Explaining my favorite style; menhera

To start off; yami-kawaii and menhera are not the same thing. yami-kawaii is essentially yume-kawaii with darker elements, and menhera is a bit deeper than that. 

The term menhera is a slang term to describe people with mental issues, and since it is slang it does have some negative connotations to it. this term was reclaimed by members of a 2chan board in japan, which is where the styles name first originated. members of this board would talk about their mental health issues, find community, and post vent art. 

(it's important to mention when talking about these things that japan has a very bad view on mentally ill people and has basically no positive mental health communities.

eventually this 2chan board created a whole community of vent artists, and this is where the style itself came to be. you see, menhera is a fashion style, but it started as an art style. 

what i like most about menhera (besides it spreading awareness about mental illness) is that it's meant to be comfortable, easily accessable, and cheap so that anyone could wear it and feel good in. 

unfortunately, alot of people argue that menhera is glorifying self harm and mental illness, which i dont personally agree with, but i can see where they're coming from. i can definitely see how selling things that say "i wish i was never born!" could seem like menhera is just profiting off of and exploiting sick people.. but personally, i believe menhera is for sick people to feel empowered, not to exploit them. that does go without saying, with every community meant to do good, there will be brands and things that are only trying to make profit off these people. this shouldnt be what makes you dislike menhera, as there are plenty of good menhera brands that donate to mental help charities and spread awareness and such.

in conclusion, menhera is a fashion meant to spread awareness about mental illness. of course, it's totally fair to be critical about this fashion, as it could be an easy way for brands to exploit vunerable people. 

what do you think about this fashion? i'd love to know.