the definition of t-boy (or other variations of the word like t-girl or t-person) is one who is a theatre kid/teen/adult and is such that kid/teen/adult. they also hit all the characteristic or aesthetic check-boxes that match with the stereotypical 't' label. use of this term comes in handy when you see someone or know someone who is obviously a try hard for the t-person label. (it's not mean. we've all been there - maybe not in the 't' way but still. at least, we all know someone who is like that.)
similarly, the definition of e-boy (or other variations of the word like e-girl or e-person) is one who is an emo kid/teen/adult and is such that kid/teen/adult. they also hit all the characteristic or aesthetic check-boxes that match with the stereotypical 'e' label. use of this term comes in handy when you see someone or know someone who is obviously a try hard for the e-person label. (it's not mean. we've all been there - maybe not in the 'e' way but still. at least, we all know someone who is like that.)
now, we wanted to just clarify what the terms above are, because, as you can see from the title, they might prove helpful for this sidenote :)
so, how did this all start?? why do we, the twins, want to clarify this odd comparison?? well, the answer to that is: it all started with f-ing brandon urie. further clarifying, no, we are not mad at him. and no, we are not those girls who are overly obsessed with mr. brandon. we are in fact overly obsessed early 2000s girls, since we belong to the proud and superior '03 baby club (tm).
therefore, it won't surprise you that a while ago we sat our lil' aughty-bodies down for an early-2000s music video marathon. and it was here that we stumbled upon....
before you go and judge, yes, this was the first time we had seen this music video, but, no, we weren't oblivious to the gist of it or it's iconic thumbnail, which you see above. panic! at the disco's "i write sins not tragedies" released in january of 2006. at that time, we would've been two. at that age, we were giving our parents h*ll and listening to our favorite songs, good charlotte's "i just wanna live" and the chemical brother's "galvanize". we aren't joshing you. ask anyone in our fam. the toddle-bottom babes that we were bounced our little booties to those songs over and over and over and over - you get it. in this case, we had no time to listen to "IWSNT". and even as the years passed, we weren't interested in top-hat-and-white-gloved-brandon. our music tastes had other favs, busying themselves with music from britney spears, nelly furtado, gwen stefani, and madonna. nevertheless, we did grow up in a social world and definitely heard about the "emo-ness" that was panic! and their music video. consequently, when we did finally get around to watch the "i write sins not tragedies" we were like -
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how was - how is this still considered emo?!?! like, just how?!?!
if you are confused by our opinion, we'll break it down.
above we have provided you of some 'starter pack' pics on what theatre kids look like today. granted, these 'starter pack' pics are for what theatre kids look like today, but we all know that, no matter what generation they're from, theatre kids are all consistently dramatic. now, the level of how dramatic they are may vary but, yeah, theatre kids. they just be drama, baby. hence, you may find them in situations like: belting 'the greatest show' from, duh, the greatest showman randomly during class. wearing a beret no matter the season. being obsessed with broadway and actors such as andrew garfield and jonathan groff. pretending their the best friend in a movie (when they really want to be the star), or, even better, pretending their life is a boring version of glee (making them reference glee a lot). and notably, doing things such as wearing gloves, rolling your jeans to show off your 50s ruffle socks with mary jane shoes, or only doing makeup on one eye to try and be edgy but they're just being "different". you see, that's t-person material. moving along....
we have 'starter pack' pics on what emo kids look like. we provided a few more options, since, emo kids today are vastly different from the emo kids of the aughts. that said, they all still have consistencies in that they love the color black and feel misunderstood. that's just how they roll. you may find them in situations like: walking around in black converse or black vans - anything black basically (with bonus points if your clothes are ripped). not always emotionally depressed, but you'll find them listening to depressing alternative or punk music and dare you say anything about the bands they think are god. pretending they don't have feelings or feelings that people can understand. or, on that note, pretending they don't care about things but deep down have opinions on everything. tend to not speak to others and take more of the outside-observer approach in social situations. and even identifying with the time of day: night. you see, that's emo material.
regardless of these pretty accurate stereotypes, when we look at the eems (our word for emos. pronounced \ ē - mi - zuh \ ) we see a very different aesthetic from the t-kids. a very moody one!! and then, when we turn to panic!'s i write sins not tragedies music video, we get this....
WOAH. there's a lot to unpack here. jeez. first thing's first (i'm a realist), does this look emo?? personal preference, maybe?? which starter pack does it fit under?? if you saw the black top hat and are still under the impression that this is some eem-shiz, we'll give you this. the song may pass as 'emo' with its observer-in-the-back-corner lyrics (ex. "as i'm pacing the pews in a church corridor // and i can't help but to hear"), yet everything about this song is theatrical. right out of the get-go, brandon begins the song with a play-like introductory manner. and that's not mentioning his constant switching in his voice from belting to talk-singing. (forgive us if there is a more proper way to specify 'talk-singing'). anyways!! likewise, the only thing in this video that'll pass as 'emo' is the groom's classic heavy-side-part-bangs-swoosh hairstyle and the very subtle (almost non-existent) use of eyeliner. the truth is, this video is as emo as moulin rouge!! and did you think that movie was emo?? now, for those of you who haven't seen this music video yet, we'll fill you in. the general concept is a young brandon urie, who's givin' alex from a clockwork orange vibes (if alex was a t-boy), disrupting a wedding with his carnival/thespian friends. the video also includes a lot of big, on-stage-like gestures from brandon and a final bow. A FINAL BOW!!
like, sure, emo evolves and whatever, but this video was just improperly categorized in the emo genre. maybe we can compromise on this being a merging of worlds, ~slightly~. a world where t-boys meet the e-boys. but we cannot say that panic!'s "IWSNT" is the holy grail of emo or let alone a pillar of the eems like it is seen as. is this SO EARLY 2000s?? heck yeah!! but when we look back at this, is it emo?? no!! when we look back at this, is it t-boyish?? FOR FREAKIN' SURE!!
then again, maybe we are showing our emo side by defending its definition.
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guilty. have a nice emo day :)