OK, sorry to rain on your "Emo" parade, but Emo stands for Emotional and Emotionally Hardcore.
You don't exactly have to wear black or dakr cloths to be emo, you just have to have, well, very very strong emotions. Like hyper happy, really sad, etc. Its like over abundance for the circumstance. But that isn't always true either.
And Emo is a style, but thats just because the people that are truly emo invented it and they wear it because they like the way it feels and the way they look, not because its in style. In fact, they were wearing it before it came in style.
Not all emo's cut themselves, thats why there is a sub-class called Cutters.
A lot of Goth and Emo things do blend together, like the most of them do wear darker cloths. But where the emo style is tighter the Goth is generally baggy. Ex: TRIPP pants and Merlyn Manson T-shits = Goth; and Tight Jeans (of any color, shade, fashion) and a Green Day T-shirt = Emo. Of course, those are just the stero-types. There are plenty of people that are in thhe catagory of Emo that don't do either.
There isn't exactly a loss of brain cells, its more like they are misunderstood, for real, and some of them just want attention. But not all, and I stress the not all. And a lot of them are in fact taken for granted for the things they do. Has an emo kid ever helped you out in some way and you never actually said thank you or spoke to them again after?
Hell, anyone that helps me out I talk to regularly. Emo, prep, Goth, anything.
But why do yall care so much about the labels? The only reason I care is becase other people care and its necesarry for writing Novels. And beyond that, for the real world, I couldn't care less. People are people and you should just accept them for who they are or shun them for who they are, not what people say they are.
Besides, I'm Emo. ^^ I just don't cut, listen to hard core music, I rarely write poetry, but I do write lyrics. But thats because I'm in several music programs like band and I sing for the church, and I don't mind wearing eye-liner, as long as the girl thats putting it on me thinks it looks OK. ((ha ha, yea, I'm a big flirt)).
So, the whole stero-type thing is retarded. As for the non-conformity part, they don't do it just to do it, they do it because they believe that people should think for themselves, which they should, and not like something and act a certain way just because everyone else does. Like shunning that one kid at school because he's different.
Or what ever.
And I've been rambling so I'm gonna shut up now before I dig myself any deeper in this already 20 foot hole..... I wish I brought a ladder.