth and teenagers feel these contradictions more strongly, but due to the lack life experience, cannot formulate them and do not know what and how can be changed in society. Due to the special energy and maximalism of young people, the form of expression of their protest sometimes takes on an extreme, destructive, and clearly antisocial character.

While a person is young, strong and healthy, his attention is mostly occupied by surrounding events and objects. Youth is characterized by intense interpersonal communication, and the measurement of the value of one’s own “I” occurs exclusively through the opinions of others, even if erroneously. That is why, as a fact, youth groups themselves are far from a new phenomenon. They existed both in the form of newfangled sports sections and as various “circles” (interest groups) - such associations of young people were quite formal, very broad and diverse in composition, had their own schedule and most often did not have any ideologically charged script. In short, boys and girls met on strictly defined days of the week, communicated within the framework of their socially approved interests, then dispersed until the next day new meeting(whether it was the Day of the Sun, a Saturday disco or a fashionable party), plus there were strictly unplanned days such as competitions, exhibitions, receptions, etc.

The current associations of young people have acquired a slightly different scope and, accordingly, a different distribution pattern. It has become possible to talk about the existence of a unique socio-psychological phenomenon - a youth subculture that exists within traditional social culture, one way or another accepted in our society.

If we move the conversation into a practical direction, it should be noted that the latter became possible only thanks to the social, political and economic conditions in which the CIS countries found themselves over the past twenty years. A person cannot live in emptiness; he must necessarily “lean” against something, have support, “soil under his feet,” reflect the world in himself and be reflected in the world himself. In this sense, modern youth has followed “the path of least resistance” - they began to unite into fairly powerful movements based on surrogate, and often socially indifferent pseudo-values ​​that create the illusion of a full spiritual life.

What is most depressing in this process is the visible (for specialists) contradiction between external and internal factors - being accelerated in terms of physical development, today's young people turn out to be extremely infantile in socio-psychological terms. Resolve this contradiction, effectively make timely correction and “tuning” the psyche of young people to solve really important and relevant life problems, thereby eliminating states of uncertainty, loss, anxiety, depression - this is seen as the most important task of psychologists.

The first fundamental description of the youth subculture is considered to be the work of Dick Gebdige “Hiding in the Light: Observations and the Image of Youth” in the book “Hiding in the Light: About Images and...” published in London in 1988. things."

As shown here, a subculture is distinguished by a special lifestyle, which in turn is dictated by a special worldview, and thanks to its own subculture, as scientists say, “social identification of members of a particular community” occurs. In other words, only through a subculture can a young person give himself an answer to the question: “What am I?” - and this answer will sound like this: “I am the same as us.” “We” are representatives of one subculture, be it hippies, punks, skins, hackers, etc. A young man defines himself among others as accepting the same paradigm, and thanks to this he is defined (as scientists say, positions himself) in society.

Subcultures do not arise by magic or by the will of some nefarious forces. Subculture is the result of the attitude of a certain group to the processes occurring in official culture(it is perhaps better to call it dominant or predominant, since the term “official” still carries a connotation of the meaning “implanted by force”).

.2 Stages of life of subcultures

The life process of a subculture can be divided into the following stages:

Origin. At this stage, the first followers of the subculture appear, usually captivated by general ideas and grouping around a new little-known musical direction, often originating within another subculture.

Formation. At this stage, the ideology of the subculture is finally formed, which may have common features with other subcultures, but always has something of its own that distinguishes this movement from others. The musical direction around which the subculture arose is undergoing intensive development and becoming known to the general public. A subculture acquires its own style and attributes, which may include not only appearance, but also behavior.

Popularization. The rapid growth in the number of people passionate about a given subculture, mainly due to posers (individuals who consider themselves to be part of a certain subculture, but are only able to adopt its external features). Because of this, the masses learn about the subculture. Despite people’s rejection of the new movement, its ideas penetrate the consciousness of the masses and over time, elements of the subculture become part of mass culture (mainstream).

Recession. The poseur part of the subculture dissolves in the mainstream and actually becomes part of it, thereby influencing the culture of the entire society. The ideological part remains in the same form as it was in early stages and again becomes the lot of the initiated few. As a rule, this is accompanied by a weakening of those social contradictions that contributed to the emergence of the subculture.

It must be said that not all subcultures go through all four stages entirely. Many, especially those professing right-wing radical views, linger somewhere in the region of the second - third phase (this primarily applies to Nazi skinheads). Some subcultures, which have as part of their ideology a rejection of commerce and a rejection of the mainstream, stop at the second stage and lead an underground existence (hardcore). It is also very important that the third phase is key in the life of the subculture. Mass character leads to a sharp intensification of mutual cultural diffusion between the subculture and the culture of the society where there is a surge in its popularity. Often the product of the harsh antagonism of these cultures is shit (an extreme degree of posturing). In addition, popularity contributes to the alienation of its basis from the subculture. It is very difficult for the latter, psychologically, to be responsible for posers, whose actions do not always correspond to the original ideas of the movement. This leads not only to the erosion of the main idea of ​​the subculture, but is also fraught with the actual replacement of the basis of the subculture by shitheads with subsequent degradation and collapse of the entire movement.

Whether the third and fourth stages are inevitably destructive for the subculture is a moot point. On the one hand, without them the movement could well have led a quiet life, without being subjected to abuse and maintaining ideological purity. On the other hand, without these stages, the ideas of the movement will remain the property of a narrow group of like-minded people and lovers of unpopular music (3).

.3 Social stereotypes

Social stereotypes are simplified schematized images of social objects, characterized by a high degree of consistency of individual ideas.

Thus, they are an opinion about the personal qualities of a group of people. Stereotypes can be overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. This is a significant part of that information about facts, generalizations, assessments and explanations that are very difficult to verify empirically. Firstly, their formation is always associated with the framework of ideological and political predilections; Secondly, most of social information simply cannot be verified by its consumers. Traditional sources of information are primarily rumors, the most accessible media, reports from authorities and other public institutions (2).

The concept of “stereotype” was first introduced by the famous American journalist Walter Lippman in 1922 in the book “Public Opinion”, where he defines a stereotype as a simplified, pre-accepted idea that does not arise from a person’s own experience. It arises on the basis of indirect perception of an object: “We are told about the world before we know it through experience.” Stereotypes, according to W. Lippmann, initially arise spontaneously, due to the “inevitable need to save attention.” They contribute to the formation of traditions and habits. "They are a fortress guarding our own traditions, and under their cover we can feel secure in the position we occupy." Stereotypes influence the formation of new empirical experience: “They fill a fresh vision with old images and are superimposed on the world that we perceive in our memory.” Although the degree of their adequacy is extremely labile, stereotypes are predominantly inadequate images of objective reality, based on “the mistake of a person who, out of habit, takes a biased vision.” “The stereotype is clear; he divides the world into two categories - the “familiar” and the “unfamiliar”. The familiar becomes a synonym for “good,” and the unfamiliar becomes a synonym for “bad.”

A stereotype contains an evaluative element. Lippman believed that the stereotype was neutral. The evaluative element appears in the form of an attitude, emotional communication. A stereotype is not just a simplification. He is in highest degree charged with feelings." The evaluative element of a stereotype (attitude) is always consciously determined, since a stereotype, expressing the feelings of an individual, his system of values, is always correlated with group feelings and group actions. This led to the conclusion about the possible unity of stereotypes among certain social institutions And social systems. The stereotype, W. Lippmann further reflected, is inadequate. Stereotypes (“prejudices”) effectively control the entire process of perception, being the standard for assessing and, accordingly, protecting the individual belonging to a given group. Ultimately, stereotypes contribute to the process of interpreting the socio-political unity of a group.

IN initial period Research following W. Lippmann considered the problem of stereotype as false, illogical and imperfect formations or preconceived opinions: “pictures in the head”, “emotional symbol”, “fixed image”. Later, stereotyping began to be considered as a necessary and important cognitive process that mediates human behavior and helps his orientation. A stereotype began to be considered an attribute of the real human psyche, and “stereotyped” concepts, assessments, categories - as “clumps” of social experience fixed in the public consciousness, as repeating properties and phenomena. “Most researchers agree that stereotypes can be “imposed” through the media. In this case, the formation of a stereotype goes through three stages, as a result of which a complex object is reduced to a scheme and well-known features. In the book “A Remedy for Millions” R. O'Hara calls these three stages: the first is “leveling”, the second is “strengthening” (sparpening), the third is “assimilation”. At first, a complex differentiated object is reduced to several ready-made, well-known forms (features), and then the selected characteristics of the object are given special significance in comparison with what they had when they were constituent elements the whole. Finally, “aligned” and “enhanced” features of the object are selected to build an image that is close and meaningful to the individual. A person accustomed to the situation reacts automatically. “The intensity of the reaction,” according to O’Hara, “will depend on the intensity of the emotional impact, on the art of manipulating stereotypes.”

In the early 60s, in the context of a new research wave, new problems in the study of stereotypes were formed. The influence of individual psychological characteristics and personal characteristics on the mechanisms of stereotyping is studied; the main structural and dynamic features of stereotypes of social objects and situations are analyzed; ways of forming stereotypes.

Researchers do not have a clear view of the nature and essence of the stereotype. Some find that the stereotype of social consciousness is always specially organized and functions on the basis of some specific social order. It depends on the tasks of socialization, and not on the elements of the sensory nature of perception. Others place importance on sensory experience in forming a stereotype. Still others, agreeing that stereotypical thinking was formed spontaneously, emphasize that stereotypes are maintained consciously, with the help of specially and historically introduced ordinary consciousness a priori judgments that gradually permeate all areas of life, including politics and art, and ultimately acquire the force of a moral law or community rules that have historical significance. The last opinion of the French sociologist P. Ricoeur seems to us the most promising when studying the phenomena of stereotype.

One of the main aspects of studying a stereotype is the problem of the relationship between stability and variability. A number of researchers (K. McCauley, K. Stith, M. Segal), paying attention to the stability of stereotypes, note that refuting information is considered as an exception that confirms the rule. However, practice shows that stereotypes react to new information, especially for dramatic events. A change in stereotype occurs when a large amount of disconfirming information is accumulated.

Conclusions on the first chapter

The first chapter examined the main theoretical principles related to the subject of research of this work. We have determined that a subculture is a set of values ​​and practices of a group of people accumulated by a certain worldview, united by specific interests that determine their worldview. Modern subcultures are one of the phenomena of globalization, when, thanks to global media (primarily the Internet), people can find like-minded people on the other side of the globe, exchange images, music and other information. The vast majority of modern subcultures are youth subcultures, and are based on young people’s rejection of the dominant culture in society, with its norms, stereotypes and values.

The life process of a subculture can be roughly divided into 4 stages: origin, formation, popularization and decline.

Any subculture, due to its otherness and the presence of a certain ideology and values ​​that can be traced, is subject to stereotyping - a simplified, schematic representation on the part of the main, mass culture. Stereotypes can reflect both positive and negative attitudes towards both the subculture as a whole and its individual representative.

Chapter 2. EMO subculture: history and characteristics

.1 History of the emergence of the EMO subculture

Over the past few years, when it comes to youth subcultures, quite often one has heard a hitherto little-known concept - EMO. And, as a rule, it is mentioned in a negative light. In the philistine consciousness, this is yet another destructive movement of young people, which does not bring anything good to either its participants or the entire society. Meanwhile, if you understand the topic at least a little, you can find out that initially the emo movement, although it inherited a number of asocial ideas from punk culture, was quite peaceful, and in many aspects even progressive.

Since we want to understand what is somehow connected with the concept of emo, the greatest interest for us is the evolution of the punk scene in the 80s and 90s, and especially in the USA. Hardcore like musical genre appeared in the USA at the end of the 70s (groups Black Flag, Bad Brains, Circle Jerks) and at first did not have any ideological content of its own, different from the rest of the punk scene. A milestone in the development of American (and not only) hardcore was the appearance of the group Minor Threat in December 1980. Some of the band's first songs included "Straight Edge" and "Guilty of Being White". The first of them called for abstinence from alcohol, drugs and promiscuous sex. The second was devoted to the problem of racial intolerance. Minor Threat's performances not only gave a powerful impetus to the Straight Edge movement, which was new to the punk scene, but also essentially distinguished hardcore punk into a new subculture with its own ideology. The basis of this ideology was left-wing (mostly anarchist) views inherited from punk, as well as the principles of Straight Edge (sXe). What is the main idea of ​​sXe? To answer this question, you need to understand what problems and contradictions tormented the American youth of that time. One of these problems was the problem of relationships between white and black students in schools. For example, at the school where Minor Threat singer Ian Mackay attended, about 70% of the students were African-American and racial intolerance was common. In older grades, another problem arose in full force - widespread drunkenness, addiction to drugs, promiscuous sexual relations between teenagers. This is what McKay says in his interview: “When I turned 17 and went to high school, I was the only one there who didn’t drink, and the guys made fun of me. They called me “” public consciousness". I was constantly teased about this, I just couldn't get my head around why not drinking was such a crime. It was the late 70s, keep in mind, just every teenager smoked weed back then. Everyone I knew drank or tarred , and those who did not do this were considered real idiots, nerds and bastards."

But, on the other hand, punk culture captivated McKay with its ideas:

"Punk rock introduced me to the world of the underground, to the world of endless ideas, philosophical views, countless goals in life opened up before me. Dozens of levels of culture: philosophical, theological, sexual, musical, political - on each of them there is a place for anyone who wants to enter. So now I could meaningfully say, "Guys, I'm a punk and I don't drink." Nobody believed me at first. When my friends and I said this, we simply weren’t heard; everyone around us believed that punk was nothing but destruction and self-destruction and nothing more. We really stirred up trouble in the punk community, they suddenly discovered that they had some non-drinking, f**king teenagers in their ranks, they just didn’t know what to do with us.”

Thus, the sXe ideology became a kind of protest against this state of affairs. Its main principle is freedom from all those nonsense that prevent a person from living and developing, that prevent him from being a person and not an animal. Among these nonsense, McKay and other founders of the movement included not only alcohol, smoking, drugs, sexual intemperance, but also racial and other intolerance. These ideas were supported in their performances by many other hard rock punk bands of the 80s.

So, in the first half of the 80s, hard rock punk became a completely self-sufficient subculture, with its own musical style and ideology (primarily sXe and DiY). Differences from punk were also evident in appearance. Hardcore people mostly had short hairstyles, or completely bald heads, wore cheap, unpretentious clothes, in general, tried in every possible way to avoid external frills and stay away from mass culture with its fashion.

The origins of the genre of music, better known as emotional hardcore, are directly related to two bands in the mid-80s: Rite of spring (Guy Pizziotto) and Embrace (Ian Mackay). These groups retained the hardcore style of music and singing, but interspersed with specific “emo” vocals, when the vocalist’s voice broke into a hoarse and passionate moan in bright moments. At the same time, the lyrics were sometimes personal in nature, touching on lost love and dying memories. The most notable group of this trend was, perhaps, Moss Icon, which appeared in Annapolis near Washington in 1987 (another famous emo group, The Hated, had previously played there). Already the early work of the group, which many do not attribute to emo itself, had texts that were uncharacteristic for hardcore groups. Later records Hate In Me, Mahpiua Luta had more pronounced emo elements in the music and vocals. Emo existed entirely within the confines of hardcore punk culture and did not form any of their own. What then is the history of the origin of the word “emo” itself? The answer to this question is given by one of Ian Mackay's interviews:

“I myself have never used the prefix “emo.” This word has a funny story. In 85-86, some of the local scene was actively developing in Washington, from which bands such as Rites Of Spring, Embrace, Rain and many others emerged. A lot of cynical people didn't like their style and...god knows what they didn't like, but they got a **** over this kind of music and started calling it "emo rock." Such a joke. Like, it’s not hardcore at all, but some kind of emotional rock. This joke was also picked up by fanzines: when it was necessary to curse the group, they were often called “emo rock”. But for some reason, after five years, people began to use this word as the name of a certain musical style. Groups appeared immediately, supposedly playing in this style. I can't understand this. It seems to me that all music is emotional, it doesn’t need to be called “emotional”. Punk music is inherently emotional. Bands that call their work "emo-punk" today... I don't find their music particularly emotional, it's usually just pop music. And a special name is invented for it, so that it is easier for the listener to understand what he is buying. I have nothing against this, but I don’t want to invent a definition for my music myself.”

So what conclusions can we draw from all this? We have already talked about three points of support on which any subculture rests. In the case of imo (Russian transcription of English emo), there is only a musical direction, and that, for the most part, is a “spare part” of a long-established hardcore culture. There are not and never were any ideas lying outside of hardcore. But where did all that today called emo subculture come from? All these black and pink clothes, badges, bangs, emo sites, conversations about a vulnerable soul and failed love?

After 2000, a new unusual subculture began to gain popularity in the USA and Europe, which originated among the Imo and Imo-hardcore music crowd. Actually, it got its name from its musical direction. Having inherited the musical style and, in some places, ideology from hardcore, the imo kids acquired their own appearance. At the same time, commercial music bands, in particular The Used, who became popular far beyond the boundaries of hardcore and _Pushcha-rock parties. Combined with an unusual appearance, this led to the rapid development of a young subculture, mainly due to melancholic and not very physically developed teenagers of 12...17 years old. These young people found in emo what they so lacked when surrounded by peers and strict teachers - an opportunity to take a break from the constant struggle for leadership in a teenage group, to be themselves, without hiding their weaknesses and feelings. All this was quite consistent with the image of the imo-kid (representatives of the emo subculture): sad, thin guys and girls, often wearing glasses and headphones, avoiding noisy companies, constantly thoughtful and with their heads down. Loneliness, unhappy love, the desire to realize oneself through creativity have become one of the attributes of IMO culture. Imo kids were not accustomed to the hobbies and habits common among ordinary teenagers, such as drinking alcohol, smoking, the cult of sex and the desire to assert themselves through obscene language and physical force. In other words, their worldview was quite close to sXe. Approximately in this form, IMO culture came to Russia in 2004..2005, and after some time - to Ukraine (3).

2.2 Features of the life of emo culture in Ukrainian conditions

Before we move on to the chronology of the development of Ukrainian emo, it is necessary to understand what the first Ukrainian imokids were. By the word “Ukrainian” I mean those living not only in Ukraine, but also in the CIS countries too. Understanding the essence and characteristics of the psyche of these people will help us understand the motives of their actions in the future. Firstly, these were people who were not very developed mentally and physically, those who are usually classified as “alternatively gifted.” Indeed, a well-rounded teenager with a high IQ and academic success would hardly be interested in this antisocial movement, especially in the basis of Russian (former Soviet) culture. But this antisociality, at the same time, explains another characteristic feature data people. This feature lies in their denial complex, based on an inferiority complex. That is, they denied in every possible way public values and the lifestyle of the people around them, they sought to stand out from the crowd, show themselves as non-standard individuals and, due to this, assert themselves. In short, these teenagers, fearing to fall into the category of outcasts, were very eager to be “not like everyone else.” The desire for self-affirmation through denial is what brought these young people into this rather unusual subculture for Ukraine.

So, as often happens, the rapid growth of popularity, on the one hand, led to the emergence of a new mass youth culture in our country, but on the other, became a real test of strength for it. In just a year, from a group of a maximum of a couple of hundred people, the emo movement turned into a crowd of thousands of imitators who took only the outer shell of the subculture and never understood its essence. In an effort to look as creepy as possible, the newly minted imo kids began to take the emo image to the extreme: crying in front of others, throwing hysterics, screaming about suicide and cutting veins, etc. Together with overly emotional teenagers, on the wave of fashion, gopniks began to fall into the emo movement. Because of this, such phenomena as drunkenness, swearing, etc. spread at emo gatherings. However, the main thing that led to the massive spread of IMO was that tens of thousands of young people across the country became familiar with IMO music, including old school hardrock - such groups as Rites of Spring, Embrace, Moss Icon, etc. Along with the music, the ideas of the hardrock punk movement also spread: sXe, anti-fascism, DiY. The biography and work of Ian Mackay became known in wide circles. All this information was distributed via the Internet; most emo sites had articles about the history of the subculture. Thanks to this, after some time a fairly large number of people who were knowledgeable and well versed in these things appeared, many of whom became interested in punk ideas and even became straight edgers. Questions may arise here: - So why, in the end, along with the visual style, elements of hardcore ideology, the same straight edge, for example, did not come into fashion - Where did such integral components of the emo worldview as empathy for someone else's misfortune, tolerance, pacifism go? The condition for the development of a full-fledged subculture is the presence of a BASIS. The base is something like a crystallization center when ice forms from water. People from the base set an example for others, as a result, groups of followers are formed around them, who then themselves become part of the base, and so on. But the trouble is, somewhere towards the end of 2006-beginning of 2007, when emo was at the peak of popularity, it turned out that emo culture, as such, had no basis.

2.3 Emo image

Following the fashion for emo music came the emo style in clothing and appearance:

Emo Romulan Hairstyle (Thick, black-dyed, greasy hair should be cut short in the front with a razor and cover half of the forehead. The hair is cut high on the ears in the same way.)

In fact, any greasy, black-dyed hair. Pieces in front, sidelocks behind and over the ears, plus disheveled.

Pink bangs. Black and pink is a native color combination for emo.

Whiskers.

Glasses with pink frames, or at least thick black frames.

Heavy slacks, usually very tight and short.

Starikovskie polyester pants.

Thin sweatshirts made of polyester, very small size(with top row of buttons and collar). Also kids size jerseys with random slogans on them, or sports numbers on the back.

The same tight T-shirts with heavy metal designs (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motorhead). Preferably a little worn.

Clattering black boots.

Tennis shoes (low Chuck Taylor or Converse Jack Purcell).

Gas station workers jackets. This chip has become widespread in recent years, not being exclusive to emo kids for very long. Nowadays, you can also find a good corduroy jacket.

Classic outerwear for the street, in the form of a coat, is suitable. For example, the popular Blue Peacoat.

Hairpins for guys.

Cosmetics (men's or women's).

Tight jackets and v-neck sweaters. Sweaters in dark colors with a transverse stripe.

Black denim pants should be rolled up no more than twice.

Pants from the series work clothes . As a last resort, corduroy is allowed.

Emo -jackets from the same series, designed in earth tones, as well as brown, gray and dark blue. One or two stripes.

Wallets with a chain, but even cooler is a large key ring (doorman style).

Wristbands.

Anorexic thinness.

Checkered patterns on any item of clothing.

Messenger bag (21).

Today no one can really explain where this or that component, which is considered integral part emo kid image. If hair dyed black and black shadows under the eyes resemble the appearance of goths and allow us to draw some parallels between the gloom and depression of both, then why, for example, Vans and “Vans” sneakers became the main shoes of emo kids? Converse"? Most likely, this is the legacy of hardrock/punk. In general, sneakers from the Converse brand, founded in 1917 by a man named Marquis M. Converse, before they became one of the main features of the emo image, were also worn by the musicians Ramones (as well as skinny jeans), and then many more generation of punk musicians and punk rock fans.

Much later, in the early fifties, the “messenger bag” appeared - a leather bag with a shoulder strap and two clasps, seemingly the perfect size for vinyl discs. True, back then it was mainly telephone line installers who carried such bags.

Skulls and bones - often seen on the clothes of emo kids - are borrowed either from the goths or from metalheads - both of them love these symbols, without filling them with any special meaning.

They love emo kids and colorful tattoos, not much different in this from all other musical subcultures. The example here is set by the musicians themselves, many of whom are thoroughly tattooed.

Another feature of emo kids - not mandatory, but quite common - is all kinds of piercings on different parts of the body, as well as “tunnels” - rings inserted into large holes in the ears and “plugs” - large earrings without holes in the middle. All this also appeared before emo culture and was simply picked up by emo kids.

It turns out that emo fashion mixes elements of different styles. Why? Probably because teenagers most often copy the appearance of the bands they listen to, and in the third wave of emo groups are quite different, and, accordingly, they all have different appearances. So we get such a hybrid of punk, metal and gothic.

Business could not help but react to the new fashion trend, and as soon as the number of emo kids grew to the level of the mass market, a huge number of different clothes and accessories in black and pink immediately appeared on sale. color scheme- everything you need to create the right image of an emo kid.

But some corporations went even further, and in 2005, sales of “Emo Kid Gum” chewing gum began in the United States, the wrapper of which depicts a boy with black bangs and horn-rimmed glasses, and back side It says: “Special formula for people with sensitive souls.”

And a sign that emo music has finally become a part of mass culture and consumer society was the contract American group My Chemical Romance with toy manufacturer Mattel Inc, concluded in 2005. Under this contract, the company began producing dolls - figurines of the band's musicians - similar to figurines of heroes from popular films and television series.

Conclusions on the second chapter

The emergence of the emo subculture is associated with events that took place in the US music world in the 70-80s of the last century. The new movement - hard rock - called for abstinence from drinking, smoking, drug addiction, promiscuity and racial intolerance. The origins of the genre of music, better known as emotional hardcore, are directly related to two bands in the mid-80s: Rite of spring (Guy Pizziotto) and Embrace (Ian Mackay). Fans of this trend formed the basis of the emo movement, which went beyond the boundaries of the musical direction. At the same time, this movement did not bring anything new to culture; it simply accumulated some ideas from the hard rock and punk rock scenes.

The emo movement, having transformed into a subculture, began to gain popularity in the USA and Europe after 2000, in 2004-05. it declared itself in the CIS countries. In just a year, from a group of a maximum of a couple of hundred people, the emo movement turned into a crowd of thousands of imitators who took only the outer shell of the subculture and never understood its essence.

Today, the main distinctive attribute of emo culture is the appearance of its representatives: sneakers, skinny jeans, a messenger bag, side bangs, black hair with pink accents, etc. It is noteworthy that all these attributes do not have any symbolism, which confirms the origin emo subculture, as imitating and integrating the values ​​of other subcultures.

The emo subculture is called a movement for teenagers, since its main part is made up of teenagers 13-19 years old. Business could not help but react to this fact, and today a huge number of things and toys depicting the symbols of the subculture are produced.

The main reason why teenagers join a subculture is a lack of understanding on the part of people around them, especially their families. An important motivating factor is the actual appearance of emo, which attracts a teenager.

youth Ukrainian subculture emo

Chapter 3. Research on the peculiarities of perception of the emo subculture

.1 Description of samples and research methods

The study involved 2 samples. The first group consisted of representatives of the emo subculture from different cities of Crimea aged 15 to 19 years - 8 people: 5 girls and 3 boys. The second sample consisted of 20 TSEI students who did not identify themselves with any of the subcultures.

In this work, an adapted diagnostic relationship test (G.U Ktsoeva-Soldatova) and the association method were used.

The first technique is intended to study the emotional-evaluative component of the stereotype. In this technique, respondents first evaluate the “I” image based on these qualities, then the abstract “ideal” image, which in the context of each personality is considered as a “correct” or “normative” relational attribution.

The following test procedures are the respondents' assessments of an abstract “typical” representative of their own community and “typical” representatives of the emo subculture.

This sequence of procedures is based on the assumption that the process of self-assessment or assessment of the “ideal” made on the basis of social comparison can be compared with the assessments of “others” at both the individual and group levels. It is likely that when assessing other individuals or entire groups, the same comparative levels that a person uses for self-assessment will be used (14).

In order to identify the presence of oppositions and subsequently determine their severity as a possible empirical indicator of the emotional-evaluative component of an ethnic stereotype, twenty scales are used (Appendix 1). This test allows you to measure parameters such as ambivalence, severity and direction. These parameters are meaningful characteristics of ethnic stereotypes, dimensions of their “imagery”. Quantitative indicators of parameters are considered as empirical indicators of the emotional-evaluative component of an ethnic stereotype (14).

Ambivalence involves measuring the degree of emotional certainty of a stereotype. High coefficients of ambivalence (high uncertainty) are possible in the case of low polarization of assessments of the opposite qualities of each couple, when a clear preference for the positive or negative pole of the assessment is not revealed.

A low coefficient of ambivalence (high stereotype certainty), on the contrary, corresponds to an undoubted polarization of qualities.

The ambivalence coefficient for a given pair of qualities is determined by the formula:

Ai = min (ai+ + ai-) / max (ai+ + ai-), where

The respondent's assessment of positive quality, - assessment negative quality.

The general ambivalence coefficient A is determined on the basis of the ambivalence coefficients of all 20 scales.

A = 1 / n (? Ai);= 0.05 ? A;

So, the higher the general coefficient of ambivalence, the greater the uncertainty characterized by the attitude towards this object; the lower this coefficient, the more definite the relationship.

The severity (intensity) of a stereotype characterizes the strength of the stereotype. The calculation of the expression coefficient (S) is based on the summation of clearly polarized pairs of qualities. The greater the distance between quality assessments, the higher the individual expression coefficient for a given pair. The greatest contribution to the value of the expression coefficient is made by those pairs of qualities whose distance between assessments on the continuum is above average or maximum. In addition, the calculation of severity coefficients is carried out taking into account the sign of the assessments, as a result of which not just the intensity of the stereotype is revealed, but also its positive or negative orientation (valence).

The coefficient of expression of the given pair of qualities is determined by the formula:

Si = (ai+ - ai-) / 3(1 + Ai), where

The respondent’s assessment of a positive quality, - an assessment of a negative quality, - the coefficient of ambivalence of a given pair of qualities.

The overall coefficient is determined based on the expression coefficients of all 20 scales:

In the second method, respondents were asked to write what associations they have in relation to the subcultures of emo, goths, punks, metalheads, rappers, hooligans and skinheads. This made it possible to show not only the evaluative characteristics of the perception of subcultures, but also to compare the modalities of perception of various subcultures.

3.2. Interpretation of research results

In the process of forming a sample of respondents for the study, an interesting fact was discovered that may have higher value and interest than the data obtained from testing. It turned out that appearance: hairstyles typical of emo kids, skinny jeans, hair dyed black and pink, and other attributes are not a sufficient criterion for classifying a given individual as a member of the subculture we are studying. Only one out of five individuals dressed according to all the criteria of an emo kid recognized that they belonged to this subculture. For others, the most common answer to the question is: “Why do you look like that then?” there was a phrase: “We like this style.” Thus, we are once again convinced that the emo style has ceased to be the prerogative of only representatives of this movement, it is joining mass culture as another fashionable, well-promoted thing. One should not discount the possibility that many emos, fearing a negative attitude towards themselves, simply hide their attitude towards the subculture, or, under the influence of social attitudes, displace it.

Now let's turn to empirical data. A diagnostic relationship test allows you to determine the coefficient of ambivalence, severity and direction of auto- and heterostereotypes

Table 1

General values coefficients of ambivalence (A) and severity (S) of the autostereotype for the emo subculture

Pairs of qualities A, %S, % Cautious - cowardly 7653 Affable - flattering 7538 Witty - malicious 86-56 Reserved - indifferent 7921 Diplomatic - hypocritical 6348 Neat - pedantic 5857 Cheerful - noisy 6761 Inquisitive - prying into other people's affairs 71-17 Sensitive - nervous 75-67 Brave - reckless 54-17 Casual - arrogant 58-34 Carefree - frivolous 6768 Self-respecting - arrogant 7973 Sociable - obsessive 5815 Straightforward - rude 9442 Thrifty - greedy 7917 Temperamental - hot-tempered 5085 Persistent - stubborn 5712 Resourceful - cunning 75-32 Flexible - characterless 5451

We see that the highest degree of intensity in the definition of their community by representatives of the emo subculture is possessed by the pairs of qualities: temperamental - hot-tempered, with a sense of self-esteem - arrogant, carefree - frivolous, cheerful - noisy, the pairs of qualities sensitive - nervous and witty - have a high degree of negative orientation. snide. But all these qualities are also characterized by a high percentage of ambivalence (except for the temperamental - hot-tempered pair), therefore, we can talk about a low degree of differentiation of these qualities (Table 1). Consequently, the attitude towards these qualities is characterized by uncertainty, and respondents do not clearly enough polarize these qualities into positive and negative.

Let's compare these data with the indicators in a sample of people who do not belong to any of the subcultures (Table 2). Let us note that the first sample had the opportunity to evaluate only the autostereotype, while the second sample provided evaluative data both in relation to its subculture and in relation to the emo subculture we studied.

table 2

General values ​​of the coefficients of ambivalence (A) and severity (S) of the autostereotype and heterostereotype in the second sample

Pairs of qualitiesEmo subcultureOwn subcultureA, %S ,%A, %S, %Cautious - cowardly70-366753Amiable - flattering63566369Witty - malicious69515567Restrained -indifferent49636574Diplomatic - hypocritical63266773Neat - pedantic - frivolous 84687054 With self-esteem - arrogant 83645670 Sociable - intrusive 88596368 Straightforward - rude 75617159 Thrifty - greedy 73525250 Temperamental - quick-tempered 68738074 Persistent - stubborn 95-419060 Resourceful - cunning y80-347157Amenable - spineless70-685848

The first thing you should pay attention to when interpreting the tabular data is that out of 20 pairs of qualities when assessing the emo subculture, only 6 have a negative orientation. As a stereotype in the perception of the emo subculture, we can talk about the personal qualities of sensitivity, spinelessness, carelessness and ease. However, the second sample evaluates its surroundings more positively, and self-stereotypes of mass culture include restraint, diplomacy, self-esteem, sociability, courtesy and wit. This sample is also characterized high coefficient ambivalence, i.e. uncertainty regarding the emotional component of the stereotype.

When interpreting the results of the second technique, we divided associations by modality into 3 types:

positive, characterizing a positive perception of the subculture (good, kind, brave);

negative, with a negative assessment (stupid, evil, freaks);

neutral, or descriptive, not evaluative (bald, dark clothes, hairy).

The percentage distributions of the three types of associations are shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3

Distribution of associations in the first sample - among representatives of the emo subculture (in%)

Type of associationSubcultureEmoGothPunksMetalheadsRappersHooligansSkinheadsPositive25255002512.50Negative04025752562.5100Neutral/descriptive7535252550250

Table 4

Distribution of associations in the second sample - among people who do not belong to any subculture (in%)

Type of associationSubcultureEmoGothPunksMetalheadsRappersHooligansSkinheadsPositive5555555Negative4040255304050Neutral/descriptive45353550451015

Emo kids, naturally, did not give a single negative association to their subculture; descriptive associations predominated. 25% of respondents gave positive assessments. Perhaps this is due to the position expressed in the second chapter: emo accepted only the external attributes of the initially formed subculture, ignoring or reducing to the point of absurdity the ideological side of the movement.

The data obtained confirmed the known status of hostility between emo and skinheads: 100% negative associations towards the latter. Relationships with metalheads and hooligans are also characterized by hostility. Half of the respondents in the first sample have positive associations towards punks. Not surprising, considering that many of the attributes of the emo subculture were taken from this movement. There is a neutral attitude towards goths, similar in appearance to emo, and rappers.

The situation in the second sample is somewhat different. Not all respondents have associations regarding the represented subcultures. Like the first method, associations do not confirm negative perceptions of the subculture being studied (only 40% of respondents have negative associations, which does not give us the right to judge the perception of the emo subculture as negative). Consequently, after analyzing the data from two methods, we can say that our hypothesis that ideas about the emo subculture in society are negative was not confirmed. It cannot be said, however, that the emo subculture is perceived as a positive entity: only one person out of 10 respondents gave it a positive assessment. The situation is similar with all other subcultures. Society cannot approve of dissent and antisocial behavior, but the attitude towards it is quite tolerant, excluding, perhaps, only representatives of clearly countersocial groups, such as skinheads and hooligans.

Conclusions on the third chapter

In the process of forming a sample for the study, it turned out that appearance is not a reliable indicator of an individual’s membership in the emo subculture. Then we should talk about the emo style, and not about the subculture. The problem is that society is not able to differentiate these concepts in this case. Therefore, we can observe the blurring of the stereotyping of this subculture, which occurs inevitably and in relation to all individuals who look like emo.

None of the samples has a sufficient understanding of the differentiation of pairs of qualities presented in the “Diagnostic Relationship Test” technique, so we cannot single out any one quality that is certainly stereotypical. However, in a sample of representatives of the emo subculture, the following self-stereotypes of perception were identified: emo kids are temperamental, self-respecting, carefree, cheerful, nervous and sarcastic.

Members of society who do not consider themselves part of any subculture perceive emo kids as sensitive, spineless, carefree and laid-back.

The associations that emo kids use to describe other subcultures give us the opportunity to affirm a negative attitude towards skinheads, metalheads and hooligans, as well as the more descriptive nature of the autostereotype.

In the second sample, there is a negative tendency in the perception of the heterostereotype of the emo subculture, but it does not have a clearly defined tendency. A similar situation is observed in the perception of other subcultures. Almost all represented subcultures are perceived to a greater extent negatively (with the exception of metalheads and hooligans), but this orientation does not have a decisive meaning when it characterizes the opinion of the majority. It can be reliably said that no subculture has any strong support among the rest of the population.

Thus, the hypothesis that there are differences in how emo people perceive their subculture and how it is perceived by society that does not belong to any of the subcultures was confirmed, but not as clearly as one might expect. The hypothesis putting forward the position that ideas about the emo subculture in society are negative in nature was not confirmed, but we also have no reason to refute it due to the lack of clear characteristics.

Conclusion

We often hear that emo is just another destructive youth movement that brings nothing good to either its participants or the entire society. Meanwhile, if you understand the topic at least a little, you can find out that initially the emo movement, although it inherited a number of asocial ideas from punk culture, was completely peaceful, and in many aspects even progressive.

The study of specific subcultures is a little-studied problem in social psychology. This work does not claim to be complete and detailed description, it is an attempt to address only a small part of this problem. The historical and cultural background in which the emo subculture developed was shown, its descriptive portrait was given, and the features of its perception by both society and the representatives of this subculture themselves were explored. The work did not explore the reasons that push a teenager to join the ranks of the subculture. Some of them can be found in the work “Sukach A.A. Features of the youth subculture: Course work. - Simferopol, 2008,” some were given in the theoretical part of the study. The methodological base needs to be improved, which in this study can only to a small extent illuminate the problem of social relationships.

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