Today, I am mainly going to jot down my own thoughts as The Asylum deals with a lot of issues, themes, and elements applicable to my life and interests.
(Image courtesy of Amazon, buy the book here!)
I first heard of Emilie Autumn in high school through at least three sources. One was my fervent digging around for more music on the Internet, coming across her song Lolita and being intensely turned off at her shrill vocals. The second time was the references to her songs in names for Sims 2 custom content. The third...was what finally got me into her music.
An older goth friend of mine recommended me to listen to her music, saying something along the lines of "You can't not be goth and not listen to EA". So, I tried it out. Some songs I enjoyed intensely, but it wasn't until my first year of college when I finally grasped EA's music and became a devoted fan.
Besides seeing her onstage, I yearned to also read her book, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, but did not have the money to buy it. It wasn't until recently that I was able to read scans of the hardcover and then buy the new paperback edition.
(If anyone from the Asylum Emporium ever reads this: now that I have money, I would totally buy the hardcover edition as well if I don't go off to also buy the ebook and the new wallpaper journal)
Reading this book brought me back to my thoughts about my own mental illnesses and my interest/career in psychology. Although my expertise is not in mental illnesses, I did have to go through courses about everything. Combined with my own life experiences, I feel quite knowledgeable about the subject.
I do not know if the real persona behind the stage-name of Emilie Autumn deals with a bona-fide mental illness (which I sure hope she does, not that I would wish her ill, but because anyone pretending and basing their career off mental illness is not acceptable at all), but her songs and material mainly deal with discussing it or, sometimes, parading the illness as a quirky trait. Along with high-strung chords of girl-power against the over-arching patriarchy, her material makes for a vast social dialogue that I frankly don't want to attempt to disentangle.
The "bible" of her work is thus The Asylum, and just like the rest, it deals with themes of mental illness and as well as the struggles of women in a patriarchal world. I won't get into the storyline into depth, as I believe that one should experience the book, with its twists, on their own.
Which brings me to an interesting point, nothing in the book at all points to Emily-with-a-y as having a mental disorder; rather, it is the pain inflicted by men in power that drive her to suffer and be brought to the Asylum. While that can be true for some cases of mental illness being triggered by environmental influences, there are also biological influences as well. I believe EA's goal was to show that, back in the old times of the Victorian era, mental illness was thought of in a very liberal manner, caused by the most ridiculous things such as "hysteria" which is referenced in detail in the novel at least once.
More or so, the Asylum Letters parts of the novel bring us into a world lacking any sort of egalitarian influences; where women and girls are treated as things owned by men, who consider them as a weaker sex. Surely, that was a major thing that did happen in the historical past, which sometimes seeps into modern culture despite many's protests that "woman's suffrage is now over". Of course, a lot of more social issues have overcast the fight against sexism, with the entourage of racism widespread, homophobia, and now, with the gender revolution on the rise, transphobia.
As I explained, I do not want to get into a long spiel about any sort of social justice here, however, I think Emily-with-a-y's plot seeks to show how institutions (especially sexist male-run ones) bias differences in sex, gender, religion, and/or race as "mentally disturbed".
With this in mind, The Asylum brings me to a concept that I utterly detest, and which is one thing that, although I love the novel, rubs me the wrong way.
(Image from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls)
Mental illness arises from a variety of sources: environmental, biological, and cognition, depending on the disorder. The Asylum only delves into social environmental influences regarding the nature of "being mad", by using mental illness as a way to make a political statement against misogyny. In essence, much of The Asylum seems to be the author pointing a finger at groups of people (mainly men) as if to say "you did this to me". In essence, most of EA's material is this way.
As both a woman and one who has been diagnosed with mental illness, this aspect of The Asylum makes me uncomfortable. To some extent, women have the right to vent about the poor treatment we receive from others, especially ignorant men, in which EA holds up the flag to support us in letting our voices be heard. Which is great. However, the usage of mental illness as a possible result of such treatment is a thing of the past and just makes me shake my head at times during the course of re-reading the book.
Strangely, EA's material allows those of us with mental illness to also vent, which is a strange double-pointed sword for her case. Although she over-dramatizes "madness" as a form of entertainment in her shows and in the book, most of us who have undergone similar experiences can finally relish that thank god someone out there also gets it.
Perhaps, that is why 4 o'clock is my favorite song from EA, and I always think "it is tea-time somewhere" whenever I wake up at 4 am because of anxiety.
In the book, EA does mention that those with mental illness do not have any ground to imagine a life without their illness, and, therefore, have integrated it into the dynamic of their self. I am torn between this sentiment, as I understand that mental illness can so deeply affect one's life, but, at the same time, it is not fair to an individual to define his or herself as only a mental disorder. Rather, taking a neutral stance, I believe our experiences, not terms or diagnoses, define our being and that one can reference struggles (with or without mental illness) as defining points to their personality.
Needless to say, I believe one must read her book with a clear head, remembering that mental illness is not a quirky accessory to parade nor is it solely brought upon by sexism. Of course, this is not what The Asylum is entirely about. More or so, this issue is one afflicting many young people of this age, as people seek to verify their forming personalities and understand the strife of adolescence by adopting self-victimization.
Don't get me wrong in this entry, I adore the book and EA, but nothing is perfect and I feel the need to forewarn others not to adopt an overly victimized persona. Rather, like some of EA's newer content in Fight Like a Girl, it is better to stand up and fight for your voice to be heard. The asylum girls in the novel do fight in their own way, but, with the concepts previously presented, it is easy for one to fall into the trap of pointing fingers as it is easier to do.
The last thing I do want to pick apart in The Asylum is how suicide is treated. Throughout the book, suicide is referenced as an attempted escape from the real world, because of the nonacceptance and the fact that death is better than the harsh environment. While this may be the case, I believe that, like with mental illness sometimes, it is treated as something to point fingers at and say "this made me do it". Sometimes, suicides are done because of the inner turmoil of a person; they feel they no longer deserve to live because of their perceived poor self-image or hopelessness. While this sounds the same as how suicide is treated in the novel, it feels rather different in that The Asylum frames it as a political statement about the mistreatment of women.
Emily points out the image of Ophelia being romanticized, yet the novel sometimes falls into the same trap that it attempts to accuse. Maybe one can view it as reclaiming an image, but the dialogue comes up short when understanding that suicide is a more delicate manner.
Moving past the gritter aspect, The Asylum presents a rather complete package of a story-line, with triumphs and intertwining plots that all close by the ending. Noted, that this book is in no way autobiographical.
I can attest that the hospital accounts do properly describe a state institutional asylum. I have not been committed myself, but I have visited one and seen the poor living conditions people are susceptible to. The problem of bed space is a real problem, and I have seen asylums have inmates sleep on bare mattresses in hallways.
Psychiatrists and psychologists come in many flavors, so it is easy to see one who cares little for the well-being of his or her patient. However, there is a tendency of people in duress to often demonize therapists attempting to disentangle and help them come to terms with their suffering, much like it hurts to sterilize a wound. In state funding institutions though, the standoffish attitudes of doctors may be more apparent. Mental healthcare, or healthcare generally, is not good in the states.
Continuing on...
My only gripe with EA's writing is that her syntax sometimes bumbles in attempt to appear more Victorian and British, often poorly characterizing based off stereotypes and cliched phrasing in dialogue. Interesting characters, mainly the Captain and Veronica, are often cast aside for Emily to continue cataloging the poor living situation of the asylum they live in.
One thing that makes me dejected is the lack of inclusion in The Asylum. While Emily does note about lesbians being put into the asylum, there is not many mentions of trans or non-white people. I am accepting of this though, as The Asylum was written back in 2008, before most of our popular culture and political atmosphere really honed in on the gender revolution.
I also like to count the apples I currently have.
Perhaps only in the paperback version, the formatting of the text often breaks mid-paragraph and the images with text are too small to read the hand-written parts. Honestly, it feels as though EA needed another editor or to at least double-check the text formatting before publishing it again. The font feels way to big and would make the book smaller, more transportable, if smaller.
On a positive note, The Asylum is a wonderful fantasy novel about EA's stage persona. While mental illness may be treated incorrectly at times, it still brings the point that such suffering can be induced by the environment and is a great way of venting for those. "Someone actually gets it."
Re-reading it was a ride that took me less than twelve hours and ruined my sleeping schedule...again. Although not a fine piece of literature, it is very entertaining on its own for those who enjoy a Tim Burton-esque setting, similar to maybe Sweeney Todd.
Nonetheless, if I could get away with wearing striped stockings to work, I totally would.
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