# Emos vs. Punks

Emos vs. Punks were multiple confrontations that occurred in 2008 in Mexico between emos and anti-emo groups (mainly punks).
The emo movement appeared in Mexico in the early-2000s. It was influenced by the international subculture of the United States and pop punk music, whose lyrics express emotions. Fashion received inspiration from androgynous styles, including skinny jeans and men wearing make-up, both uncommon in the country at that time. In Mexico City, emos first gathered at the Tianguis Cultural del Chopo flea market, where multiple underground groups gathered, including punk and heavy metal subcultures.
As the movement became mainstream in the country, mainly among teenagers and young adults, anti-emo groups formed, which claimed that emos were appropriating and copying their subcultures. Harassment from anti-emo groups increased as time went on, even requesting to assassinate emos. In the city, the anti-emo groups expelled the emos from El Chopo market, and these began to reunite at the Glorieta de los Insurgentes traffic circle, at the clandestine club Los Sillones.
In March 2008, a group of emos was attacked in the capital city of Querétaro. Alleging that the emos were attempting to expand and appropriate more zones in Mexico City, anti-emo groups organized a confrontation at the traffic circle on 16 March 2008 via social network services. Police officers partially controlled the mob, but it reignited a few hours later. It was not until members of the Hare Krishna movement intervened and diverted the attention from both groups that the brawl ended. In the following weeks, emo groups demonstrated in Mexico City, requesting respect and tolerance. Subsequently, the emo movement in Mexico became less common, and people who self-identified as emos left their identities or merged into different subcultures.

## Emo subculture in Mexico

The emo subculture arrived in Mexico around 2001. Social network services, like MySpace, hi5, and Metroflog, were raising their popularity among teenagers and young adults. Musically, international rock groups like My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy, as well as local bands like Panda, Delux and Kudai, surged or became popular. Their lyrics discussed emotions, which differs from punk songs, whose lyrics discuss political or societal opposition. Its fashion included androgynous clothing styles, like skinny jeans, make-up, and the emo hairstyle, whose bangs cover one eye. Over time, emo fashion became more widespread, and isolated groups became mainstream. Some members gathered at the Tianguis Cultural del Chopo, a street flea market in Mexico City where members of various subcultures reunite for both sales and cultural events. These included punks, goths, metalheads, skinheads, among others.

## Anti-emo groups

People opposed the emo subculture, perceiving it as a parody of their respective identities. They viewed emos as superficial and depressed, adopting the style merely for fashion. Kristoff Raczyñski, host of a program on TeleHit, a Televisa cable television channel similar to MTV, called the subculture a movement for "15-year-old little girls", adding that "There isn’t a movement here. There isn’t a unified manner of thinking, there [aren't] musicians. You have confused hard rock, punk and screamo and you have grouped all the ideas of these scenes, just to give significance to your stupid bullshit movement."
Emos were constantly harassed at El Chopo market, so they moved to the Glorieta de los Insurgentes, a traffic roundabout along Avenida de los Insurgentes, in the clandestine club Los Sillones, which punks perceived as a form of spreading. Anti-emo groups surged in the country, and tensions rose among punks and metalheads, who saw emos as a threat to their codes and values. Fernanda Guzmán said on NPR that stereotypes surrounding emotional behavior and fashion could have contributed to a bullying culture in some sectors of society, primarily because emos were viewed as effeminate. This perception conflicted with Mexico's widespread culture of machismo and homophobia, in contrast to punks and metalheads, who were seen as more masculine. Anti-emos sentiment grew more aggressive, with incidents of emos getting their bags cut and by adopting the slogan Haz patria y mata a un emo ("Make a homeland and kill an emo"). Online anti-emo groups emerged, including Movimiento Anti Emosexual and Anti Emo Death Squad, the latter hosted on Last.fm.

## Confrontations

On 7 March 2008, around 800 people gathered in Querétaro City to attack emos. The movement, driven by online groups and email chain letters, targeted those who dislike the "emo look and attitude". The group assaulted three teenagers in a city plaza, who were punched and kicked. Police arrested 28 people.
The following week, on the afternoon of 16 March, anti-emos groups gathered at the Glorieta de los Insurgentes to attack emos at Los Sillones. The two groups exchanged verbal confrontations, but soon escalated to hitting each other with belts. City police intervened to separate both groups, but a few hours later, the brawl resumed. It was only deescalated when members of the Hare Krishna movement, who regularly sang at the traffic circle on Saturdays, invited both groups to chant with them.
In Tijuana, emos were warned not to attend the city's fair the following month. In April 2009, emos and anti-emos confronted each other in Tampico.

## Aftermath and legacy

Emo groups held demonstrations in several cities, requesting respect. In Mexico City, they attempted to enter the El Chopo market, but anti-emos prevented them. In the following years, the emo scene dwindled, with Guzmán attributing it to teenagers growing up or blending into other subcultures while searching for their identities.
The incidents were referenced in an episode of La rosa de Guadalupe. Seventeen years after the conflict at Glorieta de los Insurgentes, in 2025, a peaceful march was held that ended at the roundabout, where a peaceful mock street fight was staged.