Many of our first memories of clowns come from early years in elementary and preschool. Clowns are a part of countless carnival events, amusement parks, movies, and television shows around our world. However, many people find these overly face-painted and creepily happy characters to be everything other than cheerful. Coulrophobia, the official name of the fear of clowns, has been and continues to be a common fear amongst many people. In fact, it is estimated that about 8 percent of Americans claim to experience a fear of clowns at the level of a specific phobia.
Why is there a widespread fear of clowns? Most professionals believe there are two primary causes behind the phobia. One is that of having experienced a prior traumatic experience with clowns first hand as a child (potentially at a carnival or fair, or even at a pediatric hospital, where some clowns help to ease anxiety in younger patients.). The other common cause stems from the way that clowns are depicted in mass media. Rather than focusing on the more cheerful aspects behind the characters, the media depicts the evil and fearful tendencies behind clowns and makes it essentially “popular” to be afraid of them. These tangible causes explain some cases of the phobia, but the most intriguing aspect of coulrophobia is the rich history behind it.
Source: NBC News
Joseph Durwin of Trinity University, who has done extensive research into coulrophobia, notes that clowns have been present since ancient times, beginning as the “jester or fool” character type. The clown was given the pass to essentially represent the “deviant side of human nature”. These actions could be defying sexual normalities or mocking religious figures. As time passed, clowns evolved to be more like jokesters and tricksters, with poor intentions for their pranks.
Today’s more circus and event-level clown type comes from the “tramp clowns” that were common during the 1930s and 40s. Some reasoning behind the fear could be that these tramp clowns came from the lower class and worked to dote upon the upper class that could afford such entertainment. Durwin claims that the clown phobia reached an all-time high during the 1980s when multiple accusations and stories came to light surrounding child abuse, and clowns were often included among allegations. Clown harassment became characteristic of the character, which led even more to a rejuvenated evil presence in pop culture and media. One example of this is the 1986 book by Stephen King “It”, which is a killer clown story that has now become a film series. These stories lent themselves to create a more nerve-wracking and fearful perspective of clowns to younger audiences that may have little prior experience with the characters.
Essentially, the “bad clown narrative” represents the evil side within us that should remain repressed and controlled. What began as likely a cheerful figure and fun event character has evolved to a killer personality with horrifying stories and narratives surrounding its actions. The phobia has the usual symptoms of many specific phobias, including nausea, increased heart rate, shaking, and sweating. Many people with coulrophobia seek to avoid altercations with clowns altogether to avoid coulrophobia. Luckily, clowns are not a necessary part of most people’s lives, and there are measures one can take to escape the fear!
I am know someone with this fear and they will completely not go anywhere near clowns on Halloween. This fear kind of make sense to me in a way, clowns to me although I am not afraid are weird and creepy. Do you remember the time there was a time during Halloween that people were not allowed to dress up like clowns because there was a Facebook clown murderer? I think society of course has a huge role to play in how clowns are portray and been evolved through the times. The social idea, that clowns are bad doesn’t help even when it is being demonstrated through movies like ” It”.
We were talking about phobias in Psychology this week, and I kept thinking back to your blogs! I have never heard of these clown harassment cases; they seem quite eerie and disturbing. To be honest, I am surprised that clowns are still quite common in our culture today, since this phobia is so prevalent. However, people enjoy the rush of fear when watching scary movies and TV shows. Perhaps clowns provide this same thrill to some people, and that is why they are still around? Thank you for sharing these phobias with me the last few weeks – I have honestly found your blog very enlightening!
Clowns to me aren’t terrifying, but they are unsettling. The media definitely pushes the narrative. Who can blame them though, it’s good content. Good job on the blogs this semester. Learning about phobias have been interesting to me, and I certainly wouldn’t have learned of the vast number of phobias out there without your blog.
It’s interesting how much of a socially constructed and culturally specific fear this is, as opposed to some of the others with more of an innate wariness. My brother used to be terrified of clowns because he accidentally saw a scene from It when he was little, but I’ve never really understood the phobia. I guess there’s something implicitly disturbing about someone pretending to be happy and funny with a flashy costume, because you know that there’s a real person underneath, so there’s already the implication of dishonesty. I love that you included the history of clowns here, since that helps to give background for why our society has developed such an aversion to clowns! I loved reading your blogs this semester and learning more about different phobias!
I don’t even know where to begin with clowns. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real clown (beyond looking in the mirror). Jokes aside, I think clowns are just a bit unsettling; I can’t quite put my finger on why. Plus, I don’t think they’re very good at their job (ie. making people laugh). I do agree that the media has given them a bad wrap overall. They are at the point of being overused in the horror genre. Great job with your blogs this past semester! They have been really interesting! Strong work!