'Emo,' goth subcultures thriving in Mexico

by Chris Hawley - Apr. 14, 2008 12:00 AM
Photo by Rebecca Holzer/The Arizona Republic

Republic Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY - It is Saturday at the Chopo flea market in Mexico City, and the angst-ridden kids of Mexico's blooming middle class have come to hang out.

Goths, skaters, punk rockers and "emos" mill around, checking out used albums and buying T-shirts.

The Chopo market is neutral ground. But in other parts of Mexico, a spate of attacks by punks and other groups on emos has thrown the spotlight on these "urban tribes" and their rapid growth as Mexico's middle class begins to spawn its own Generation X of disaffected, tech-savvy youths.

"Before, Mexico was very homogenous," said Gerardo Reyes, one of the darks (known as goths in the U.S.). "Now, the young people are splitting off, doing their own thing."

Mexico has seen youth movements before, with homegrown versions of hippies and punks popping up in the 1960s and 1970s. But in the past decade, the number of subgroups has soared, said Hector Castillo, a sociologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM.

The phenomenon stems from Mexico's increasing internationalization, its migration of people toward cities, its strengthening economy and its relative youth, he said. About 59 percent of Mexicans are under age 30, compared with 42 percent of Americans, according to Mexico's census bureau.