Finding Emo

I have a riddle for you: What do women's jeans, razor blades and crying all have in common?\nAll of these things can be found at Wal-Mart. Other than that, I'm stumped.\nThe term "emo" gets thrown around a lot these days, usually as a descriptor for a supposed youth counterculture. But what does it mean?\nI'm sick of hearing people say, "I wish my lawn was emo so it would cut itself." That's uncalled for. There's a time and place for being offensive, but these remarks can be heard at Bible study groups, playgrounds and family restaurants with kitschy memorabilia on the walls.\nEmos, hipsters, scenesters, indie \nkids -- are these all words for the same thing? \nYour stereotypical emo person has black, asymmetrical hair, wears second-hand clothing, is passionate about music you've never heard of and is full of pain and anguish.\nIs the pinnacle of pain and anguish listening to Panic! At the Disco in your SUV as you drive to Urban Outfitters? I'm not sure.\nFind the next kid in your class wearing chucks and ask him or her, "Are you a representative of the counterculture?" I dare you.\nEveryone seems to have a strong opinion about what emo is. I fear simply writing this column will cause hundreds of alternative young people in tight jeans to riot in the streets, strangling anyone who walks by with their vintage scarves. \nFor answers on emo, I turned to one of my good Internet friends, UrbanDictionary.com, a Web site where users can define slang words others might not understand -- and an extremely helpful resource if you listen to the rap music but don't come from the streets.\nUrban Dictionary has 1,147 entries for the word "emo." The most comical is "Like a Goth, only much less dark and much more Harry Potter."\nEmo stems from a genre of music. Which genre? Emo scholars heavily debate this issue. Many people think the term emo is short for the word emotional. But that could be a common misconception. According to the Chicago Tribune (June 12), emo is actually short for emotive (tomato, tomahto), and the music genre it describes is emotive hard-core which started in the '80s.\nWhile everyone has a different idea about emo, the word can't help but become what society defines it as. But as your kindergarten teacher should have told you, trying to use one word to fit different people into one group is bad news. No group or movement has a clear definition. People who dress and behave unconventionally? That pretty much describes every youth culture ever, from the beatniks to the hippies.\nIt will be interesting to see how history views the youth of our generation. What will be featured in VH1's "I Love the Oughts"?\nIf one day one of my children ask me, "Mommy, were you emo?" I'll say, "No, honey, but my favorite band was a band that no one else ever heard of -- not even the members of the band. And so I was cool"