dantes76
28-03-2008, 01:25
Anti-Emo Riots Break Out Across Mexico
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/images/2008/03/27/emokids.jpg
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 kids 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 emo kids are organizing, too. Daniel Hernandez of LA Weekly, who has provided stellar coverage of the whole affair, reports that emo teenagers are banding together. Last week, they marched against the violence, pictured above, and Wednesday some met with police in Mexico City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJPeffMSzVA
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."
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.
Photo: Mexican emo kids gather in response to anti-emo violence by metalheads and punk rockers.
Credit: promrguez
[Via Daily Swarm]
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/anti-emo-riots.html
http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/daniel_hernandez/
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/watch/emo-attacks-chile-too/
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/swarm/update-government-intervenes-mexicos-emo-war-calls-unity/
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/images/2008/03/27/emokids.jpg
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 kids 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 emo kids are organizing, too. Daniel Hernandez of LA Weekly, who has provided stellar coverage of the whole affair, reports that emo teenagers are banding together. Last week, they marched against the violence, pictured above, and Wednesday some met with police in Mexico City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJPeffMSzVA
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."
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.
Photo: Mexican emo kids gather in response to anti-emo violence by metalheads and punk rockers.
Credit: promrguez
[Via Daily Swarm]
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/anti-emo-riots.html
http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/daniel_hernandez/
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/watch/emo-attacks-chile-too/
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/swarm/update-government-intervenes-mexicos-emo-war-calls-unity/