Via BoingBoing — In the last couple weeks, hundreds of kids from punk and rockabilly subcultures have joined forces to attack ‘emo kids’ in several Mexican cities.

More coverage here and here.

On the surface, it looks like a war over haircuts, but I have a feeling that underneath the fighting, there’s some good old fashioned homophobia/xenophobia at work, which sucks for teenagers whether they’re emo or not, or gay or not.

I actually had a long post in mind for this — I wanted to write a little about being a teenager in the late 1980s, living 2 hours from DC and hearing the older kids talk about the hardcore scene that created bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace, which were known to some as “emotional hardcore”, then later “emo”, and how back then the ideals were all about non-consumptive lifestyle and social justice and definitely not hinged on dyed black bangs or cutting yourself. Somewhere in the middle of writing I stumbled on this from the AV Club which said it a lot better than I could’ve.

Seriously, though — “Mexican Emo Riots”. Who would have ever thought they’d see that phrase in the mainstream media ? It sounds made up, like a Mad Lib.

Popularity: 2% [?]