A little question about emos and emo music?

Is emo even really a subculture? I have always known it as a genre of music and nothing more than that. I am confused as to how it began and the stereotypical emo came about eg. black hair with side fringe, cuts themself,writes poetry,plays and accoustic guitar and crys. Do emos even REALLY exist because every "emo" that I have met openly calls themselfs emo and listens to pop punk. So are there even such things as emos? Also I find that the youth of today very easily get confused between goths,emos and punks. One of my friends pointed out this girl who dressed like a stereotypical 80's goth and she started raving on about how gross and ugly emos were... look I dont even know if she was a goth or not and I dont really care but its like anyone who wears black,wears eyeliner and listens to rock music is stereotyped an emo.