Blood from the eyes: How teens imitate self-arm on instagram
Attention: The article contains descriptions of photographs in which self-emulation is simulated using props
“I find it both beautiful and horror. I like to take realistic photos, surprise, and then show off the work I did to make them so real,” says Dasha, fourteen. “I didn’t add blood to my profile right away: I thought that a lot of complaints will fall down because of this and an account can be blocked. Do not complain, please, otherwise there is no desire to do anything. Often in the comments they write that I am “touched”, “fucked up”, that such content is disgusting, they ask , why am I I do this. The answer in my nickname is @prosto_tupo_ya_tak_hochu. " She paints the eyeballs, inserts objects under the eyelid and does other not very pleasant, according to her, manipulations with the right eye. Dasha is far from the only one who imitates blood and damage on her own photos - and judging by the growing number of similar accounts and subscribers, this attracts a great many.
Text: Irina Kuzmichyova
Of course, frightening visual plots are not an invention of modern culture. Long before the advent of cinema and, especially, instagram, images of violence were enough in different eras and in different nations: from Christian icon painting to performances of Marina Abramovich. Over the past eight years, TV shows such as Game of Thrones and American Horror Story have changed attitudes towards violent scenes on television and the Internet: today, fictional violence more often than ever seems to be attractive and fascinating, rather than repulsive.
Screaming for fear of the audience helps not only the plot, the play of actors and offscreen music, but also make-up. The pioneer of SFX-make-up (SFX - "special effects") is Jack Pierce, the main makeup artist of Universal, who invented and created the visual images of monsters for the classic horror of the 1930s: "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "Mummy". Today, the imitation of blood and wounds has reached a new level, and the masters working on it have settled in the main supplier of relevant visual information, the instagram. SFX-makeup artists and body art masters are a separate group of artists specializing in the most believable images of injuries and injuries: severed limbs, lacerated wounds, bruises, burns, and more. In addition to the pages of professional make-up artists, from Hollywood specialist Rhonda Cowton (she "shed blood" in "Silent Hill - 2") to Helen Margera from Ufa, there are many amateur enthusiasts for the Internet, for whom SFX-aesthetics has become a way of self-expression.
“I was bored with these perfect pictures on instagram, naked bodies. This is primitive,” says self-taught makeup artist Karina, who has been holding an account for @ peredoz.19 for the second year. “I started with ordinary make-up, switched to make-up, because it is cool. It became my sense of life and found support already in ten thousand people. I make images from improvised means, instead of blood I use paints. My audience knows about it, since I show the process of creation in storyboard. " Karine is nineteen - quite often such accounts are led by adolescents, who, according to them, simply like the kind of blood, not necessarily real. Clinical psychologist Ekaterina Tarasova connects the love of blood and the desire for risk with hormonal changes in adolescence; She believes that this can be a way to give an outlet to negative emotions: "Love for blood, including artificial, can be a way to attract attention, a cry for something important - for your fears, for example."
Many people immediately warn that the photos make-up, and not real injuries. Amanda Prescott, a self-taught make-up artist who started working even when she was twelve, indicated such a disclaimer in a profile cap and copies it under each post. Eighteen-year-old Reni from Australia also warns that in all the photographs there are not really severed or broken limbs, but a special make-up.
Many people like to look at what others consider scary, they like to be afraid
True or fiction
Thousands of followers react to the “bloody” posts in different ways, in amplitude from “Wow, you are so talented!” to "Lord, what a nightmare!". Many consider this art or at least serious skill: “It’s interesting, although it looks scary. People spend a lot of time, learn special makeup, make it their hobby or profession,” says one of the subscribers.
Many people like to look at what others consider scary, and like to be afraid - it is enough to remember how popular horror movies are. An explanation of why this is happening can be found in Mathias Classen, associate professor at the School of Communication and Culture at the University of Aarhus in Denmark and author of the book "Why Horror Seduces". "In the process of evolution, people learned to have fun in situations that allow them to experience negative emotions in a safe context. For example, playing hide and seek is nothing more than simulating the interaction of a predator and a victim. Thanks to this simulation, the child understands how not to become prey. as a rule, they like such games because they give them the safe experience of a potentially catastrophic scenario, "he believes. Klassen calls the fear of unrealistic danger one of the sources of pleasure, because it helps to cope with real fears and negative emotions - and for this reason recommends that you start watching horror films if you are not doing this yet.
The key point: the violence that we see must be fictional - otherwise it can injure the viewer. For example, according to a study published in the Journal of Media Psychology, three factors attract people in horror films and any frightening images of people. The first is the tension generated by uncertainty, shock, blood; the second is relevance, that is, cultural or personal significance; and the third is confidence in the unreality of events. Among the works on which the author builds his theory is Glenn Walters, a study by the Pennsylvania Department of Psychology. In it, scientists showed participants research documentaries depicting real scenes of cruelty to animals and video filming of a child’s surgical operation. The audience had the opportunity to turn off the films at any time - ninety percent of the students did it, most often they turned off the movie around the middle, the rest watched the final, but found the picture disgusting and disturbing. And all this despite the fact that many probably look more bloody and cruel horror and militants, although the authors of the study did not ask them about it.
At the sight of fake cuts, a variety of reactions can occur - from disgust to curiosity, are they real?
There are several theories explaining why horror films attract us - perhaps the most famous and explored side of horror aesthetics. Some people think that fear also serves as a metaphor for what scares us in reality (for example, zombies can be a symbol of horror before epidemics), others - that horror movies help us experience catharsis, and third - that we are fascinated by the violation of the usual course of things and norms on the screen . Another possible answer explaining why we like horror more than scenes of real violence, which can be extended to horror images on instagram, precisely in the notorious unreality of what is happening. The fictional nature of frightening scenes gives viewers a sense of control, at the expense of the psychological distance between them and the actions they have witnessed.
The same distance works in the context of other ways of communication, helping to draw the line between a work of art (or a post in social networks) and a real image of self-harm. But if theatrical make-up or make-up on Halloween is easy to distinguish from real injuries, then at the sight of fake cuts there can arise various reactions - from disgust to curiosity, are they real. Separating reality from imitation is often difficult — as well as verifying how truthful a disclaimer is.
In controversial situations, a third-party mediator plays an important role - for example, a platform with its own rules on which content is published. Oddly enough, Instagram treats such forms of self-expression more loyally than posts with naked body parts. Maria Berezina, an Instagram spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign press service, cites a post on a company's blog as an example of a company's policy regarding self-chemistry: “We don’t interfere with the placement of content that would speak about intentions or facts of self-harm.” According to experts that Instagram consults with, including representatives from the UK Mental Health Center and the US National Nonprofit Organization for the Prevention of Suicide SAVE, this kind of content will help people attract and get the help they need. "The experts confirmed that the creation of" safe zones "on the Internet for young people, where they could talk about their experiences, including the intention to harm themselves, is extremely important. They are sure that having the opportunity to share this kind of content often helps people find support and resources that can save lives, "- said the same blog.
However, since the same content can provoke different reactions, Instagram believes that it is necessary to be more attentive to such content and its impact on viewers. Therefore, experts agreed that the naturalistic depiction of scenes of self-harm, even if it reflects the inner struggle and feelings of a person, can inadvertently popularize such actions. "It is for this reason that Instagram no longer allows the placement of naturalistic scenes of harming itself," Berezina broadcasts the company's official position. The company declined to comment on SFX makeup and not real self-harvest — but many of the bloggers surveyed say that their posts are regularly removed, as they would have done with images of real injuries. In addition, often these photos hide the labeling "potentially unacceptable materials": it is used for posts that do not violate the rules of the community, but which some users find unacceptable - everyone will have to decide for himself whether to open the post.
Does this mean that the social network remains a sterile space, free from any images reminiscent of selharm - real or imitation? Most likely no. Blocked account, you can restore or create a new, deleted photos perezalit. As is often the case, the problem is not solved by prohibitions and restrictions, but by the opportunity to openly and safely for all participants to talk about what is happening - and about the potential consequences.
Don't hurt
Dasha assures that by inserting a pin in the eye, she didn’t hurt herself and didn’t pierce: “I’m not ready to leave scars for a photo - it’s foolish to injure myself for a picture or likes. I’m always writing in comments that it’s not real blood and that it’s not true worth it. Then everyone decides what to do. " The fact that someone else may perceive imitation of wounds as a call for self-harm, eleven-grader Masha @maaruu_u_ is also doubtful. "I saw a lot of profiles that contain really awful photos with real injuries. Someone admires this, someone is terrified," she says. Masha herself refers to this content negatively: "Honestly, in reality, I am not high on bloody scenes and dismemberment. Most likely, because all my photos have fake blood and I don’t take it seriously. I think there are no posts in my profile, that can push to self-chemistry - besides, everyone has their own head on their shoulders and everyone chooses what to do and what doesn’t.In my photos there is only an aesthetic content, hardly anyone will find in them something to do with them "- says the blogger. Karina agrees with this point of view and is also sure that a theatrical image, like watching horror films, cannot provoke a desire to make real cuts: “I’m not promoting self-farming, but creativity.”
“Still, there is a possibility that scenes of aggression can be traumatic for those who look at them,” said Yekaterina Tarasova. “Some will be afraid of the type of wounds and blood, this will stop them from destructive actions. And other people with a mental disorder or depressive state repulsive shots will not stop aggression directed at themselves or others. " Sixteen-year-old Nastya agrees with this - she practices self-chem and believes that in difficult periods it is better to avoid any triggers: “Even the most terrible makeup, like a cut throat or brain drain, does not make me want to try something like that. Obviously, this is makeup , it’s not real. Cuts on hands, skin punctures are another matter, and although they have never been a call for immediate action for me, they increase the general feeling of anxiety if I see them when I leaf through the tape. Once I even found there a "clue". "
In cases of real self-adolescents, according to an expert psychologist, the role of a competent and tactful adult is important. Ekaterina Tarasova believes that parents should be aware of what is happening with the child in order to help him in time - but in any case should not be criticized and prohibited. "I think that the prohibitions will lead to the fact that the adolescent will continue to behave in the same way. Adults should express concern, but make it clear: the decision to make to you," says a clinical psychologist. If we are really talking about manifestations of auto-aggression, and not self-expression with the help of SFX-makeup, you should contact a specialist for help.
If this is true only creativity, it makes sense to follow the advice of Matthias Classen and try to see in a frightening way to cope with their own fears. True, Ekaterina Tarasova warns that the bloody pictures do not help everyone: "This method is called the method of systematic desensitization of Joseph Wolpe's behavioral therapy: when you meet with a frightening stimulus, the fear reaction gradually decreases. But this method is practiced under the supervision of a specialist. When it comes to social networks, such photos stimulate anxiety, which means that the reaction may be reversed: fear will increase or appear rather than disappear. But, of course, not everyone: there are people with a strong psyche who can observe pic- tures and not be afraid. " Ekaterina Tarasova notes that adolescents are sensitive and receptive, and therefore they can not only be afraid, but also repeat what they see. "Therefore, on the one hand, SFX-makeup may suggest an idea of self-harm. On the other hand, if a person decides to commit suicide, he will do it without the help of an instagram photo," she adds.
PHOTO:berdsigns - stock.adobe.com (1, 2, 3, 4)
