*Discussion* How SH is portrayed in the media

[Destiny&Desire]

I don't know whether something like this has already been posted, but I'll type it anyway.

There was an article in the news a few years ago about a girl (I'm not gonna name her because I don't know whether there's rules about naming people in this forum, but anyway..) who killed herself, and her parents thought it was because she was "emo".

According to her parents, the girl "practised" self harm because it was part of the "emo initiation", which absolutely disgusts me tbh. I can't remember what else I read/heard, but there was a lot of negative stuff about emos and how they are all dangerous and all that s***.

Tbh, I'm not emo. I was at once point, but I didn't start SH-ing till I had grown out of the phase. But I do not believe in any way that being "emo" automatically you means you SH, which is more or less what the parents of this girl were saying. It's the whole stereotyping issue which gets to me, and I'm not sure who was telling the truth in the end; this poor girl who honestly believed that cutting herself would make her a proper emo, or the parents who are against SH (for a good reason, but still) and have taken such a negative stereotype of our fellow emos.

Anyone else got any opinions on this?
x x x

[Hyper]

There are some kids who start SH to fit some sort of group they've managed to dream up in their heads..

I don't really think anything of this, SH is really misunderstood, rather feared so it gets a label stuck on it.. And that label transfers on to the people who suffer from it.

[Absent Mind]

People label you as emo a lot when they found out you SH.
Some kids I know make jokes about it to. They'll be bullied by someone a little bit and then they'll say something like "Oh wow that hurt me so much I think I'll go cut my arms up." Then the person who was rude to them will laugh and roll their eyes. When people find out about SH they immediately think 'emo.'

Emo is a style, and a type of music. It's not a person. At least, that's always been my opinion.

[Crystal-Clear]

I totally agree, alot of people don't understand it, so they just reject it altogether.

I was never an emo, I went through a bit of a phase where I wore alot of black but you can't blame self mutilation on a phase, saying that everyone who is emo, must cut themselves and want to die.... thats like saying everyone who is a chav must drink alcohol, and become an alcoholic.
Society doesn't work like that, no matter what people choose to think.

I never told anyone outside my friendship group that I self harmed, so I don't really know how other people would of reacted to it had they of known.
But even so, when I'm at college one of my friends was doing a paper cut out and kept catching her hand, and she sarcastically said something about self harm then, just because she was so clumsy with the blade.
It just goes to show, its either feared, revered, smeared with stereotypes or ignored.....

[Atonement]

Right, none of you guys know me in real life, but I'm probably about as opposite of "emo" as you can get. Wearing full preppy outfits, smiling, joking around, whatever, all the time. I self harm on occasion and I'm not proud of it, but does that make me "emo" no.

However, I do see how the stereotype can be made. Look at it through the eyes of her parents....

- You change outfits
- You change attidtude
- you start cutting

put them all together and BAM, its easy to blame.

I also know a girl from Bible Camp that was really open about it. And I would've never guessed it. She was always perfectly cleaned up, wore bright colours and those traditional "easter" colours of light blues, pinks, and yellows. Butshe did.

So I dont think its right to say "All Emo's self harm" because, we've proven its not true. Also, we've proven that "All self harmer's are emo" to be false. But, I do still believe that there is a risk for anyone, and emos included, and those who act traditionally "emo". Emo changes can worry parents and they are worried because of what the media has told them about it.

... I'm going around in circles

[Destiny&Desire]

I see what you all mean, especially with things like the sarcastic jokes, "Oh, I'm going to sit in a corner and cry/cut my wrists now".

Tbh I think it depends on the person as to whether there's a stereotype or not. Two girls in my class self harmed, and although one was a "goth" and one was really girly, they both got treated with the same respect and kindness. But if there was someone like me who told them, I'd probably become a stereotype because I'm quiet, keep my head down etc.

(Sorry, my knowledge about SH-awareness is really limited) I know there's things like the SH awareness day (1st March?), but is there ever really groups or anything who go round informing people about SH? I had a theatre group in school once who did a play on it, but because I didn't SH at the time I didn't really pay attention to it (stupid, now I think of it, but maybe it was also because they were trying to promote Christianity and I'm not a Christian, so the thought that "God will forgive me for cutting" wasn't my cup of tea).

I think there should be more information given about it to the public, rather than leaving people to make their own incorrect assumptions.
x x x

[Sapphire]

There are the majority of us who self harm because we have horrible things going on in our lives. The rest do it to "fit in" to the emo stereotype.

I feel that the media sees us as either emo's who do it to fit int or as people who are really, really deeply troubled. They change their tune according to their mood. It all depends on how the author wants to portray the person/people involved.