Menhera

What is Menhera? Menhera is a shortend version of the english loan word for mental health in Japan: Mentaru Herusu. It originated from 2chan message boards where users would talk anonymously about their struggles with mental health, something that is even more stigmatized in Japan than it is here in the West.

Menhera board users (mostly women) spread out and in the 2000s, began to be a staple in the Kami-Kawaii (scary-cute) j-fashion community. This fashion is an outward statement on their internal struggles. In a society that shames having these struggles it can be seen as a form of Protest. Artist Audrey Wollen said in an interview "Sad Girl Theory is the proposal that the sadness of girls should be witnessed and re-historicized as an act of resistance, of political protest. Basically, girls being sad has been categorized as this act of passivity, and therefore, discounted from the history of activism. I’m trying to open up the idea that protest doesn’t have to be external to the body; it doesn’t have to be a huge march in the streets, noise, violence, or rupture. There’s a long history of girls who have used their own anguish, their own suffering, as tools for resistance and political agency. Girls’ sadness isn’t quiet, weak, shameful, or dumb: It is active, autonomous, and articulate. It’s a way of fighting back."

In Menhera aesthetics, you see a lot of medical gowns and uniforms, bandages, needles and pills, self-harm, and isolation. It's meant to physically reflect a nebtal state that is unappealing while still being cute and feminine. Oftentimes when women struggle with our own selves to the point where it is impossible to care for others, we get stripped of our femininity. The acts of caring for ourselves or declaring that we are not okay and we need help are seen as undesirable traits, especially in Japan, where this aesthetic and community originates.

Criticism There are those who say that Menhera glorifies or romanticizes self harm. While I could see how it does that, broadcasting your self harm, drawing your self harm, or letting others see your self harm is a cry for help, the first step in recovery. Likewise, using bandages as an aesthetic and simply drawing out the pain you feel inside are less harmful ways of dealing with those issues then self harming in secret or suffering in silence. Menhera isn't going to be perfect, as its more-or-less meant to destigmatize the flaws and quirks associated with mental health struggles. If I personally had any criticisms of Menhera is that it trends very skinny, and rarely shows plus sized women, who are doubly stigmatized in society.