A discussion over "scene girls" (specifically "emo" scene girls) brought yet another philosophical discussion into my head.

Every trend starts with a person, or group of persons, that has adapted a strong feeling into a lifestyle.

Punk started when someone decided that rather than just not fitting in by default, they should actively stick out, and tell society that it's standards weren't for them, and that suited them just fine.  Eventually this caught on with more of society's dropouts, and it became a full-blown trend.  Neon hair, torn clothing, it was all part of the package.  Eventually punk music started, and this really got the trend started.

Here's where things went wrong.  As the music caught on, and the fashions and opinions began to be adapted by more people, the true meaning of punk was lost, as being a punk was now being a society of your own, and fitting in there.  Eventually this self-defeating conundrum took hold, and punk began to die.

With one example, you can see how trends lose their "meat", per se, as it spreads.  People begin to jump into a trend because it is a way for them to have something to belong to, not because they truly believe in or embody the ideals of that trend.  As it spreads, the trend continues to be a way of life for its originators, but said originators have their life cheapened by trend-hoppers who are merely jumping into the next attention-getter.

Emo is a trend that has really seen itself diluted by aforementioned trend hoppers.  From being a way for people who are in touch with and not afraid of their own emotions to find like-minded fellows, it is now a way for attention whores to dress and act to get the attention they desire from society.

In a way, the longest-running trend is that of trend-jumping.  Why stick with one trend when going from trend to trend means you're always on the forefront of the attention wave?  Who cares about the essence of the life the trend puts forth when you could simply adapt its fashions and mannerisms to scratch that never-ending need for attention?

I consider myself an emotional person, and I was happy when I found out about emo, and enjoy much of the music that came along in the early days.  However, as the trend really caught on, I've become sickened at how it has been raped and fed to the mainstream.  When I see a guy with badly dyed long black hair, a spiked bracelet, a metal belt and tight black pants, it ruins my day.  I remember when to be emo all you had to do was be able to empathize.  To have society take something I hold dear and so thoroughly rape it and package it for consumption by the everyday attention whore populating myspace physically hurts me.

I look forward to the day when someone starts another trend, and all the emo-hoppers realize their bad dye-job, wardrobe, tattoos and piercings don't fit that trend.  Maybe for that second of revelation they'll really understand the essence of the trend they've soiled.

I suppose the moral of the ramblings is that trends are bad.  The second an ideal or lifestyle hits "trend" status, each subsequent follower of the trend weakens the starter(s)'s individuality.  Rather than hopping on a trend, simply be yourself.  If anyone wants more than that, you probably don't need them around anyways.