Emo, Goth And Punk Explained

A look at what defines goths, emos and punks as Greater Manchester Police becomes the first force in the country to officially recognise hate crimes against such sub-cultures.

GMP says it recognises alternative sub-culture as a broad term to define a strong sense of collective identity and a set of group-specific values and tastes. This typically centres on distinctive style, clothing, make up, body art and music preference. Those involved usually stand out to both fellow participants and to those outside the group.

According to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, cultures such as goths, emos, and punks are largely peaceful by definition, and are more interested in music, alternative fashion and niche media than intimidation.

:: EMO

Described as the "new goth" when it started to become a trend in the early 2000s, emo is a youth movement based around dark music, dark clothing and a sometimes darker view of the world. Emos are typically perceived to be angsty or depressed but this is not always the case, according to the Emo Rawr website, which says: "Emo is a meshing of the punk and goth cultures with a twist, gathering its music influences more from the punk side of things and the fashion style more from the gothic side of things."

Emo fashion is characterised by skinny jeans, tight t-shirts, studded belts, canvas sneakers, thick glasses and dark zip-hoodies. They wear less black than goths and often have a long fringe.

Emo music, described as "punk with emotion", has been made popular by bands such as My Chemical Romance, whose album The Black Parade topped the charts, Bullet for My Valentine and Jimmy Eat World.

:: GOTH

Many stereotypes exist of dark, depressed and even evil teenagers who are all about death, pretension and angst. They typically always wear black clothing, or white but never other colours, and have dyed black hair, black nails, white face make-up and black lipstick and eyeliner.

However, Goth.net says: "There is no specific thing that defines what you need to do or be to fit into the goth scene (except, of course, the implied black clothing).

"People in the goth scene all have different musical tastes, follow different religions, have different occupations, hobbies, and fashion sense."

The modern goth movement started in the early 1980s as part of the punk subculture.

:: PUNK

Punk evolved from the 1970s music phenomenon. The sub-culture is made up of those considered to have rejected things considered part of society's 'norms' and those thought to often hold anarchist political views.

The look is characterised by piercings, tattoos, Dr Marten boots and multi-coloured Mohawks.


For anyone who was as confused as I was.