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 womensâ skinny jeans, to the way they got unabashedly emotional in spite of the âmen arenât supposed to cryâ narrative theyâd obviously been socialized with, was just this complete âfuck youâ to the idea that thereâs a certain way to be a âmanâ.Â
And a lot of their detractors called them âgirlyâ or âgayâ. And they didnât give a fuck! Fall Out Boy has a whole song entitled âGay Is Not A Synonym for Shittyâ, 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 a âhomophobic assholeâ about it.Â
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.
 A lot of these bands were openly for LGBT rights, for womensâ 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 to âspit in the facesâ of misogynists in the rock scene.Â
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 that âUma Thurmanâ was meant to show his female fans that they could be âbadassâ, too. And Gerard pretty much admitted in an interview to somewhat identifying with the label ânonbinaryâ.Â
Thatâs the most lasting impact that emo is going to have. Showing fans of all genders that thereâs nothing wrong with being whoever the fuck you are, that thereâs no specific way to be a man or woman. And, god, I just fucking love that.Â
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