Examining the Legend of Bloody Mary and the Relationship to Young Girls
Nikyra Capson
Bloody Mary has become a hoax associated with the coming of age for pre-teen girls and has multiple versions and different roots depending on the context on which it is given. A hoax is a legend used by the teller to alter certain behaviors of the listeners, usually by fear. In the case of this particular legend, the teller is trying to get others to attempt to summon Bloody Mary’s ghost. This legend is a prominent game played among pre-teen and teenage girls. It is said that if someone goes into a bathroom, stands in front of the mirror and chants Bloody Mary by name that her ghost would appear. There have been many accounts of individuals seeing the ghost, …show more content…
(206) With the legend of Bloody Mary, all of these characteristics can be seen. The following is an account by a girl, named Katie, who tried summoning the ghosts with her friends, and it is an example of how the legend of Bloody Mary contains many of the ideas that have already been discussed.
I was 9 when me and my friends tried doing Bloody Mary at my house one weekend. As well as I remember there were five of us and we carried my Mom’s candles in the upstairs bathroom and all five of us were chanting Bloody Mary. We saw an old woman with cuts on her face and chains around her neck and shoulders looking out of the mirror out at us. Then the shower curtain went up in flames and we ran out of the bathroom. An older boy ran into the bathroom and luckily for us got the fire put out. We all got in big trouble for it and the parents thought we caught the shower curtain on fire with the candles but we had the candles, at least, six feet from the shower curtain when it suddenly went up in flames. I know for a fact that we did not touch that shower curtain with a candle. …show more content…
Dundes believes this is due to the girls reaching puberty and that they’re moving from girlhood to womanhood (126). And similar to the feeling associated with their first menstruations, “certainly the Bloody Mary ritual evokes feelings of excitement on the part of participants, excitement tinged with fear and apprehension as well” (126). This uncertainty is something they all share during this time, and it may play into why the ritual of summoning Bloody Mary is done more often as a group rather than individually. Even if one person does it alone, it usually because it was a dare given to them by the group. This idea of the group gives the girls a sense of camaraderie as they experience the legend
Nikyra Capson
Bloody Mary has become a hoax associated with the coming of age for pre-teen girls and has multiple versions and different roots depending on the context on which it is given. A hoax is a legend used by the teller to alter certain behaviors of the listeners, usually by fear. In the case of this particular legend, the teller is trying to get others to attempt to summon Bloody Mary’s ghost. This legend is a prominent game played among pre-teen and teenage girls. It is said that if someone goes into a bathroom, stands in front of the mirror and chants Bloody Mary by name that her ghost would appear. There have been many accounts of individuals seeing the ghost, …show more content…
(206) With the legend of Bloody Mary, all of these characteristics can be seen. The following is an account by a girl, named Katie, who tried summoning the ghosts with her friends, and it is an example of how the legend of Bloody Mary contains many of the ideas that have already been discussed.
I was 9 when me and my friends tried doing Bloody Mary at my house one weekend. As well as I remember there were five of us and we carried my Mom’s candles in the upstairs bathroom and all five of us were chanting Bloody Mary. We saw an old woman with cuts on her face and chains around her neck and shoulders looking out of the mirror out at us. Then the shower curtain went up in flames and we ran out of the bathroom. An older boy ran into the bathroom and luckily for us got the fire put out. We all got in big trouble for it and the parents thought we caught the shower curtain on fire with the candles but we had the candles, at least, six feet from the shower curtain when it suddenly went up in flames. I know for a fact that we did not touch that shower curtain with a candle. …show more content…
Dundes believes this is due to the girls reaching puberty and that they’re moving from girlhood to womanhood (126). And similar to the feeling associated with their first menstruations, “certainly the Bloody Mary ritual evokes feelings of excitement on the part of participants, excitement tinged with fear and apprehension as well” (126). This uncertainty is something they all share during this time, and it may play into why the ritual of summoning Bloody Mary is done more often as a group rather than individually. Even if one person does it alone, it usually because it was a dare given to them by the group. This idea of the group gives the girls a sense of camaraderie as they experience the legend