Are Emo Guys the Antidote to Frat Poison?
When it comes to perpetrating the hookup culture, one needs only to look to America’s frats to get a close-up of the perps. If it’s wearing a double-popped collar, it’s probably looking for a hookup and little else. He’s a frat god, frat star, frat-tastic! He may be busted, he may be wearing a layer of beery frat fat underneath those polos, but he wields his power on campus like it is his God-given right. Are you sick of him yet? Because I am. I’m really, really sick of him.
In college I dated a guy who fitted the above description to a tee. In fact, he swiped my v-card, as I wrote about in an earlier post. He had been named Greek God at my college, I kid you not. He was really an OK guy, but he was not one to talk about feelings. Or anything, really, except for Busch beer, foosball and sports.
Along came an emo type and swept me off my feet. He was skinny, in tight jeans, and had glorious straight, dark brown hair that flopped around when he moved. He smoked. He appeared out of the blue and declared his undying love for me almost immediately. For the next six months I was in a swoon, fed by his angsty love songs and emotional wallowing. It was divine. Inevitably, conflict erupted and it then it was drama, drama, drama. I dumped him after he sang his sorrowful ballads about our troubles in the campus quad.
I wound up going back to the frat rat, but years later it is the sweet, angsty emo boy I think of most fondly. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which is a pretty good place for a heart to hang out. (I googled him recently for kicks, and he makes his living as a singer in LA. He’s married with two kids, and I hope he’s happy. He seems to be.)
So I would like to encourage you to think outside the frat house, or the law firm, or whatever conventional place you’ve been looking to meet a good guy. Think emo. You’ll know him by that emo swoosh across his brow, the t-shirt with his favorite band across the front, or maybe a smiley face. Tight jeans, pencil leg. Could be some tats, piercings or guyliner, it depends on how deep you want to venture into emo culture.
And just to get you fantasizing, here are the 10 hottest emo guys on the planet, in no particular order (and, oh yeah, i’ve thrown in a bonus emo at the end):
1. Frank Iero, My Chemical Romance
Frank Iero
2. Brandon Flowers, The Killers
Brandon Flowers
3. Adam Gontier, Three Days Grace
Adam Gontier
4. Mat Devine, Kill Hannah
Mat Devine
5. Mike Rogers, Almost Gold
Note: Almost Gold is a local Boston band, and their music is awesome. You probably haven’t heard of them yet, but you can check them out on MySpace here.
Mike Rogers
6. Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance
Gerard Way
7. Mikey Way, My Chemical Romance
Mikey Way
8. Brendan Urie, Panic at the Disco
Brendan Urie
9. Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional
Chris Carrabba
10. Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy
Pete Wentz
11. Barack Obama, President of the United States
Emo POTUS
Have I left out a favorite of yours? Who do you think is the hottest?
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Number 11 is hilarious! I love that pic!
Your point of looking outside the place that one typically looks (or looking at other types) is well taken. I think I've spent enough time in the emo world so going non-emo is the right direction for me.
Haha, yeah, sometimes it's just about changing things up. Pick a different direction and go there!
Hey I've been reading your blog for a while and although I find it super helpful and interesting I'm often lost on how to translate the normal college dynamics you deal with to Art School dynamic. Where I go to school there are no frats or sororities, and guys who _don't_ where tight jeans are a rarity. So what would the art school equivalent of frat rat be? btw Adam Gontier = hot!
Hi blackcorridor, nice to meet you! Thanks so much for your question, it's a good one. It shouldn't be too hard to make this translation. There is a major difference, in that art school guys are obviously embracing an emotional life rather than denying it as a lot of college guys would. But that doesn't mean they're all sweet boys. I'm sure there are plenty of egocentric jerks who are players, etc. Basically, you need to focus on the nice guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, and avoid at all costs the self-absorbed guy who has a reputation for treating girls poorly.
I wonder – is the scene in art school more relationship oriented, or is it all about hooking up there too? Do people openly fall in love, or do guys derive their status from having lots of commitment-free sex? I'm curious!
BTW, I have a soft spot for artistic types. Skinny jeans, Converses, a nice tattoo. So hot!
I found this googling 'emo vs jock' for no real reason, and I jsut have to say (ahaha) that I absolutely adore the more 'emo' guys.
Maybe it's because muscly guys are a teensy bit (okay, a lot) creepy, or emos seem rather sweet, I don't know.
And then there's that whole 'emos' thing. I LOVE words ending in vowel+s. Emos Emos Emos. Lovely word.
Haha, ioe, welcome! I just love googling random stuff! Google has an answer for everything! Yeah, I agree, emos are sweet. Of course, they're moody. My daughter has a really emo guy in her life that she swears has 47 moods. Lately, I've been seeing a whole lot about hipster culture, and as far as I can tell, hipster is just the new word for emo. I do know, however, that guys who are willing to admit that they're emo, are in no way willing to be called hipster! I guess it's personal preference, but I've always had a soft spot for the guys who wear their hearts/emotions on their sleeve.
I found this googling 'emo vs jock' for no real reason, and I jsut have to say (ahaha) that I absolutely adore the more 'emo' guys.
Maybe it's because muscly guys are a teensy bit (okay, a lot) creepy, or emos seem rather sweet, I don't know.
And then there's that whole 'emos' thing. I LOVE words ending in vowel+s. Emos Emos Emos. Lovely word.
Haha, ioe, welcome! I just love googling random stuff! Google has an answer for everything! Yeah, I agree, emos are sweet. Of course, they're moody. Lately, I've been seeing a whole lot about hipster culture, and as far as I can tell, hipster is just the new word for emo. I do know, however, that guys who are willing to admit that they're emo, are in no way willing to be called hipster! I guess it's personal preference, but I've always had a soft spot for the guys who wear their hearts/emotions on their sleeve.