If you don’t follow the comments feed, you’re missing a lengthy discussion evolving from my piece about eBay forcing sellers to use PayPal. Maybe they took my admonition to fight amongst yourselves yesterday a little too literally.
Anti-Emo riots break out across Mexico
Attacks began on 7 March when, according to Wired, “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 punks and rockabillys harassed emo kids in Mexico City, prompting police protection and a TV news story. Meanwhile the emos have organised anti-violence protests (pictured).
Hat-tip to Alex Willemyns for one of the oddest headlines — but this is for real.
The core issue is a clash between Mexico’s macho culture and emo‘s sexual ambiguity. Yep, it’s just good old-fashioned gay-bashing.
[O]nly in the past year have emos begun to make their presence felt in the streets. In response, many of the established so-called tribus urbanas like punks and metalheads are responding with violence…
[B]y 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.”
Perhaps not so old-fashioned: we can drag a web 2.0 angle into this…
8 Random Facts about Stilgherrian
Oh, I get it. Social media “guru” Laurel Papworth has to kill time before her Saudi trip gets sorted out. So what does this visionary of society’s future do? She ropes me into a blogging meme. How modern. How avant garde!
How… 2005.
Laurel was tagged three months ago and is only getting to it now. And they’re not even real ropes!
Is that enough slagging-off? Shall I get on with it now?
Actually this will be fun on a Saturday morning. It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these. Here goes…
Define yourself!
I really like what Alex Willemyns has said in response to Guy Rundle’s article about Australia’s search for an identity. “Who are we? Who the heck cares? I’m Alex Willemyns, and that’s all I need to worry about… How we define ourselves to others doesn’t have to be based on anything else apart from who we are, at any one point in time.”