What on earth is an Emo? No Wait, what’s a cutter?
So I was talking to my sister the other day about baby stuff as per usual and the creepiest topic came up.
We were talking about having more babies and how my sister thinks I’m destined to have all boys. Which is fine by me, I explained–girls are just so mean to each other when they get older. I mean how can a 10 year old be a slut–literally? I know most of the name calling and hating starts in junior high school but it’s such a shame that girls are so cruel to each other, as if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough, being a teenage girl is the worst.
So she was telling me that my niece (who is 12) got a phone call from a “bad influencer friend” from her previous school, “educating” her on who’s cool, who’s not at her new school. This was the same girl who educated my niece on things like sex (as in good positions), drugs(which ones were cool), spin the bottle (that had also a sexual twist on it) and a whole lot more I will not mention on this blog–Did I mention I’m so happy my niece does not go to that school anymore? Anyway, she continues to tell me about this phone call and what kind of kids were considered rich, poor, cutters, goths….
HOLD THE PHONE. Cutters?
I have to interject here–I asked my husband if he knew what a cutter was and he said, someone that cuts in line? Well that’s what I thought. Turns out, in school cutters are the people who cut themselves for fun.
OH HOLY CRAP.
Now I seem to remember this in high school or can picture it more in high school but junior high? Oh and not only that, they’re now called Emo’s. Good grief. what is this world coming too! I’m only 25 and I’m already out of the loop on the lingo. How could it have changed so much since I was young? God, now I feel old. Emo’s Sheesh!
Quick update: talking to a few friends of mine tonight, two of them who work with teens in their jobs told me that emo is short for emotional. I guess that makes a “little” more sense–but still disturbing none the less.
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I would also like to add…. My cutting was not for attention as most people believe cutters cut for attention that is not always the case. No one in my family even knows. 22 years it has been a secret. My cutting is also not a disorder and most call it. I can controle it some people may not be able to after they have been doing it for a while, but most can controle it. I guess it just bothers me that people who have cut them selves (people also burn them selves so it is not just cutting that is lumped into this catagory) get steriotyped as EMO and suisidal and attention seeking. This in most cases (im shure there are some people out there who do do this to get attention) is just not true and quite offensive. Yes it is a strange thing to do and most people dont understand it but that does not make all of us crazy or suisidal. It just means we are human and we are flawed. *I am in NO WAY ADVOCATING CUTTING! Im just saying how I am and trying to enlighten some parents so that they do not do as my parents did and alinated me and made it worse by trying to beat it out of me. I wish she had just asked me why I do it and why I feet the way I did. Mind you she would have never known had I not ever told her. So if your child confids in you please please be calm and understandign, because that trully is the biggist step and the hardest step for a teenager to take to open up and be that vonerable. It takes alot to be that honest especially when you are terrified to dissapoint the ones you love.
I have been a cutter since I was a young child, yet I did not know that is what it was called or what I was doing at the time. I have had a abusive life and I will never know how it started just rember being 8 years old and having cut my self with some glass and suddnely I felt much better my emotional pain was gone. Of corse it esculated from there. I still some times do it and Im almost 35. All I can say is people think it is a precurser to suiside but that in my case and in most others is not true at all. I did it because I was in so much pain and I didnt want to do something stupid like drink or do druggs but I needed the pain to stop. I just hope that parents of children like me would talk camly to thair child and ask them why they are doing this to them selves rather than go off the deep end. Some times teenagers just dont know how to handel their emotional baggage and they dont think any one else out there has ever felt the way they do ( beleve me all my life I had felt I was alone in life and I was far to beat down to ever speek about my pain) I guess from all of this I would just hope that kids can know that there are many others out there feeling what you feel and you are never alone u just have to face your fears and talk to some one. I know it sounds dumb comming from an adult and in my teen years I prolly would have thought what I was saying now is stupid and I dont know what Im talking about. Just know that when you grow up things have a funny way of becoming clear. A noat to parents it will get easier it usually takes till the late twentys for kids to start seeing from a difrent prospective, but it will happen and it will get easier. Juse be there for your kid and talk to them with out judging and try to understand what is causing the need to do these things.
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I’ve cut my self, to relive all that is wrong in the world…. I’m forced not to now…. so I feel so locked in, and held up. too much damn pain to understand, no one can understand, of holding all this in. I’ve tried learning not to, but I still have thoughts about doing it, knowing it would hurt my life, but it would make me feel better
A “cutter” is someone who scars or disfigures themselves out of some psychological compulsion. People who do this usually have other mental issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, or some other mood disorder.
An “emo” is a member of a subculture that now refers almost exclusively (and derisively) to people perceived to shop at Hot Topic, wear outlandish dark clothing, listen to a particular style of music and who are overly emotional.
A cutter can be any sort of person, including one who does not outwardly seem histrionic. An emo can be a cutter, but most emos are likely just young, impressionable kids who seek some way to fit in to a group.
Emo was originally a underground music genre from the 90’s but the media twisted it to have a totally different meaning because alot of alternative rock bands started calling themselves emo,and people associated the way they look,how they compose they’re music to fit with emo which by far isnt true.
btw, Emo stands for Emotional Hardcore, and the posers who cut for attention give Emo and Cutters a bad name leading to the assumption that they go hand in hand, which is bullshit.
ok…emo means that a teen/kid has had SOME problems with family, friends, or is just terrified of life. They’re kids who choose to deal with their emotional problems in strange ways such as “digging” which is digging their fingernails into their skin {most likely on their wrist} and “cutting” which as most know is using scissors, razer blades, and even small pencil sharpeners to cut themselves on their wrists. Most of the time they’re very upset over 1 particular thing that has happend to them. And by the way… i’m 13 and have almost ALL emo friends.
Everyone goes through rough times in life, your weak minded if you think cutting is the only way to deal with it. talk to anyone and i can promise you that they have had a rough time in at least some parts of their life.
people don’t cut themselves for fun, usually people who do it have had something go wrong in their life its not like a bunch of people meet up and are like ok whose ready for some fun! and pull out knives, no thats not how it works
Emo does not mean short for emotional, although a large group of people believe that.
Emo is short for emotive-hardcore, which is a brand of music.
The fashion of it is mostly based off skin tees, skinny jeans, converse, etcetc.
Cutting is self-inflicted injury. Cutters are people that cut themselves, emos are self-proclaimed members of yet another counter-culture fad. Well, there were the hippies, the punks, the raves the goths, the industrial, the rock itself, and emo is just another type of music people listen to in groups where they usually hang out together, probably to have that “rebel” feeling. Emo does often talk about emotions and all stuff emotional, and cutting due to depression too, although the two are not directly related. People cut themselves for a variety of reasons, and “going to far with emo and cutting” is not the reason, cutters come from all walks of life and often use cutting as a last resort besides suicide. Now whichever the reasons are for the behavior, there are usually personal, not fad-based. If your child suffered from a divorce (very common cause), death of significant other, serious self-esteem problems due to failures or even bad relationships, was bullied, has problems/questions about their sexuality, then those are the environmental causes for their depression and if they cut, cutting. So naturally, those would often try to self-actualize through protest, which is the cause for the current high rate of cutters being emo, which is not true vice versa. Being emo could be just part of the stage when your child is protesting against your control. And overpowering them, grounding them all the time and otherwise bullying them into being a “good kid” will make things worse and can lead the to cutting as well.
The correct term for this is Self-Injury, also known as Self-Harm. I have Self-Injured for two years [yeah that mean since I was 10]. I am working on stopping. Not all SI-ers are ’emo’. ‘Emo’ isn’t even anything but a genre of music, Emotive-Hardcore. I personally find calling anyone ’emo’ or calling comeone a ‘cutter’ offensive. At my school I have to deal with those laybels all day. It really messes with me. I have depression, signs of mild OCD, Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD, and Anxiety issues. I see a Theripist bi-weekly. I don’t need any other sh-t to deal with, please.
If you want to learn more about Self-Injury, or if you or a family member or friend have turned to Self-Injury please go to this website: http://buslist.org/phpBB
Ive been a cutter for 7 years.I’m also emo.It sucks because ppl are so eager to judge ppl like me…but I cant help it…I get into these moods where Im just so numb,I cant cry,I cant scream…nothing.So I cut and imediately I FEEL.I cant say what it is that I feel…but it’s enough to feel something.There’s a song and the lyrics go” And you cant fight the tears that ain’t coming,or the moment of truth in your lies.When everything feels like the moves…you bleed just to know you’re alive.” That really resonates with me.Anyway…please just know,we’re not crazy,not all of us are suicidal,and we are not seeking attention.I for one am ashamed and disgusted at my cutting and want no none to find out.Most cutters are just lonely,sad,confused and broken ppl who just dont know any better way of coping.Please dont judge us…
P.S. Not all emos and cutters take themselves too srsly…that joke is a favourite amongst the emo community !We do have a sense of humour
im a cutter nd it doesnt really hurt anymore to cut myslef. theres just a stinging sensation then it goes away…im not emo….its just stereotyped…
Not all cutters are emo. And not all emos are cutters. Its a stereotype. I am a cutter, have been since I was 13, and im 18 now… some people who are abused cut for various reasons. Mine was for punishment, I thought and was told by everyone around me that it was my fault and I asked for it. I by all means never wanted attention. I wear long sleeves all year round. Now I have an amazing boyfriend and a home, and am going to counseling.
Remember soldiers aren’t the only ones that fight wars. Some kids are thrown into a hell that they can’t deal with and cutting is their way of dealing with it. For some people its a relief, distraction, cry for help. And yes for very few it is a fashion statement. But if you think about it, why would someone think that’s cool? That would mean they have some problems too. For whatever reason a person cuts people should support them not judge them. They aren’t freaks they are people that just so happen to cope by cutting.
“Emo” was originally a genre of music, then later on became a fashion after a cartoon character who was named emo. Who yes did cut himself to look cool, and had one eye covered with hair and wore skinny jeans. But cutting and emo don’t always and rarely go together.
first, not all emos are cutters although i used to be so i know what its like, and people dont cut for fun. sure theres always a bunch of people who do it because they think they’re “cool” but most people who do it have a lot of issues in life and find that thats the only way they can deal with them. i had serious family issues that i didnt know how to deal with and cutting always seemed to help, but some people even do it because they feel numb in life and are desperate to be able to feel anything.
if you’ve never been stressed or hurt to the point that youre feeling desperate to do anything to stop the emotional pain then you have no right to judge.
suean is right not all emos are cutters actually most are really happy kids. im 15 and im an emo i guess you could say that yeah im happy alot of the time and so are my friends. shes right also that cutting is like a drug.
nancymom37 you should talk to your kid one cut is too many
look i know a few moms in the same position that iam em in and wwhen do u know that your child has gone to far with the emo and the cutting and how they act and how to understand them,is there a support group or some web site that us parents can get some answers.
ummm… im 14, i used to be a cutter. but im not emo. not all emos cut themself its just a steriotype. Emo is mainly the style of their cloths an the music they listen to. Cutters are people that have gone through a tough time an they cut to release there emotions. Cutting can become addicting, once you start its hard to stop.
cutters is where they arent depressed and cut them self
emo is short for emotional in english it is an cult which cuts them selfs
LOL on lawn joke, that’s brilliant!
Well, in Korean EMO is aunt. Yes, my niece calls me EMO. I had no idea there was such word in English, but according to Daniela, EMOs are usually pretty intelligent, eh? 😉
LOL about the lawn cutting….
When I worked in the ER you’d be extrememly shocked about cutters and what they will find and use to actually cut themselves.
I had a friend that was a cutter. A lot of times they just cut to feel pain and release endorphins which are kind of a rush/high inducer. Many times they’ll do this to “block out” some kind of emotional pain (i.e. – parents divorcing, friend dying, etc.) I wonder if the term is more prevalent in the states as I grew up there and was quite familiar with the terminology and I’m 27. Hmmm…
lol at the lawn joke!
but seriously, i work with teenagers and i can tell you about emos…they’re kind of like what goths used to be when i went to high school (early nineties), the only difference is their hair style (over the face), their clothing and the music they listen to.
where i teach the emos are actually not that bad, they’re usually pretty intelligent – the one thing that i can’t stand about them is their self-entitlement, but wait, that’s all teenagers i guess, lol
Ha Ha Ha, Christine I LMAO when I read that, not because cutting yourself is funny, but about the lawn LOL
Regans favorite joke;
“I wish my lawn was emo, then it would cut it self.” har har har.