A special distinguished unfortunate girl story originates from some artwork narratives we underneath the login name (menhera girl). Given that 2013 Momose has tweeted one illustration twenty four hours, presenting a great mouthless girl within the a good sailor suit (university consistent). Rather than Kotoha (2012) manga which is drawn in an anime style, Momose’s job is an individual panel comical you to illustrates an excellent girl distress loneliness, depression, and you can despair. Extremely photo is actually accompanied with a few spoken contours of one’s menhera girl’s monolog or a short discussion between their particular and you may private other people who seemingly hardly understand exactly what the girl are troubled having. Although it isn’t described if the menhera girl enjoys good diagnosable rational disease or what is causing her anxiety, self-injury (wrist reducing) try illustrated for brand new menhera girl to manage having interior soreness or even manage a great dissociative effect making yes this woman is still alive (Profile step one). Since , Momose’s Myspace membership have over 85,000 supporters therefore the type of their own design are penned when you look at the a text called “This new Voice out-of a Utenlandske jenter som vil gifte seg med amerikansk mann gray Girl” (Momose, 2016).
Profile 1. “Does not arm-reducing hurt?” “It doesn’t harm (around my personal cardiovascular system).” A graphic narrative i (). Picture reproduced which have consent regarding the author.
These types of sad girl narratives indicate that the brand new jargon offered the founders that have a somewhat simple and all of-surrounding identity so you can depict latest Japanese girls experiencing the pain off way of living. It may be worth desire your unfortunate girl menhera embodies stereotypical Japanese femininity, eg submissiveness, self-manage, and you can clear of selfishness. Momose (2016) mouthless character eloquently signifies that the new menhera girl suffers in silence; what we get a hold of and you can hear about their is with their unique internal monolog filled up with anxiety and you may distress, however, she’s zero sound to increase. Self-injury is actually depicted as a means to externalize and you will cope with their own inner serious pain, in place of interacting their angst in order to others. Momose’s portrayal of your own menhera girl as the an excellent “gray girl” is specially telling in this regard. In her own study on mass media portrayals off dining issues and thinking-harm certainly Japanese female, Hansen (2011) claims that ladies into the modern-day The japanese have a tendency to deal with “this new paradox from navigating contradictive womanliness into the a grey area anywhere between the standard additionally the disordered” (p. 57). Is “the nice and you can clean girl” needs Japanese women to exercise rigorous thinking-command over their bodies so you’re able to “suppresses the newest evil” in themselves (Hansen, 2011, p. 61). In the unfortunate girl narratives, self-hurting strategies such as self-induced regurgitation, deprivation, and you can care about-cutting try depicted due to the fact good borderline disordered operate performed by the more youthful female wanting to browse the fresh new contradictive femininity.
Intriguingly, in a lot of manga, anime, and you can games, menhera girls is basic delivered once the lovable, loveable, and you may caring to their love hobbies
Paradoxically, the web link anywhere between menhera and stereotypical womanliness enjoys triggered menhera’s sudden boost in dominance, such as for example in this manga/comic strip targeting men visitors. Such as for instance, Last Menhera (Amano and you may Ise, 2016) try an effective seinen manga (younger men comical) one follows a senior high school boy falling crazy about good gorgeous classmate whom care about-slices (Profile dos). On story, new heroine partcipates in repeated wrist slashing to “survive the pain sensation away from living” and you will “postpone the newest , p. 56) which leads almost every other characters to help you name their menhera. The male protagonist pretends that he, as well, self-injures to attract their unique desire and love. Through the protagonist’s male gaze, the heroine’s marked human anatomy becomes the thing of affective application where self-burns off represents their own vulnerability, helplessness, and deformity, and this altogether comprises a perverted sexual appeal (Seko and you may Kikuchi, 2020).
The newest Crazy Woman
Whereas, the fresh sad girl story domesticates feminine insanity since the insecure and probably erotic, brand new enraged lady exaggerates their own problem and you will derangement, especially in new context away from romantic matchmaking. In this narrative, new menhera was obsessed with their own like notice and you can tends to make devastating operate is using this people. not, whenever a 3rd individual goes in new picture, the insecurity manifests because possessive advice and you will procedures, overprotectiveness, and you may extreme envy that looks eccentric and terrifying so you’re able to anyone else (Kato, 2018). In lieu of this new sad girls exactly who walk good tightrope between the regular in addition to disordered, the newest mad woman firmly inhabits the field of insanity.
