The “Emos Of Old Ages” And The “Posers Of Emo”: Identities, Conflicts And Stigma In The Rock Musician Scene

Abstract

This article is an analysis of the young people who participate in a part of the contemporary art world, the Emo – sentimental rock music related to a romantic ethos. Based on an ethnographic research that took place in Rio de Janeiro, we investigate here the process of formulation and contraposition of “identities” between a group of cariocas emos, emphasizing the dynamic of removal and approach of the young to the “emo identity” in the rock musician scene of the city. Important here are the accusations and attempts of stigmatization made by the “emos of old ages” to the new fans, classified by them as “posers of emo”. Besides a bad presumption musical taste, condemned by “emos of old ages”, the conflicts between the young also emerge from the positive valuation of “homosexuality” by “posers”, followed with a romantic incitation to an homoerotic experimentation life style.