MachisEmo: Dissecting the influx of masculinity in femme
and queer DIY spaces
by Scout Dutro and Zoey KnipsteinI got into the NYC emo scene in 2022 and part of what I found most alluring was the pit. The hardcore shows I’d been to prior were fun and inherently violent, but the emo shows brought a level of dance and expression to violence that I found amazing. Going from hardcore, where the idea was to project anger, to a show where violence became a tool of expression is what makes Emo differ from the traditional route of “violent” music. Though, as time passed this is something I see less and less of. Where’s the guy throwing himself around like a ragdoll, or the flips and tricks and personality attributed to each individual mosh style? When the pit dies between breakdowns I wonder: where’s the emotion gone in emo?
Drawing by Delia @themeoffailure
As a counter-culture, Emo has always been about questioning and defying broader societal norms defined by repression and social convention. Everyone seems to have a different idea of what that means, making the values one forms through these notions warped by their own worldviews and personal vendettas. Open expression was the defiance of the emotional suppression I found in the conventions offered to me by traditional masculinity. This idea is what makes La Dispute's 2007 performance at Dirt Fest so iconic. In an effort to piss off the other bands on the bill, who performed with their chest puffed up and Chuck Norris as their paramour (it was 2007), vocalist Jordan Dreyer did what he knew would truly set them off, wear really tight cut off jean shorts. In a Youtube video from their set showing the bands performance of “Future Wars” Dreyer performs with an exaggerated effeminate bearing. These gestures that abjected the aggravated manly acts before them was enough to say fuck you loud and clear. Under that video, user @rudejeams commented “This is what it's all about” and I can’t agree more. I still think about it.
This is in opposition to what is becoming a more common attitude of what I’m calling “machis-emo”, flaunting strength as a moral trait. The values that first attracted me to the NYC scene don’t always seem to reflect in my surroundings after three-ish years. There is an instance that comes to mind a couple years ago where a guy was beat half unconscious after getting chased out of a show. The story of why he was beat up was secondary to the violence, the fact they beat him proves he deserved it to a lot of people. He couldn’t fight back, and whatever warranted this violence became lesser to the judgment of the crowd.
This attitude of “might is right” has been around in hardcore for a long time, but I think it’s worth examining within ourselves. I'm not against violence and believe it can be a strength of our subculture, especially in a neo-liberal climate that tells us violence of any form is evil. With this in mind, it's understandable why people find the right of strength to be good in the hardcore scene, but it doesn't undermine how this kind of mentality is inherently dangerous.
In NYC specifically, there is a feminine characterization of the liberal hipster transplants displacing many of us. To many in NYC, especially (but not limited to) men, this hypermasculine/violent persona is a threat against the forces of displacement many of us have experienced. When this persona is unpacked it’s easy to see why violence against women is such a widespread issue. There’s a hatred for “weak power”. Women are seen as weak, but their adoption of authority still remains imminent. This outrages and scares a “Macho-Man” who believes the only routes are to either succumb to femininity or eliminate it outright. Machismo reigns under the power of the men who raised men to become disgusted by femininity. This relationship is built on anger and resentment, with a suffocating fear that it is inescapable due to their contingent codependency. After all, the same teeth that bite the rapist make him feel at home to begin with.
What drew me to Emo in 2022 was its openness to remain feminine despite a backdrop of subcultures devoted to a looming masculine image. The power of Emo came from how nobody put value behind if they were threatened by you or not. Emo has always acted as a reaction against ever-evolving harmful conventions. It started with the music of Rites of Spring in 1985 and has not stopped. Emo has never existed as its own entity, but rather an act of resistance. To say emo is inherently feminine is not logical, as it has always acted as a rejection against masculinity. That alone is what makes Emo so widely interpreted. It is a rejection of masculinity, not an embracement of femininity. The machismo man is intertwined with the men who groomed him to be who he is. This doesn’t guarantee there isn’t complete joy in his peculiar situation. This has started to become more apparent at shows, where “Machis-emo” men want to reject masculinity without having to leave it fully behind. They insist their tight shirts and long hair are post-ironic, as if there's something wrong with looking a little feminine. Machis-emos take over the pit only during breakdowns, clock femmes in the jaw, and make sure the horseshoe stays wide. I hope that in the future we are able to see a change in this dynamic, and find a little more solace towards the tenderness emo music has to offer.
It was 2025, and Clay Birds were playing at Trans-Pecos. A photo went around the week after the show of all the women who performed that night posing in a classic metal-core group pose. I was happy, but also confused about why I was happy. It came as a shock to me why I found this photo to be so unordinary, you really don’t see women on the stage that often. Woman on the stage means embracing femininity instead of rejecting masculinity, and I’ll be keeping my eye out for that bill one day.
Photo taken from the Clay Birds Instagram