If you haven't been keeping up with news from down south, you may not be aware that there is a dramatic (yes, very dramatic indeed) war going on right now. A certain demographic, barely tolerated and largely ignored, is coming under attack for its differences. The victims? Homosexuals? native Indians? Nope. The answer: emo kids.

Large scale riots have occurred already in Mexico City, Querétaro, and Tijuana. Opposing the eyeliner-wearing emo kids is an alliance between the punks, rockabillies, and metalheads.

Article from Wired: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/anti-emo-r...
Daniel Hernandez, writer for LA Weekly has been following the events closely on his personal blog: http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/

What is interesting about all of this (especially for me, looking at this from an anthropological perspective) is how this is all really just the latest manifestation of the time-worn Latin American tradition of "machismo". Simply put, machistas are the stereotypical manly men ("Hombre hombres") that constantly have to assert their masculinity and dominance over femininity, or anything perceived as feminine - in this case, the highly effeminate emo kids. Despite being a stereotype, it is - unfortunately - not merely an exaggerated caricature, but an accepted part of most Latin American cultures and societies.

When I first read about these "emo riots" I had a good laugh and thought, rather amused, "it's about time." But the roots of this conflict go much deeper than objections to music tastes or choice of dress. According to the article, the punk faction of the alliance has begun to split, with some questioning and disagreeing with the way the backlash is developing.

So, I'm interested to hear what other people think? Am I reading way too much into this? I find everything about emo kids just as annoying as the next person, but surely this is going too far.