Anti-Emo Riots in Mexico

[Dr. Zoidberg 0]

From Wired.com

 

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.

 

I saw a picture of a girl holding a sign saying "Soy Emo, y Que? loosely translated to say "I'm Emo. And what?" I laughed.

 

 

[Red Baron 0]

They should have just gave them razors and a proper instruction guide on how to cut yourself.

[Guest Vitamin X]

What would their Aztec forefathers make of that photograph above. For shame.

[Red Baron 0]

What would their Aztec forefathers make of that photograph above. For shame.

 

 

That the Spaniards raped and pillaged them even more.

[jwest27 0]

emo-beating rampage

Awesome.

[Jingus 0]

What would their Aztec forefathers make of that photograph above. For shame.

Probably something involving a step pyramid, a knife made out of obsidian, and a heart torn out of the living chest in a sacrifice to appease Quetzalcoatl.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Let's pick a sacrifice for Quetzalcoatl out of a conquered emo villager! I pick this guy!

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I used to hate all non-wrestling Mexicans, and even some that did (mostly Abismo Negro), but this fills me with hope.

 

"Emosexual" may just be the coolest anti-emo phrase ever. Emo kids fuck off indeed!

[Nighthawk 0]

Meh, they're just kids. The only thing I don't like is the homophobia getting involved in there somewhere. If you're going to hate somebody, hate them for something important like their skin color or their religion.

[luke-o 0]

"They're organizing to defend their right to be emo,"

 

Oh for fucks sake.

[TheFranchise 0]

Surely the obvious rebuttle to this would be 'we're defending our rights to hate emo'.

[Retard Girl 0]

....look at all them cute emo mexican kids. so precious. emo and brown! bring me some.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

emo-beating rampage

Awesome.

 

Haha that made me laugh some good laughs, nice.

[Maztinho 0]

Meh, they're just kids. The only thing I don't like is the homophobia getting involved in there somewhere. If you're going to hate somebody, hate them for something important like their skin color or their religion.

 

Mexico is uber macho though, I can see why Emo kids are getting their shit stomped based on the culture around them. Also "yoink" on that Emo Sacrifice. I has a new avatar.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I think this is what we should've done before emo got out of control and eventually died down. It's been a long time since there's been any musical faction brawls. I think the last one may have actually been the FSU/Neo-Nazi brawls in Boston in the late 90's.