The Emo Doll
The origin of the word “emo” comes from the punk rock movement in the 1980’s. An extension of this is the e-girls, punk, and anything in the “other” category.
Emo girl. E-girl. Rockstar. Maybe you’re a bit eccentric, you’re a bit weird. Maybe you look at yourself and think, “I was ahead of my time.” Maybe you have trouble sticking to any rules except your own. You may show the features of the Emo Doll.
Emo Dolls are easily recognizable because they are willing to do things most people aren’t willing to do. They live loudly in the world and don’t take no for an answer.
For this personality type, I will be using a few beloved sub-personalities due to its complexity!
Classic Emo Doll
The quintessential Emo Doll is the stereotype described above: dark eyeshadow, blunt cut hair, piercings, and a faithful wearer of the color black. This was on the rise in the conception of my favorite website, Tumblr with the (now considered memes) quotes about teenage angst and depression.
Alternative Emo Doll
This type of Emo Doll is described as the Rocker Chick: electric guitar, colorful hair, mosh pit lover, and a friend of the world. She’s way more extroverted than your typical Emo Doll. And sometimes, she’s a mix of goth, punk, emo, E-girl, indie, etc.
Indie Emo Doll
Remember when Lana Del Rey birthed a nation of girls on Tumblr? That’s your grunge/indie girl… musings of existential crises and limerance. They are known to wear flowy clothing, have eccentric hair and makeup, and have a “fallen angel” attitude about life.
Antisocial
This Doll personality type has a lot of trouble fitting in with others. Social groups aren’t their thing. Naturally, people are put off by their refusal to conform to beauty standards and fads. In teen movies, you’ll notice their enemy is often the “Queen Bee” of the school, but that’s really because they have something the Queen Bee doesn’t: freedom.
The fictional character from Mean Girls Janis Ian was the definition of this personality trait. She emphasizes to the main protagonist Cady that there is a social hierarchy that she wasn’t allowed to belong to. She was branded as an obsessed “lesbian” all because she wanted to be friends with the Queen Bee, Regina George. This turned into a disdain for the general population and a staunch belief that vengeance is necessary, at all costs.
In the end, this desire for vengeance was crippling. It only made Janis look bitter and equally as “mean” as the Queen Bee.
In real life, Emo Dolls have no issue with being an “outcast”. There’s a huge stereotype that being in the outgroup is why they lament, but it’s because nobody understands them enough to include them in everything.
What we can learn: Sometimes being set apart is a good thing.
2. Individualistic
“Anna hurry up!”
“What? I’m ready!” - (Freaky Friday, 2003)
Emo Dolls find themselves paving the way for their identity very early in life. They have a crisis of sorts, and end up finding their own rhythm of aesthetics sooner than other personalities. They see themselves as an individual first and always feel like the collective is a load of garbage.
In the movie, Freaky Friday, Anna starts the movie as unapologetically herself. In fact, she’s so herself that it ruffles her mom’s feathers as her mom believes there is a certain way to live life. Individuality is something that a lot of older people see as useless when it comes to “fitting in”. Anna practices guitar and is the ultimate alt girl with streaks in her hair and all.
I think a lot of people have a fascination with Alternative personalities because they are freely expressive in a way that they cannot be.
There’s something satisfying watching someone embrace their brand and who they are. Alternative Rocker Chicks go after their passions so early that it’s second nature to do so. They are attached to music specifically and have their music idols often plastered all over the walls.
A part of an Emo Doll’s individuality in general is their room. In teenage years, parents like to emphasize the importance of cleaning your room. An overall feature of each sub-personality is a lack of respect for authority. This Doll feels like parents weaponize authority more than anything, and may have a distant dynamic with their family due to the unfair enforcement of rules. When someone tells an Emo Doll to clean their room, and they already know it’s dirty, they probably won’t clean it now. In contrast, an Emo Doll’s room being messy to others isn’t always messy to them.
Their room is their safe haven, and the way they express their individuality is usually more maximalist than minimalistic. They are a hoarder of memories, knick-knacks, breakdown journals/diaries, sheet music, etc. Anything plain is grueling and makes them feel more isolated than they already do.
Another feat of individuality is their clothing. For example, in Freaky Friday, Anna sees someone wearing the exact same shirt… so in order to maintain her individuality she turns it inside out.
What we can learn: Above everything else, fear stifles who you are destined to be. The things you like and find to be aesthetically pleasing isn’t up for discussion.
3. Emotional AF
You can always count on an Emo Doll to share their feelings, even if other people get secondhand embarrassment at the sight. This personality trait is covered by the amazing music from the Emo Doll archetype. For this trait, we are featuring an indie-alt pop/grunge artist, Lana Del Rey. As an OG Tumblr girl, Lana took the nation by storm with her lyrics about forbidden love, suicidal ideation, toxic relationships, addiction, and more.
In middle school, I resonated with Lana’s lyrics on how turbulent love was, and I wholeheartedly felt like I knew what it was even at that age. Indie Emo Dolls get swept away by the art of music. Music is their lifeline, above anything else.
Being comfortable with emotions, even the rawest ones, is the key to self-discovery. Listen to the Emo Doll playlist here.
4. Rebellious
Emo Dolls are always pushing the envelope further than it needs to go. They are the first to get tattoos, and piercings, change their hair color, and say the words that nobody else would say. They are the furthest thing from a straight edge. For example, Miley Cyrus is the literal blueprint of the rebellious rockstar child. She was forced into a cookie-cutter popstar image and broke out into her true, alternative brand once she was free of Disney (which is a whole post in and of itself).
In the 2000s, ominous hair colors and drastic makeup were a signature of teenage rebellion. The color palette was very bright in the Y2K era, so wearing black was a surefire way to go against the grain. In the 2010s, everyone adopted drastic makeup and hair colors, but the way to rebel became fashion-led. When everyone was wearing floral tops, bulky fall scarves, and uggs, Emo Dolls were most certainly wearing Converse, ripped skinny jeans, leather, and stacks of bracelets up their arms.
I believe everyone goes through another "rebellious" angsty stage in their 20s as adolescence starts to end and self-discovery expands. As I left my teenage years, I knew that my desire to break free wouldn't decrease over time because I had always gone through what my parents deemed as "phases". The meme "it's not a phase, Mom" rings so true.
It feels good to do the things you shouldn't. Scream, turn your music up loud, and ignore responsibilities. It's just an act of nature to rebel at some point. Everything in adulthood has to be done within reason as you get older, but one thing that everyone should learn from the Emo Doll is rebellion is a rite of passage and NECESSARY. Staying in the constructs of society will only leave you constantly looking over your shoulder for who thinks what and what's acceptable or not. Even if you didn't have an "emo phase", the ideology is that you're only rebelling against what's been taught to you by the same people who didn't have the guts to be their own person. Some people think sticking to the status quo is the best way to not end up a "loser", but I think it's only what you make of it.
You're never going to look back when you're on your deathbed wishing you did less. most older people wish they did more. You'll always hear someone give the advice to enjoy your youth while it's here because "you'll never get these years back" and it's the "best times of our lives." As someone who was definitely considered Emo in middle school, the ~emo~ in me would say, "Nah, this isn't as good as it gets. If I died tomorrow, that would be okay." That type of cynical nature is so terse and against the grain. It took me years to deprogram part of it, and a lot of it I still say to this day (and as you can see, I've flipped it into something more positive).
Something the inner teen in me wants all of you to learn is that sometimes your heart will hit the damn pavement and nobody will understand at the time. Sometimes, you WILL have to cry alone in your room. Sometimes, you SHOULD take a leap of faith and dye your hair or change your brand completely.
There are archetypes in all of us, and if this one resonates the most, ask yourself: What have I done lately to cultivate my inner Emo Doll? What are the ways I can interact with the world through less judgment/apprehensiveness for the future and more so just living in the moment? If I feel stagnant, what's something I can do to keep my self-concept intact? What makes me feel alive? What's on my bucket list for the rest of 2023?
Take this and use it to your advantage, and let it rock.
