Russia takes aim at fleeting trend
Published Saturday August 2nd, 2008
In my last year of high school, an uber-popular friend of mine dyed her hair black. She started wearing pink wristbands, clunky Doc Martens, heavy eyeliner.
It was the beginning of the emo sweep - and I'm not talking about the haircut.
It was a trend, like any other. Bell bottoms came back in when I was in junior high and haven't really left. (I wore my first pair with a peanut-butter-brown vinyl jacket and a short-sleeve turtleneck - I felt pretty hip, but in retrospect, probably gave my dad a weird case of déjà vu.)
For a while, Adidas track suits were almost haute couture.
And remember happy face midriff-baring tops? Please.
Trends come and go, especially in terms of music. For a while, punk had a bit of a revival and now indie kids in their tight flannel snap-button shirts and skinny jeans are taking over the scene.
But emo still has a bizarrely lingering presence, turning up in malls across the country, fuelled by stores like Hot Topic and band frontmen like eyeliner-sporting Pete Wentz.
Don't get me wrong. I had a few emo CDs in my day. I also listened to the Backstreet Boys in Grade 5, Blink 182 in Grade 8, and NOFX in high school.
And despite their trendiness, some emo tunes were pretty catchy. Fall Out Boy sparked a revolution of sorts with its nasally (but endearing) melodies.
That said, it's just a genre of music. There seems to be a stigma regarding the whole emo thing - that it's reminiscent of the goth movement and screams depressed freak, that it's all about self-mutilation and encouraging dangerous teen trends. But it's just that: a bad stereotype.
But when a country moves to ban emos, making the look and the lifestyle - whatever that is - illegal, something is rotten.
That's the plan in Russia, where they are going to pull the plug on emo kids.
They describe an emo (I think that word itself is ridiculous) as a teenager between 12 and 16 who wears a lot of black (or, for some reason, pink), has facial piercings, and has black hair that falls across the face in what has become known as the emo swoop.
The legislation was presented last month by the State Durma. Proponents of the law claim emo culture is negative, glorifies suicide and encourages reclusive behaviour. It seems to me there was a similar argument (although proposed legislation) regarding trench coat mafias and the goth movement.
An article by pop culture guru Chuck Klosterman in his book of essays, Chuck Klosterman IV, saw the author spending a day at Disneyland for the annual goth celebration. He laughed along with these so-called depressed teens as they screamed on rollercoasters, black leather squeaking as they posed for pictures with Mickey Mouse.
People shut their mouths pretty quickly after that one.
But this just doesn't seem to be letting up.
In Siberia, they've already implemented similar laws, with protestors marching on the state. So-called emo bands in Russia are fighting back, announcing that expressing emotion shouldn't be forbidden by law.
The regulations say young people dressed a certain way can't enter schools or government buildings. The state will also regulate emo websites in an attempt to avoid the "spiritual and ethical crisis" facing Russian youth.
It sounds a little too pat. Solve problems like teen pregnancy, underage drinking and drug use by making their music illegal? By dyeing their hair blonde? By taking away their ripped leggings and skull-patterned shoelaces?
And we worried about Bill C-10 here in Canada, about not getting our tax credits if we wanted to make movies about sex.
The Russian government is thinking of killing a whole culture instead of working to find the root of the population's problems.
That's more emo than a few long-haired kids will ever be.
Ashley Bursey is a graduate of St. Thomas University in Fredericton.
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