ASMR. Have you heard of this abbreviation? Do you know what it is? The technical definition is Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It’s the feeling of tingling euphoric relaxation. Someone can experience this sensation while watching videos or hearing certain sounds. ASMR videos can be used to relax enough to sleep. My first encounter with ASMR was on an episode of Carpool Karaoke with guest star Cardi B. Her definition of ASMR was “mouth noises” that just relax her and make her feel good. James Corden tried to make ASMR noises and just weirded Cardi out. After watching that, I decided to check it out for myself.
I went to YouTube, typed in the search box, “ASMR” and so many videos popped up: ASMR Chewing, ASMR Food, ASMR whispering, ASMR for single people, the list goes on and on. There was one that caught my attention and it was titled, “ASMR: After a bad day.” It was a 20+ minute video of a girl helping a “friend” (the viewer) out after a bad day. She does a lot of whispering, tapping, light scratching, and after I watched it, I felt surprisingly relaxed. I was curious to see what else these videos had to offer so, I decided to watch more. My results came to 50% like and dislike. I didn’t care for the videos that involved chewing, lip smacking, and the videos for single people. Those videos made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I’m not hating, but they are not videos for me. I did like some of the whispering and tapping videos, but NOT ALL OF THEM! Since I had mixed emotions about ASMR I took it to Facebook and asked the question: “Opinions on ASMR. Do you like it? Dislike it? Do you even know what it is?" I asked this to see what others thought about it, I got a lot of different responses from Facebook and Instagram. (Unfortunately, I forgot to save my responses from Instagram so I cannot share those). Here are some of the responses I received from Facebook: Kaitlynn M.:” I listen to ASMR while I sleep because I have tinnitus and it blocks out the ringing it’s the best. Pink noise is where it’s at." Sunnie A.: “I honestly can't stand it lol😂” After I asked why she responded: “Hmm it's just annoying. I just think "why do you have to whisper? Speak up!" For example, the ASMR commercial during Superbowl drove me nuts😅” Jessica G.: “Are you talking about the eating videos? I oddly like them 🙈. I’ve really only seen the eating ones. And I don’t even know why I like them that’s why I say I oddly do LOL people in person bug me chewing loudly. But the videos suck me in. The crunching. My favorite are the candied strawberry ones 😂 I also like the “oddly satisfying” videos I always see on Snapchat. Cutting soap or squishing foam.” Daisy M.: “Paul uses it to sleep but I noticed he talks in he’s sleep now. I am skeptical about things like this because of signals and the brain. Feels like black magic to me. Anything that influences you through the unconscious can be scary.” Netta G.: “NO! I mean, 100% hard NO! ASMR sounds drive me bananas! Especially the whispering ones.” I asked her if it was just a pet peeve and she responded: “No, it’s an actual sound irritation. I don’t find anything satisfying about it. I also don’t appreciate that something intended for soothing/comforting stimuli, or even a method that may be considered therapeutic on some level is associated with sexualized visuals. YouTube ASMR videos typically depict attractive women (rarely men), wearing revealing clothing performing “sexy” sounds, and I don’t think that’s appropriate. Especially when young, impressionable kids are drawn to it. I am in no way saying that it would be ok if men were more often represented in this way. It leads me to believe that it’s less about comfort and more about sex or gaining popularity based on physical images. Shouldn’t we be more evolved at this point? If others interpret it in a similar way as I do, then the ASMR label is fraudulent. I believe it has the ability to send the wrong message and do more harm than good. It’s not fair for someone that is genuinely dealing with anxiety or another need to believe they can gain the right support from something that negatively exploits women. You’re better off listening to positive affirmations and nature sounds.” It seems that my findings from my mini poll on Facebook and Instagram were like my personal results. It was about 50/50. So, I decided, I cannot choose a side. I like some videos because they make me relax but the others make me cringe. ASMR isn’t for everybody, and if you’re like me and never experienced it, why not give it a try? Also, let me know in the comments how you feel about ASMR. See you soon my loves, Xoxo Drea.
2 Comments
Mel
7/10/2019 09:28:30 pm
Its witchcraft. Pure and simple.
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Mel
10/8/2019 01:01:05 pm
Its black magic.
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