ahistoryofaberrantbehavior

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

Mera Luna 2022

Why are we, as a community and as a subculture, still supporting Adora? It’s been over two years since her Halloween costume. People *know* what she’s done. The fact that such a high-profile festival as Mera Luna is collaborating with her is honestly sickening, and I would like to think that the rest of our community would agree that she does not represent the goth subculture. It really did do my heart good, though, to see all the folks in the comments of this post speaking up. If you want to check it out for yourself, have at it: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmES2BtsVW1/

I haven’t touched this blog in... it’s been a while. But I honestly just did not expect to see her face come up again in my feed after all that went down. So, in case folks forgot, missed out on the news back in 2020, or are new to the whole goth subculture (in which case welcome!), I’m just putting it back out here that it’s never okay to support influencers like Adora who are r*pe apologists; make blatantly racist, ableist, and transphobic comments online; and promote eating disorders to young and impressionable followers. I’m not really one for online drama and witch hunts, but I do believe this woman has crossed the line one too many times.

If you want/need any more information on Adora, you can read the other posts on this blog about her, and there are also some other really amazing people close to the situation who have put together educational resources with the intention of keeping our subculture safe. I’ll link some of them here for y’all.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_adora_files/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEUxhgfX4l4

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

The Penis Party

On the 10th of April 2020, Adora posted her celebration of her daughter Fairlight turning 15 on Instagram. Although it is not considered abnormal in Sweden to celebrate one’s birthday, this celebration was unusual in the fact that everything was penis themed, from the candles and the candy to the mood boards and the straws. The immediate reaction from fans was confusion and disgust. And understandably so – such parties are nearly inconceivable in most cultures. But, as Adora explains in her post’s caption, the legal age of consent, or “byxmyndig” (which translates to “trouser allowance”), in Sweden is 15, and sexually themed parties are often thrown to celebrate.

While it was inevitable that some of her followers would be shocked and confused upon viewing such images of a 15-year-old’s birthday party, most concerns from those unfamiliar with Sweden’s cultural norms were dispelled by the explanation. But other Swedes came forward with their own opinions about the matter. It quickly became clear that this tradition is only normalized in specific parts of Sweden if at all, with large numbers of Swedish followers having never even heard of it before. However, those who had heard of it interjected that such parties are typically thrown by friends; it is not normal for a party to be thrown by a parent or for a parent to be heavily involved in the process. This is where many agreed the line should be drawn between what is tradition and what is inappropriate.

Although in her post’s caption Adora limits description of her involvement to her having “had [Fairlight’s] friends co-ordinate a surprise party”, images of the party make clear that she continued to be involved throughout the planning process and celebration. Notably, she posted a poorly censored collage of images depicting a mood board she had created in which each mood was represented by a penis, alongside a picture of her and Fairlight together at the party. These images sparked many questions, including: why are masks not being worn at a party during a pandemic, how difficult is it to censor a penis, is fat a mood, and why is the “sad” penis the uncircumcised one?

But the numerous unanswered questions about this picture were not the fans’ largest takeaway from this image. Instead, the comment section began to accumulate posts calling such a party “taboo” or “not okay” before comments were limited. Even some of those who did not mind the idea of the party itself found it odd that Adora would post such a sexually themed post about her 15-year-old daughter on the internet to be seen by over one hundred thousand followers, consisting of all types of people, mostly strangers, from all different cultures. “I’m not arguing against that,” commented one follower. “I’m arguing against posting it all over instagram”.

Later that day, Adora posted another explanation of the tradition in which she detailed her own 15th birthday party and described penis-themed games her family had set up for Fairlight to participate in. This did little to comfort fans who already found the situation to be wrong. There were, however, many who praised such sex positivity in Sweden, some even claiming to wish they had a mom like Adora. One such comment came from YouTuber and influencer It’s Black Friday who confessed that at the age of 15 she “didn’t know what a penis looked like or how sex worked” due to the lack of sex education in her home country of New Zealand. “It’s definitely better to learn than to be unsafe,” she commented. Others questioned whether a tradition of penis party for 15-year-old girls was heteronormative, or why it was that boys did not receive similarly sex-themed parties on their 15th birthdays.

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

“Sometimes I Feel Mentally Disabled” Photo // TW: Ableism, Self Harm, Attempted Suicide

Many who are familiar with Adora Batbrat and her recent scandals will have seen an image of her in a wheelchair captioned “Sometimes I feel mentally disabled”. In this picture, she is neither hurt nor referencing the controversial singer Emilie Autumn, but it does have a story behind it.

In 2014, one of Adora’s friends moved in with her as a roommate. Her friend was, at the time, recovering from a recent suicide attempt and Adora had decided to take her in, as she was not supposed to be left alone due to her self-harming tendencies. Adora had attempted to make clear that self-harm was not tolerated in her household, but her friend, in the mental and emotional state that she was in, was unable to absorb this information. After her second self-harming incident, her friend went to a psychiatric ward to be admitted, where Adora later joined her – to kick her out of her house for self-harming. Her friend’s reaction to this news included screaming, crying and a panic attack, which Adora sat by and watched without offering comfort and later described as acting like an “obstinate teenager” in a text to her friend’s own mother.

When admitted, her friend received a wheelchair as she could not walk. This is the wheelchair that appears in the photo of Adora, which was taken just outside of her friend’s room in the psychiatric ward as an attempt to mock her.

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

“Anorexic skinny with food – Montignac Method Part 1” Video // TW: Eating Disorders

On the 17th of April 2013, Adora released on her YouTube channel a video titled “Anorexic skinny with food – Montignac Method Part 1”. She began the video by addressing the fact that images of herself had been used on thinspiration and pro-ana websites and by using this opportunity to confirm that she is not anorexic, nor does she encourage anorexia. She then reveals to her audience how it is that she is as thin as she is without being anorexic: the Montignac diet, a diet that restricts what can be eaten but does not limit calorie intake. It is not unusual for a celebrity to take a shot at promoting their favorite fad diet, but this video quickly became polarizing in the comments section.

Many who backed her video, from parents to viewers who had struggled with eating disorders themselves, complimented her for reinforcing that she does not support anorexia and providing a healthier alternative to teens who wished to be thinner.

Others, however, found her rhetoric itself to be harmful and insensitive to those who have struggled with eating disorders. Perhaps what turned the most viewers against the video was Adora expressing her wish to look “anorexic skinny”. This sentiment and its phrasing raised concern that Adora was romanticizing a real mental disorder on her platform aimed at young and often impressionable baby bats, some of whom have struggled with eating disorders themselves and others that may be influenced to. Another commentor raised the point that “looking anorexic” doesn’t mean anything, writing, “you can be fat and still have anorexia”.

A couple of minutes into the video, Adora demonstrates how thin her diet has allowed her to become by wrapping her middle finger and thumb around her entire bicep and being able to touch their tips together. Such imagery without a trigger warning can be harmful to those who already struggle with body image and eating disorders by setting an unrealistic and unhealthy standard of what is “thin enough”, especially when Adora claims that she is not as thin as she hopes to be “… yet”.

This being said, the primary message of the video (one can lose weight without starving themself) is valuable, especially coming from an influencer idolized by a young, impressionable fanbase. Although a number of her fans found the video to be disturbing or triggering, this does not seem to be due to Adora aiming for controversy as would later become her norm. Rather, it seems that a distinct lack of trigger warnings combined with poor rhetoric are what turned this video intended to promote a diet and disaffiliate from pro-ana sites into the controversial piece that it became.

As for the Montignac diet itself – what is it, and does it work? The basic premise is, as Adora stated, that the dieter does not need to limit how much they eat, only what they eat. What can and cannot be eaten is based off of a food’s glycemic index (GI), which is a number on a scale from 0 to 100 that ranks how drastically it will raise blood glucose levels after being consumed. Foods that are considered “good” in the Montignac diet are those with low GI’s and preferably high protein content, while those with high GI’s are typically considered “bad” (with some exceptions) and are to be limited in one’s diet. High GI foods are especially not to be combined with fats on this diet.

The Montignac diet has two phases: phase I, which focuses on losing weight, and phase II, which focuses on stabilizing weight. Phase I is stricter in what can and cannot be consumed, only allowing foods with low GI’s, but in phase II the dieter can eat whatever they would like regardless of GI by considering the glycemic outcome of the meal.

Although there is no shortage of anecdotal evidence of the Montignac diet’s merit, nutritionists remain skeptical for a number of reasons. First and foremost, many experts believe that any excess calorie intake not metabolized by the body, regardless of GI, will be converted into adipose tissue. Proponents of this theory argue that only hypocaloric diets will allow for weight loss. To hold consistency with the anecdotal success of the Montignac diet, these experts suggest that its restrictive nature influences some dieters to consume fewer calories than they burn, thus making obsolete the idea of losing weight without limiting calorie intake that many choose the diet for in the first place.

Other skeptics of the Montignac diet theorize that short-term weight loss results may be attributed to dehydration, or that the GI values of foods are too arbitrary and inconsistent for dieters to be able to reliably lose weight. As it seems, experts are divided on the efficacy of the weight loss method. More research is currently needed on whether or not it has real merit, as well as on its potential side effects.

If you wish to lose weight, do not make dieting decisions based on the words of a YouTuber with no medical experience. Instead, please seek advice from a trained medical professional to find out which diets would work for you and how to implement them safely.

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

Adora’s “I’m a BLACK girl” Shirt // TW: Racism, Anti-Blackness

On February 13, 2013 Adora posted a picture of herself wearing a shirt that reads “I’m a BLACK girl” on her Facebook with the caption “I just love my homemade top! Of course I’m a black girl – and proud of it!” Although some of her die-hard fans complimented the shirt, as far as even requesting that the design be sold in the future, the post was not entirely well received. Many who saw this post found a white woman claiming to be “black” – and “proud of it” – to be both strange and dismissive of the systemic oppression experienced by Black people across the world.

While one may assume that Adora was using the word “black” to describe her dark inclinations and engagement within the goth subculture, it would be impossible to deny the strong racial connotations of using the word “black” to describe a person. Many followers believe that Adora’s intentions with this post were to generate controversy by antagonizing her Black followers and normalizing disrespect toward minority identities on her platform and within the larger subculture. But regardless of her intentions, it should be clear that posting such an image is disrespectful and reinforces a harmful power dynamic. The post is still up and can be found on her Facebook page to this day.  

[ahistoryofaberrantbehavior]

Asperger Synthdrome & Aberrant Behavior // TW: Ableism, R*pe

Asperger Synthdrome is the name of the synth-pop band formed by Adora Batbrat with her sister, and later joined by her friend Victoria Lovelace. The band quickly became controversial for its name; many found the play on Asperger syndrome to be insensitive to those who live with the condition. 

Victoria responded to the concern with a video in which she stated that she herself has Asperger syndrome and never intended to cause harm or offense. Furthermore, she expressed that she was conflicted about remaining in the band, as well as her relationship with Adora, who offered no solution but claimed that the name was intended to spread awareness for the underdiagnosed Swedish girls with Asperger syndrome. 

Victoria’s apology video has been taken down, but she has since left the band and renamed a product that was previously named after her former bandmate.

Adora has also been the singer and lyricist of Aberrant Behavior, a band whose work includes a remix that appears on Angelspit’s 2018 album “Puncture Marks”, as well as a song titled “Assfuck” which Adora explains is “about an ordinary night out in my life” in an interview with Zero Magazine. “Assfucking young boys is a hobby of mine. The more they suffer the better.”

The interview transcript can be found here: https://zeromagazine.nu/2017/07/14/19195/

Lyrics to this song include:

Stupid boy to get with me / Sweet innocent looks / I just want to deceive /  To get what I want / Now, shut up, stop crying / It’s time for round two

And:

Scream for me / Make me hear / The panic is real / It’s me you fear /  Take it, take it, take it like a man / Take it, take it, as deep as you can / Take it, take it, take it like a man / when I fuck you in the ass just because I can 

Although many of Adora’s fans are ecstatic about her music, others have expressed concern that this song seems to be about nonconsensual sex with young teenage* or perhaps even pre-teen boys. Such imagery goes beyond making listeners uncomfortable; portraying such actions as positive normalizes them as okay and invalidates the trauma of those who were victims of similar actions. Although it is unclear whether or not this was Adora’s intention, it is the artist’s responsibility to make sure that their work does not include such strong common triggers without warnings and does not promote harmful or dangerous ideologies such as the normalization and romanticization of abuse.

  *Please note that Adora is from Sweden, where the legal age of consent is 15.