153
Coulrophobia
(media.piefed.social)
honk
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2025
153 points (100.0% liked)
Video Game Memes
253 readers
74 users here now
Welcome to Video Game Memes! Here, we post memes about video games. Isn't that swell?
Doesn't matter what game or which platform. If it's related to video games, and it's somewhat funny and doesn't break our rules (see below), post it!
-
Follow PieFed's Instance Rules.
-
BE RESPECTFUL OF OTHERS. We're all human beings. Refrain from posting anything (comments, memes) disparaging, harmful, and/or abusive pertaining to a protected characteristic (e.g. race, gender, sexuality, disability or religion).
-
Does your meme potentially have a game spoiler? Mark or tag your OP with
SPOILER: (Game Name). Deciding which games need spoilers can be subjective, so please use reasonable judgement. -
No spam. This includes bots, advertisement links, off-topic posts, and intentionally repetitious posting. Links are allowed. Paywalled articles should be archived or 12ft.io'd.
-
NSFW material is allowed, please mark it as such when posting. Use your best judgement. No pornography or explicit content. This also includes gore or shock content.
-
No inciting harassment, witch hunts, or doxxing. This includes any individual using this community, or any individual or group featured in a meme.
founded 1 month ago
MODERATORS
Are people actually afraid of them?
I’ve never really understood this one.
Even the creepy clown trope in horror movies is kinda underwhelming and overdone in my opinion. It feels forced.
Phobia's can be genetic and the US had a serial killer that dressed as a clown in the 70s
There are people in this world who are afraid of balloons. Irrational fears don't care about how illogical they are, they just exist.
I think in this case, Japan doesn't really have circuses the way that the west does. Therefore they don't have a very large number of people who dress as clowns. So childhood encounters with clowns which could potentially create adult phobias don't really manifest.
The Japanese have a few unique phobias not found in the west as well. So it's not as one sided as the article makes out.
Ooh, can you name some unique phobias?
The only one I was able to find is the phobia of embarrassing over displeasing others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taijin_kyofusho
I don't think anyone has made a comprehensive list. The one that was specifically in my mind was their fear of spirits or demons. It's not anything like western Christian belief, it's more visceral and ancestral. But hey, here is a list of unique irrational fears from around the world, which includes the one from Japan that you mentioned.
https://listverse.com/2023/12/21/10-bizarre-fears-and-phobias-specific-to-one-culture/
I think it's more of a boomer fear. They had clowns at birthdays and on TV as major cultural staples of childhood. And strange adults dressed silly and acting funny may usually be delightful or something, but its not surprising that plenty got freaked out, especially if they had a bad experience with one.
As a millennial they're discomforting to me, but largely in a way of a bizarre cultural staple from not too long before my time but definitely well before it. They represent the veneer of innocence of the 50s and 60s, including what it covers up.
I find Gacey to be the guy who could have almost single-handedly instiledl fears of clowns in many american people.
yeah these people are like 'what's the problem?'
It is a real phobia; irrational, yes, but no less real. I know more than one person that reacts to clowns the way others might react to heights and spiders.
What confuses me about phobias is people who have them often do nothing about it. Fear fades when we choose to understand rather than avoid. I used to be terrified of spiders, until I took the time to learn about them, and in learning my fear turned into wonder. They are fascinating animals and deserve none of the hate they receive. Same for clowns, I guess...