Ok but can we talk about how emo, as a genre, defied gender roles in a big way? Like, everything about the culture, from the guys wearing makeup and womens’ skinny jeans, to the way they got unabashedly emotional in spite of the “men aren’t supposed to cry” narrative they’d obviously been socialized with, was just this complete “fuck you” to the idea that there’s a certain way to be a “man”.
And a lot of their detractors called them “girly” or “gay”. And they didn’t give a fuck! Fall Out Boy has a whole song entitled “Gay Is Not A Synonym for Shitty”, which referenced a famous Pete Wentz quote, where he basically said that if you thought his band sucked, to just say it sucked, and not be a “homophobic asshole” about it.
And, then, geez, My Chemical Romance took it a step further, and Gerard Way outright kissed one of his bandmates at concerts purely to infuriate homophobes who were at his shows.
A lot of these bands were openly for LGBT rights, for womens’ rights. I remember one instance where some band MCR was touring with asked women to flash their tits in exchange for backstage passes. And Gerard was so horrified by this, and told his female fans to “spit in the faces” of misogynists in the rock scene.
Like, god, these bands were so progressive. And they still are. Right after the Pulse tragedy, Brendon Urie literally danced around in a pride flag and told his queer fans what they meant to him. Pete Wentz said that “Uma Thurman” was meant to show his female fans that they could be “badass”, too. And Gerard pretty much admitted in an interview to somewhat identifying with the label “nonbinary”.
That’s the most lasting impact that emo is going to have. Showing fans of all genders that there’s nothing wrong with being whoever the fuck you are, that there’s no specific way to be a man or woman. And, god, I just fucking love that.
“So every day during my set, when I’m playing my own shows, I talk about people that are transgender. I talk about it a lot because everyday basically I say: …”
I feel like disco and emo should team up and that should be the next big music thing, sort of a defiant apocalyptic dance party, because disco did this sort of thing too, the rejection of straight white male heteronormativity, and that was basically why it was killed, so, like, emo plus defiant zombie disco would be the perfect thing to play in the Mango Menace era.
I love meta posts like these bc now i understand why my diehard defiant teenage ass was in love with these bands and this culture
Anyway this is his incredibly mature and measured response to his critics.
Imagine being this terrible.
Note - this is from Marvel’s Not Brand Ecch! #14 out November 15th
Friendly reminder that Marvel blamed fans, and later retailers, for their poor sales.
Friendly reminder that Marvel blamed diversity for their poor sales.
Friendly reminder that Marvel created the milkshake controversy after being rightly accused of not having as diverse a creative team as they claimed.
Friendly reminder that Marvel tried to partner with Northrupp Grumman, the fifth largest weapons manufacturer in the United States, and nearly released a piece of propaganda to children on behalf of said weapons manufacturer. And they only cancelled it due to the massive backlash they received.
Friendly reminder that Marvel’s X-Men Gold artist tried to hide an antisemitic message in his art and it somehow made it past the editors.
Friendly reminder that Marvel has been publishing poorly written and poorly drawn comics that people aren’t buying for said reasons.
