getting a lil witchy & a lil bitchy
with manicpixiememequeen
IT ALL STARTED AS A FINSTA…
In March of 2017, my entire life was in the shitter. A mere month after my medication-induced mania with psychosis (a delightful pairing!) and my uncle’s suicide attempt, I did what any mentally/emotionally-strained millennial would do: get a Mental Breakdown Haircut and make a finsta. To clarify, I didn’t jump into memes just to steep in my despair and self-loathing. I wanted to channel my turmoil into something that felt equal parts cathartic and productive. I needed to make some form of creative content to keep my brain busy—to feel like I was moving, even if I didn’t feel like I was moving forward. Under the guise of “manicpixiememequeen” (and originally utilizing a pseudonym of “Josie”), I began making memes about how wretched my life was.
And then it went viral.
The niche meme community took me in stride; bigger accounts quickly began to follow and repost me, and by the time I could catch my breath, I had a following that could not sustain anonymity. My brother started calling me “Hannah Memetana,” which was a total compliment. That July, I “came out” as manicpixiememequeen. Continuing to make memes about lighthearted topics like mental illness, the patriarchy, capitalism, relationship issues, and the increasingly complicated navigation of modern society, my account continued to grow, and I realized that while I loved to believe that I was special enough to be alone in all of my crazy and nasty feelings, a lot of other people also had these crazy and nasty feelings, and these feelings weren’t crazy or nasty at all.
On our personal Instagram accounts, we curate perfect pictures with perfect captions, highlight our most impressive achievements, share our most FOMO-inducing adventures on our stories, post photos with the right filter at the right angle at the right moment—we even take into consideration that wretched Instagram algorithm! We present very tactfully constructed versions of ourselves. On @manicpixiememequeen, I don’t do that. In fact, I set out to do the opposite of that. Naturally, I’m a chronically neurotic, anxious, and depressive individual, and I make content about that. With being honest about who I am and staying true to how I’m feeling, it builds this unique space that allows people to openly discuss aspects of society, their lives, or themselves that aren’t so Gram-worthy or picturesque, and in all of this, we have the incredible opportunity to actually connect with each other, instead of being tied up in our ultra-competitive, synthetic digital world.
My profile currently has over 239,000 followers on Instagram, which is absolutely wild. Clearly, I’m not the only person in the world struggling with mental health issues or having some difficulty navigating the absurdity of modern society. While my brain loves to tell me, “No one really understands!” and then I perceive my own self-imposed isolation, the evidence against this is in the numbers—the audience, the engagement on the posts, the hundreds of messages I receive from people across the globe telling me that they relate so much to my page and they’re grateful for the content I make. Social media was supposed to be an antidote to isolation, not the cause. We have a responsibility to be authentic, to connect with each other, and to lift each other up in our worst “I’m Cutting My Own Bangs In My Bathroom At 2am” moments. Because a lot of us have been there. And then we had to consult a therapist. And a hairdresser.
Humor is underrated. It can be one of the most powerful vehicles for understanding and healing. The easier these things are to talk about, the more we will discuss them, which will in turn break down the barriers that prevent understanding and empathy. Memes make difficult topics accessible for discussion, and they provide a sense of community and healing for the viewers. Especially with memes that discuss mental illnesses and societal structures/injustices, it helps breaking down the inherent stigma casted on those who are ill and/or oppressed. If we can get a laugh out of our darkest moments and create a conversation about how we as a society can better serve each other, what more can you ask for? Get ready to be vulnerable and have a good fucking time doing it!
Stay witchy & bitchy, y'all!
—Cori Amato Hartwig, aka @manicpixiememequeen
ABOUT CORI
Portrait of Cori Amato Hartwig by Jade Cohen (2019).
My name is Cori Amato Hartwig, and I'm a twenty-seven year old writer, musician, comedian, and mental health and fibromyalgia advocate. Most of my work focuses on interpersonal relationships, mental health, the existential preoccupation of exploring of the self and identity, and the increasingly complex navigation of anxiety-inducing modern society.
Here are some Snapple facts about me:
MORE ABOUT CORI
Favorite Musicians: Taylor Swift, The Smiths, Phoebe Bridgers, Joni Mitchell, Hozier, Hole, Amy Winehouse, St. Vincent, Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Blondie, Post Malone, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jonas Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Sinéad O’Connor, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Julien Baker, David Bowie, The Clash, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, Haircut 100, Arctic Monkeys, Culture Club, Lorde, boygenius, The Last Shadow Puppets, Pearl Jam, The Cranberries, DNCE, Tom Tom Club, Sleater-Kinney, Kate Bush, Belly, The Breeders, Johnny Cash, Violent Femmes, Carole King, Radiohead, Tegan and Sara, Prince, Grimes, Lucy Dacus, Miley Cyrus, Peter Gabriel, Harry Styles, Kacey Musgraves, Blink-182, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Adrianne Lenker, The National, Pretenders, Chet Baker, Florence & The Machine, Chappell Roan
Favorite Writers & Poets: Patti Smith, Sylvia Plath, Raymond Carver, Shel Silverstein, Rebecca Harrington, Ottessa Moshfegh, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Morgan Parker
Favorite Books: The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Just Kids by Patti Smith, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver, Stay Up With Me by Tom Barbash, Tender Points by Amy Berkowitz, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, Woolgathering by Patti Smith, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Favorite Comedians: Gilda Radner, Kathleen Madigan, John Mulaney, Chelsea Handler, Michelle Buteau, Lynne Koplitz, Fortune Feimster, Neal Brennan, Chris Porter, Seth Meyers, Chris Rock, Tiffany Haddish, Pete Davidson, Iliza Shlesinger, Jim Carrey
Favorite TV Shows: The Sopranos, Pardon the Interruption, Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, Seinfeld, Fleabag, Russian Doll, Arrested Development, Ghost Adventures, Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, I Love Lucy, Sex & The City, Dexter, Freaks & Geeks
Favorite Films: When Harry Met Sally, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Coco, Juno, Blues Brothers, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back to the Future, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, A Cinderella Story, 9 to 5, Clueless, Hocus Pocus, The Corpse Bride, Practical Magic, The Wizard of Oz, Crimson Peak
Favorite Visual Artists: John Singer Sargent, John William Waterhouse, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Gertrude Abercrombie, Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik, Frida Kahlo, René Magritte, Mari Andrew, Erin Matson (whose artwork I had the opportunity to catalogue)
Favorite Foods: blueberries; pretzels; carrots; dry cereal (I am anti-milk); fresh everything bagels with a nice slab of deli-style cream cheese; pad kee mao with fried tofu & lots of veggies; pasta fagioli; pasta e ceci; pasta in general; bread in general (preferably warm); pretty much every Italian dessert, but specifically tiramisu, sfogliatelle, & cannoli; thin crust cheese pizza (like a two-buck slice from a little corner pizzeria near Washington Square Park)
Favorite Drinks: prosecco, high-test coffee (light roast, black), chai tea, kombucha, lambrusco, pinot grigio, cosmopolitans, vodka on the rocks with a fresh lemon peel (preferably curled into a ribbon)
Myers-Briggs: INFJ-T
Enneagram Type: 4w3
Big Three: Gemini Sun, Aries Rising, Capricorn Moon (the same as Stevie Nicks—my biggest flex)
Other Interests: the color yellow, lists, the changing of seasons, committing to the bit, dramatic faux fur coats, football (& intimidating men with my knowledge of it), ghosty shows, tarot readings, witchy shit, clean sheets, sitting on porches in the sunshine, treating leopard print as a neutral, makeup, Edwardian & Victorian art, standup comedy, mugs, 80s movies, oversharing on the Internet, tchotchkes, haunting my own house, astrology, etc.
If you have any comments, questions, or business inquiries, feel free to reach out to me!