Ok but can we talk about how emo, as a genre, defied gender roles in a big way? Like, everything about the culture, from the guys wearing makeup and womensā skinny jeans, to the way they got unabashedly emotional in spite of theĀ āmen arenāt supposed to cryā narrative theyād obviously been socialized with, was just this completeĀ āfuck youā to the idea that thereās a certain way to be aĀ āmanā.Ā
And a lot of their detractors called themĀ āgirlyā orĀ āgayā. And they didnāt give a fuck! Fall Out Boy has a whole song entitledĀ āGay Is Not A Synonym for Shittyā, which referenced a famous Pete Wentz quote, where he basically said that if you thought his band sucked, to just say it sucked, and not be aĀ āhomophobic assholeā about it.Ā
And, then, geez, My Chemical Romance took it a step further, and Gerard Way outright kissed one of his bandmates at concerts purely to infuriate homophobes who were at his shows.
Ā A lot of these bands were openly for LGBT rights, for womensā rights. I remember one instance where some band MCR was touring with asked women to flash their tits in exchange for backstage passes. And Gerard was so horrified by this, and told his female fans toĀ āspit in the facesā of misogynists in the rock scene.Ā
Like, god, these bands were so progressive. And they still are. Right after the Pulse tragedy, Brendon Urie literally danced around in a pride flag and told his queer fans what they meant to him. Pete Wentz said thatĀ āUma Thurmanā was meant to show his female fans that they could beĀ ābadassā, too. And Gerard pretty much admitted in an interview to somewhat identifying with the labelĀ ānonbinaryā.Ā
Thatās the most lasting impact that emo is going to have. Showing fans of all genders that thereās nothing wrong with being whoever the fuck you are, that thereās no specific way to be a man or woman. And, god, I just fucking love that.Ā
āSo every day during my set, when Iām playing my own shows, I talk about people that are transgender. I talk about it a lot because everyday basically I say: ā¦ā
- Gerard Way, Soundwave, Melbourne, 2015
I feel like disco and emo should team up and that should be the next big music thing, sort of a defiant apocalyptic dance party, because disco did this sort of thing too, the rejection of straight white male heteronormativity, and that was basically why it was killed, so, like, emo plus defiant zombie disco would be the perfect thing to play in the Mango MenaceĀ era.
