not the anon but i did some research on this: "Grotesque while cute and features fragile and innocent looking girls/boys that have a split personality which is the opposite of what they look like on the outside... when senpai doesn’t notice them, they are usually obsessed with either some kinds of self-harm or sexual acts because of their mental issues." which is gross in itself, when a description of a "menhera outfit" included "self-harm accessories" and bandages around the wrists. so yeaah ew
yeah.....that description is fucking gross, and what little i’m seeing that i’ve been able to read about it (which is an old archived CGL thread full of bullshit that is EQUALLY ableist as the trend itself....not a great source imo) is really gross. but i feel weird looking at actual pictures though, which is why i’d like more clarification because i feel like i’m missing something?
like when i google image searched it i saw a mascot character from some webcomic that galaxxxy did a collab with apparently and i saw the wrist bandages which was gross, but like....a lot of the images i’m seeing are also just like guro inspired which has been a part of j fashion forever so i don’t even feel like it can be acknowledged as a real separate trend, purely from a fashion trend standpoint. and i’m into the guro aesthetic, like guro lolita and medical themed stuff, but that is also partially bc i am chronically ill/disabled so medical stuff is something i associate with myself, so i really like bandaids, nurse crosses, sickly makeup like what is often seen in cpk, etc. i don’t really see the high up on the eyes blush as inherently ableist, neither is stuff like sick masks, cute bandaids, or pastels, which is what i’m finding trying to research it.
i guess what i’m saying is outside of the self harm bandages and the language describing it there isn’t much that distinguishes it as its own style away from say like, pastel goth or creepy cute? with more obvious guro influences, but still.
i definitely think any neurotypical person latching onto this is fucking gross, and if there are NT people running aesthetic blogs about it that’s nasty shit too, but my confusion stems from the fact that this barely seems like a style at all. i saw someone asking for a translation of the word, and another person replied that it is used in japan similarly to the r word here, and that’s enough on its own to make it fucking gross. but i don’t know about who it was that made this menhera-chan character, like what their goals/thoughts were making it and if they are neurotypical or not, which i think is important. it still doesn’t excuse any of the trickle down effects that are happening, and i’m 100% sure (esp after reading that awful CGL thread....) that plenty of people are being awful about it, but i’m curious about the full story.
i guess most of the people i’m around online aren’t garbage to where they’d be talking about stuff like this, haha. i’m just completely ignorant about how popular it is, and not able to find many real life examples of followers of the style.