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Cheer up emo kid: rethinking the ‘crisis of masculinity’ in emo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2014

Sam de Boise
Sam de Boise*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Wentworth College, University of York, York, United KingdomYO10 5DD E-mail: sam.deboise@york.ac.uk
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Abstract

‘Emo’, an abbreviation of the word ‘emotional’, is a term both used to describe music which places public emphasis on introspective displays of emotion and a pejorative phrase applied to fans of a diverse range of music. It is overwhelmingly male-dominated in terms of production and it has been suggested that the development of emo can be explained with reference to a ‘crisis in masculinity’. This implies that explicit, male emotional expression is historically incompatible with the performance of Western ‘masculinity’. This article first briefly explores how emo emerged and how it has been linked to the idea of a crisis. It then moves on to conduct a lyrical, discursive analysis around three themes: emotional expression and relationships; overt chauvinism; and ‘beta male misogyny’. Through these concepts I suggest that, rather than indicating a crisis or ‘softening’ of masculinity, there are actually a number of historical continuities with masculinities as a means of sustaining gendered inequalities.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 225 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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