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Emo has two different meanings. One is a style of music. The other is a label people use to describe a group. The group of teens that use the label say that emo is short for emotional, but the term originally came from the Indie music style called Emotive Hardcore. It is a sub-genre of punk.

The music:
It's basically punk rock, except the lyrics are about emotional things rather than being a rebel. Emo is a kind of rock music which describes several independent types of music with common similar roots. Mid-tempo hardcore punk, pioneered around roughly '85 by the D.C. band Rites of Spring. It's in no relation to the pseudo-emocore/mall punk of today.

The People:
It is a label people give themselves for being apathetic and emotional to an extreme (usually miserable), but wallowing in it and not wanting it to change. They tend to feel they are misunderstood and that life is not fair to them in specific. It is in fashion with some of the group to cut themselves and wear heavy eye make-up. The hair cuts tend to have awkward sharp angles and are often glossed. Many of the guys wear very tight jeans, often women's. The girls tend to lean more towards late 70's to early 80's fashion.