Your daughter might be an Emo girl if…
- …she goes through a tube of black eyeliner a week.
- …her clothing choices are black, black, or black.
- …she starts drawing skulls on everything.
- …her friends come over for a marathon “Donnie Darko” movie viewing or a night playing on Livejournal.
- …she spends hours in front of a mirror practicing Pete Wentz’s snarl.
- …she gets a volume discount on shopping at Hot Topic and Rock America.
- …she’s upset that pop culture has adopted black fingernail polish (therefore making it no longer cool).
- …she starts shopping at thrift stores for old skool tees and Converse low-tops.
- …any song by Fall Out Boy or Paramore can make her cry.
- …she owns at least one object with a picture of Jack from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
- …she spends a lot of time in her room with kleenex.
- …she begins writing dark poetry and cryptic life epigrams.
- …she’s already planning her first tattoo.
Seriously, though, if you have an emo girl, stay closely tuned to her mood. Check to see if she’s hurting herself or if her emotions get out of control. Take good care of your emo girl.
Published by angelawd on March 18th, 2008 tagged Abnormal Motherhood, Mom of Teens
March 18th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Oh, I so hope I don’t have an emo girl. I mean, emo - find, whatever. I just don’t want them to be sad. Ever. EVER.
I feel powerless in the face of the reality of how little I will be able to fix things at some point.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Wow, you’ve described my emo teen girl to a tee! I love her individuality.
The downside is she is living it out. She has gone through a time of hurting herself and depression. It’s so sad and very, very scary. The emotions, peer pressure, and raging hormones of a teen are just about too much for her (and for me!). You are right about staying closely tuned to a girls moods. Thanks for the great post.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
good post. hope all is well with your daughter josie
March 18th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Sue, I feel that powerlessness sometimes too. That’s so hard.
Josie, I’m sorry about your teen. Is she getting better? I have to admit, it’s hard for anyone to keep tuned to a girl’s moods when she changes every few minutes.
Thanks, Jeff! Glad you found me.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:42 am
That is something I never personally experienced or seen. Yikes!
March 19th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Except for a few items, I was an Emo girl, apparently… I thought that was just normal teenaged angst with a side order of head banger/grunge… that was early nineties so now it’s called Emo as the internet has taken over all things pop culture…
Seriously, my oldest is only ten, so I can’t speak to this from the parenting perspective yet, but from the kid perspective - she’s most likely okay, let her know you’re there but don’t overcrowd her, she’ll write a lot of cryptic poetry that sounds ‘deep’, weep for the state of her life and the world, use her newfound powers of psuedointellectualism to rage against the vast ineptitudes of ‘normal’ society… and look back on it at about 25 with a very deep blush and a wish to kick some sense into her teenage self.
I have to say, though, I knew a lot of goth/grunge/darker teens and I knew a lot of great looking clean cut teens… the darker ones tended to be more mentally acute and grew to be much better emotionally grounded - sounds odd but true… they hit their rough patch early, and learned how to wade through the obstacles in life a lot better… those clean cut kids, though… a good many of them just hid what they were doing better and the ones who really were squeeky clean, they started messing up in their twenties, when it takes forever to right yourself again.
Better to hit it early and come out ready to really thrive. I’m crossing my fingers for you. I’m not looking forward to going through it from the side lines.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Merry, that’s an interesting perspective about the cleancut ones vs. angsty ones. I’ll have to see how that plays out.
My emo girl is extremely acute and intellectual…just wish she’d focus that mental power!
March 19th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Great list, Angela. I’m a little scared though….I have skull tennis shoes and earrings and I’d love a little tat on my ankle. Just a little blue jay. Oh this could be bad for me……
And Angela, seriously, as you well know, I understand your fears and have lived through a teen nightmare. I think we’re on the other side of the hill now, but I’m still not unguarded. (((hugs)))
March 19th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Oh Stacey, I’m so glad to hear you feel like you’re on the other side of the hill. (((hugs))) back atcha!
I do have a tat on my ankle. It’s a dove and flames, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Good reminder for me on the days I don’t quite feel like I’m walking with God.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
great blog, very interesting information.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
glad you enjoyed it, Nascar!
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Hi,
This blog has some good articles and it’s good to see some good cause advertisement.
Now, I know little about teens in USA (I’m from Portugal). So the little I know is mostly from TV which many times it’s not the best thing.
I do have this feeling that they worry too much about getting into a group of what others think of themselves.
Although this may be more or less like this anywhere, here one usually doesn’t see a group where most act in a certain way, or dress in a certain way, etc.
Now about the girl that you describe.
All teens go through fases, some more problematic some less.
If it’s nothing out of this world, I think that what’s important is the teens character. If he/she wants to use a certain outfit, or have a tattoo or piercing (these last two depending on their age and with a good advise from a reputable place), that’s ok.
What is important is that they study, choose good friends and build a strong character. Because their outfits may change but the character remains through life.
Real friends also permit that when one has problems one can count with them.
And of course that is our obligation to help our friends.
Kind regards,
José