It all started with Brandy Melville; they marketed a sheer white t-shirt with thin black stitching that read "Cute but Psycho" and it caught the attention of the youth. Skinny girls with an affinity for crop tops and short shorts started sporting this statement like it was fashionable, advertising themselves on every social media platform there is. The line spread like the plague and soon everyone was branding themselves with it. I couldn't stand it. I still can't.
Look, I get that there is intrigue in mental illness. Many of us believe that being depressed or tortured in some way is mysterious and attractive or that it makes us deep. Tumblr and Twitter have abused the crap out of it for attention and in the process have created almost a culture of mental illness among today's youth. If you looked at social media with fresh eyes, you'd think every other kid has a mental disorder. However, the fact remains that, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, only about 12.5% of interviewed adolescents meet the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. That's not a low number by any means, but prevalence is not nearly as high as our social media atmosphere portrays; something must be wrong. The crux of that problem is a lack of awareness and a lack of sensitivity to the subject at hand, an insensitivity that leads us to wear mental illness around like golden badges.
The majority of people don't see the problem with using the term "psycho" in casual conversation. We generally feel no sympathy for those suffering from psychopathy, in large part due to media portrayal of psycho/sociopathology as a marked indicator of violence. Of course, violent/sexual offenders do often meet the criteria for psychopathology/antisocial personality disorder, but not all "psychos" are aggressive.
I get it, how weird is it that I'm trying to tell you not to make generalizations about psychopaths? I must be crazy. I won't reach you this way. Rather than trying to make you see them as human beings that don't deserve to have their illness appropriated, how about I just tell you what a "psycho" really is, according to psychologists. Then you can decide for yourself whether you really fit the bill.
As I alluded to earlier, "psychopathy" is referred to as Antisocial Personality Disorder in the scientific community. The DSM-5 defines the disorder as including the following:
- Impairments in personality functioning, which cause ego-centrism and self-esteem derived from personal gain/power, as well as a lack of empathy and an incapacity for intimacy.
- Pathological personality traits in the following domains:
- Antagonism: manipulativeness, deceitfulness, callousness, hostility
- Disinhibition: irresponsibility, impulsivity, risk taking
- These traits are consistent across time and situation, are not dependent on socio-cultural environment, and are not brought on by drug use or caused by a medical condition (severe head trauma)
*for a more detailed account, consult: http://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/ps... *
Furthermore, let's not forget the fact that the term "psycho" has been coined as a kind of universal term for those living with mental disorders, and even just those whose opinions differ from our own. This reality points to the biggest reason "Cute but Psycho" bothers me. The adoption of mental illness as a fashion statement completely trivializes the issue. People are led to believe that a bad day = depression; occasional risk-taking/ loud erratic behavior = psycho; or a stress overload = mental breakdown, which only leaves room for more ignorance. We think we know what these issues entail, so then we never search for the actual truth and leave those suffering feeling invalidated.
Appropriation of any kind is demonstrative of the more privileged demographics trying to make everything their own. Whether it's cultural appropriation or, in this case, appropriation of the attractive qualities of a painful illness, the act is generally committed by white people who want to be more interesting or ethnic. Whether it's Gigi Hadid posing in hijab, Kylie Jenner modeling in a wheelchair, or angsty white teenagers labeling themselves as "psycho" in order to seem edgy for their Instagram aesthetic, claiming an identity without doing anything to learn about it or respecting its origins is wrong. You can't just take the parts you like without understanding the whole. Especially if you are ignorant to the fact that you have privilege.
I could talk about this forever, but I can't, so I 'll leave you with this anecdote.
"When I was young, army-style camo was very "in". Everyone and their mother wore the stuff: pants, shirts, bathing suits, even jewelry. I wanted to be trendy, so I continually asked my mom to buy me something of that style. I'll never forget what she said. It went something like this: "I will not take part in commercializing war." She told me that it was wrong to turn the garment of soldiers into a fashion statement because we will never know the horrors they have endured. She told me we shouldn't make light of a tragic reality."
She was right, and her wisdom applies to "Cute but Psycho".
Sticking out your tongue, crossing your eyes, and giving a middle finger to the camera doesn't make you a "psycho". Neither does romanticizing death, wearing black or speaking your mind.
Read a book, take a class, I don't care. Just learn the actual facts. The world is so much more complicated than you'd like to believe.
Sources:
NIH, National Institute of Mental Health, Major Depression Among Adolescents:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevale...
DSM IV and DSM V Criteria for Personality Disorders:
http://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/ps..
