Emo Mexicans Vs. Punk and Macho.

[Tam Li Hua]

News Link and Video.

Riot police have taken to the streets of several cities in Mexico to ... defend emo kids?

A series of attacks on dyed-hair, eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north of Mexico City.

The next week, shaggy-haired emo teenagers were harassed again by punks and rockabillys in the capital, prompting police protection and a segment on the TV news. Most recently, a Mexican newspaper reported that metal heads and gangsters have warned Tijuana's emo kids to stay away from the town's fair next month.

But the so-called emos are organizing, too. Last week, they demonstrated against the violence, pictured above, and Wednesday some met with police in Mexico City.

"They're organizing to defend their right to be emo," wrote Daniel Hernandez of LA Weekly on his personal blog, which has provided stellar coverage of the whole affair.

Music-based subcultures have permeated Mexico's major cities for decades, fueled by constant migration from rural cities. But only in the past year have emos begun to make their presence felt in the streets. In response, many of the established so-called tribus urbanas like punks and metalheads are responding with violence. The emo-punk battles are reminiscent of earlier subculture fights among various factions, like the Hell's Angels fighting hippies at the Altamont Music Festival or the Mods taking on the Rockers.

But while videos of Mexican teenagers with pompadours advancing on equally baby-faced emo rockers seem like scenes from a south-of-the-border version of John Waters' Crybaby, there are ugly undercurrents to the story.

First, by some accounts, the emo subculture is identified with homosexuality in Mexico. As Mexico City youth worker Victor Mendoza told Time.com: "At the core of this is the homophobic issue. The other arguments are just window dressing for that."

Gustavo Arellano, the author of Ask a Mexican and an editor at OC Weekly, said that the sexual ambiguities cultivated by emo fashion helped set the group up for targeting by more macho groups.

"What do you do when you are confronted with a question mark about sexuality in Mexico?" Arellano said. "You beat it up."

Forum posts show similar sentiments. One person wrote on a government youth-website forum, "detesto a los emosexuales," which translates as "I hate emosexuals." Emosexual is an obvious play on homosexual, especially in Spanish, where the H is silent.

Many of the attacks have been planned, or at least fomented, on violently anti-emo websites like Movimiento Anti Emosexual, which features videos of physical violence sprinkled liberally with anti-gay sentiment. Last.fm's Anti Emo Death Squad group has almost 4,000 members.

But Arellano said he thought the riots could have a positive impact here in the US.

"It's a great clusterfuck for the American mind's idea of Mexico," Arellano said. "This teaches the rest of the world that Mexico is not just a bunch of cactuses and sombreros."

Photo: Mexican emo kids gather in response to anti-emo violence by metalheads and punk rockers.

Credit: promrguez

[Via Daily Swarm]

I am completely flabbergasted. I mean...words...someone give me words.

"Emosexuales."

I've -gotte- find a way to work that into my daily vocabulary.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Fuck this. It's happening in all the major cities in Mexico.
It's fucking bullshit!
Conformists conforming into attacking a conformist reaction to conformism!
If I see someone really attacking someone else because of their looks, I am going to intervene until one of us ends up bloodied up, and I'm not fucking kidding.

[Cyntrox]

Originally Posted by Godslayer Jillian

If I see someone really attacking someone else because of their looks, I am going to intervene until one of us ends up bloodied up, and I'm not fucking kidding.

Kudos. And I agree.

[Tam Li Hua]

I was wondering if it was a cultural thing, but now, I'm not so sure.

[Anti-Mindvirus]

Originally Posted by Godslayer Jillian

Fuck this. It's happening in all the major cities in Mexico.
It's fucking bullshit!
Conformists conforming into attacking a conformist reaction to conformism!
If I see someone really attacking someone else because of their looks, I am going to intervene until one of us ends up bloodied up, and I'm not fucking kidding.

I am very much with you on this. The golden rule people, didn't you learn it in school?

[Johnny Gnar Gnar]

I don't think most people do, these days.

[Duane]

Dude, we should totally have a rabble, or some shit like that. Beat the shit out of those punk/goth/whatever hating motherfuckers...nvm... bad idea... wouldn't solve anything.

[Johnny Gnar Gnar]

Violence solves everything, remember.

[ionic_angel]

Originally Posted by Duane

Dude, we should totally have a rabble, or some shit like that. Beat the shit out of those punk/goth/whatever hating motherfuckers...nvm... bad idea... wouldn't solve anything.

Er, yes! Right! And then we can hold a press conference where we explain that we were "beating for tolerance"!

After that, let's do some "shootings for peace", "bomb-building for disarmament", give people the finger to promote civility, and try some "smoking for health".

I don't know why I never thought of this before. Heck, I can do ANYTHING, if it's for a good cause!

[Godslayer Jillian]

Hey! It does have some Dada beauty to it.
I'm gonna start fucking for virginity for realsies!

[beauismyhorse]

In the picture, which was in the link, almost all of them look exactly alike. Hoodies, graphic tees, horizontal stripes, hairstyle that I can't describe... "You'll be a nonconformist, just like me." (Yes, a quote from The Emo Song, my friend made me listen to it.)

This is why I don't go around labelling people. If I were to go to Mexico right now, the 'emos' would probably be afraid of me, and the 'punks' would be beating me up. Why settle for one label when you can defy them all?

[ionic_angel]

Some people like being labeled.

[Tea and Cake or Death]

Originally Posted by ionic_angel

Some people like being labeled.

Like me! It's why I'm buying this dress....
http://brandnoise.typepad.com/brand_...mages/2802.jpg

[beauismyhorse]

That's actually a pretty cool dress. LOL.

[emeraldlonewoulf]

Originally Posted by Godslayer Jillian

Fuck this. It's happening in all the major cities in Mexico.
It's fucking bullshit!
Conformists conforming into attacking a conformist reaction to conformism!
If I see someone really attacking someone else because of their looks, I am going to intervene until one of us ends up bloodied up, and I'm not fucking kidding.

Kudos. Good attitude, seriously. Stand up for the downtrodden. I am with you, as many who posted above have already stated. That being said, don't get yourself killed, there are those who don't stop at blood.

[Breathless Horror]

Originally Posted by emeraldlonewoulf

That being said, don't get yourself killed, there are those who don't stop at blood.

If you really think about it, what better death could there be than going down defending someone who can't protect themself? Give me the choice between that and death by illness, I'll take the honorable death, with my boots on, any day of the week.

I'm with Jillian on this one. Fuck. That. Fight for those who can't fight for themselves, and take a stand for tolerance.

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Johnny Gnar Gnar

Violence solves everything, remember.

Unless it's perfectly symmetrical.

[emeraldlonewoulf]

very true. It is a good thing, a selfless and helping thing, a worthy thing. It is even better if you can get the person out of harm's way, and end up alive, preferably without serious bodily harm.

More violence doesn't "usually" solve things, not to say it never does. Sometimes it is the only way to communicate. And, on occasion, it just feels damn good, in addition to getting your goal accomplished.

[emeraldlonewoulf]

*edit/addition to the above post,(above post being a response to Breathless Horror,) but after the 5 min limit*

99% of the time, however, there was a more peaceful solution that nobody thought of until it was too late, because nobody took the time to think of it.

[Breathless Horror]

Very true. I think that was just my mandatory dose of chest-thumping testosterone :P I agree that 99% of the time there are better ways to do things, but when someone's being wailed on, there really isn't all that much you can do other than step in and lend a hand/fist.

[Renatus]

This worries me, if the mobs in many of the major cities are hundreds strong, the United States has enough trouble with mobs in one city but multiple mobs. If things are not brought under control and this continues to escalate it will require military force to control it. I'm afraid the American education system doesn't keep us well versed on Mexican history, has anything like this happened before in Mexico? Because I can think of very few instances of mob violence over an entire country and none of them ended well.

[Wormboy]

Good, now lets have them take all this anger and direct it towards the Mexican government so that they can make DRASTIC reformations so that way they can have a nice place to live or at least a legal way to come here instead of sneaking in, breaking a law, and bitching at us when we catch them.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Originally Posted by Wormboy

Good, now lets have them take all this anger and direct it towards the Mexican government so that they can make DRASTIC reformations

Good opinion.

so that way they can have a nice place to live or at least a legal way to come here instead of sneaking in, breaking a law, and bitching at us when we catch them.

Bad opinion.

[Wormboy]

I guess I broke even then eh? ^_^

Still, they really should reform the country. Even in my sheltered, "I don't want to hear about the world" little cave I'm in, I know enough to know they could use a good reform. So could we for that matter *walks off to look for a pitchfork*

[Abeille]

I just read about this in my school's paper today,except the story has gotten completely distorted..so thanks for posting the actual article. Sorry to rant, but I find it rather upsetting that not only did the author include goths in the "tribu urbana", but declares "these vicious acts...need to be put in check before these anti-emo meatheads take things too far and kill someone." Um..hello? Emo kids certainly are not the first subculture to be picked on. I'm not in any way condoning the hatred, but why don't people take matters as seriously when other groups (say, goths)are the target of violence? Maybe it's different where you're from, but for people here to actually spend time drawing attention to the plight of emos is definitely surprising. (and I would bet none of them know, nor care, about people like Sophie Lancaster) just my opinion, feel free to ignore